Page 35 of The Doctor's No-Strings Deal

Justin laughed again. “Well, I was going to say he’s got high standards for his children, but autocratic works. Was he hard on you today?”

“Not really.” Charlie bowed his head, ashamed he was being this sensitive in front of his older brother, who had always borne more of the weight of their father’s expectations. “He’s pulling some strings to get me into a fellowship.”

“Oh, that’s great,” Justin said. “That means he thinks you’re capable of smashing it. You know that right? He wouldn’t recommend you for a position you might fail. It would look too bad for the family. This is just his way of telling you he believes in you.”

Charlie sighed and shook his head. “I almost wish he wouldn’t. There’s this girl…”

“Say no more.” Justin patted him on the knee. “He doesn’t want your love life to get in the way of your work, right? I got the same talk when I met Carrie. You just have to tell him to back off. Do well, and show him he was wrong to worry.”

“It’s not that,” Charlie said. “Well, it is, but it’s… She’s a resident with me. I know she’s going to apply for the fellowship, and I know she deserves a fair shot. She’s good, really good. It feels so rotten just pulling the chance out from under her like this, you know? She’s not had an easy life, and she’s worked hard for everything she has. She would have worked hard for this, too. But I’ve just stolen it from her, haven’t I?”

“Hm, that is a pickle,” Justin said. “Dad won’t let you throw this chance away.”

“And I don’t want to. I was going to fight for the fellowship myself, but I wanted the fight to be fair. I wanted to win itbecause I was the best, not because Dad knows who to go golfing with.”

Justin leaned back on his hands, and just for a moment, Charlie saw him as a kid again — confident and way too smart for his age. “I think your solution here is obvious.”

“And what’s that?”

“Whatever you do, do it well enough that not even you can doubt you would have won the fellowship. Then it’s the same ends with different means.”

Charlie arched an eyebrow at his brother. “You think that’s a good solution?”

His brother shrugged. “I said it was obvious, not perfect. She doesn’t have to know, and if you do well enough, she’ll never question how you won. The trick is getting yourself to stop questioning it, too.”

“Yeah.” Charlie leaned back beside his brother and took a deep breath of the fresh air. “That’ll be the trick, I guess.”

CHAPTER 17

MEGAN

Filling out the application for the fellowship had been nerve-racking, but the second the pages left Megan’s hands, she was elated. She couldn’t stop grinning. The world was full of possibility. Her future had only just begun, and all that jazz. Kayla noticed right away and sidled up alongside her as she walked down the hall.

“What’s got you all walking on air, huh? Did something good happen withhe who shall remain nameless and who you are definitely not dating?”

“Ha-ha, Kayla,” Megan said with a hint of sarcasm. “Nothing new on that front. I’m just feeling good about applying for the fellowship. I think I really have a shot. Dr. Ralter seems to think so, too. He said I’m one of the best residents he’s had in years.”

“Wow, he really said that?”

Megan nodded. “What about you? Are you going to apply?”

Kayla shook her head. “I don’t have your confidence, nor do I have the high opinion of my attending the way you do.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Dr. Ralter loves you.”

“As a person, he loves me. As a physician, maybe not so much.” She shrugged, and Megan had the instinct to encourage her, to tell her it wasn’t true. But Kayla didn’t look at all troubled. She seemed to be in a pretty good mood, all things considered. “I’m just not ready for a fellowship like that,” she said. “I’d like a little more time to improve myself, even if it’s just to improve my confidence first.”

“I guess I can see where you’re coming from.”

They parted ways at the end of the hall, and Megan saw her next patient alone. It was a straightforward appointment, a suspected pregnancy. The young woman had all the symptoms, and Megan sent her to get a pregnancy test feeling pretty confident about it all. It was nearly time for her break, so after her appointment, she went to find Charlie. She found him with his own patient and waited outside the exam room door for him to finish.

Once he was finished and making his way out of the room, she ambushed him in the hall, squeezing his wrist in a way he couldn’t mistake.

“I can’t right now, Bright,” he said without looking over at her. “I have way too much on my plate.”

“Oh, okay.” She kept pace with him but just barely. “I guess I felt a bit like celebrating. I just turned in my application. Have you turned in yours yet?”

“Mm-hm.”

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