Page 30 of The Doctor's No-Strings Deal

Megan may have stepped out, but she’d left her deconstructed cake and wine on the counter. Charlie’s father sat in her chair and picked up the cake. “Fancy dessert to be having all on your own,” he said. “You usually eat chocolate chips straight out of the bag.”

Charlie shrugged. “I’m trying to embrace a classier lifestyle.”

“Well, you may be overdoing it, Son.” His father picked up the fork and started eating Megan’s dessert. Charlie didn’t have the courage to stop him. “Delicious, though,” he said after taking his first bite. “You sure you’re in the right profession?” He laughed the way he always did when he told one of his jokes.

Charlie scowled at him as he took another bite of deconstructed cake. “What did you come here to talk about?”

“Ah.” His father straightened in his seat and set Megan’s dessert down. “I want to make sure you’re doing what you need to do to succeed in your area of interest, which I assume is surgery.” He shot Charlie a meaningful look.

Charlie hesitated but eventually caved. “I mean, yes, obviously.”

“So what’s this I hear about you taking extra pediatrics rotations? How is that supposed to get you a surgical fellowship?”

“Kids need surgery too, Dad.”

“Yeah, but that’s not the work you’ve been doing, is it?”

Charlie didn’t know what to say. His father had always expected him to go into surgery. His brother was a heart surgeon and the current pride of the family. It was nothing Charlie could compete with and nothing he wanted to compete with. But the family expectation was surgery, so he had to find a way in. He finally answered his father. “I’m aiming for pediatric surgery. All pediatric experience pushes me in the right direction.”

“Ambitious,” his father said, “considering you’re also going into research like your grandfather.” And he took another bite of Megan’s cake. “Don’t slack.”

“I’m not slacking. I’m doing quite well, actually. There’s only one other student who’s managing to compete with me as a resident.”

“What’s he specializing in?”

Charlie paused, realizing for the first time that he didn’t know. “Um… Well, I’m not sure. I’m not even sure whethersheknows what she wants to specialize in. I should probably ask her.” He suddenly felt bad and didn’t fully understand why.

“You do that.” His father put down the fork and stood — to leave, if Charlie had any luck at all. “And once you know what her specialty is, you crush her. All right, Son? As long as we’re clear here. You can’t let up. Don’t get soft. Medicine, particularly surgery, is not a specialty for a softy. Time to toughen up.”

“I know, I know.” Charlie headed toward the front door, hoping his father would get the hint. “I still have some studying left to do tonight, if you don’t mind. But thank you so much for the encouraging talk.”

Jon Sullivan stopped at the front door and turned back toward his son one more time before he left. “Don’t let me down, Charlie. Our family reputation is in your hands, you know. Everything is in your hands now.”

“I won’t, Dad. I promise.”

His father pointed at him and said, “We’re counting on it,” right before Charlie closed the front door.

He walked back to the bedroom feeling about twenty tons of weight on his shoulders. All his energy was gone. All he wanted to do was curl up in bed and pray for unconsciousness, but he knew Megan would be waiting for more than that.

As soon as he walked into the room, she noticed the weight he carried. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“I will be,” he answered.

“I heard some of that, but I didn’t want to interfere.”

He dropped down onto his bed. “I appreciate that.”

She lay down beside him, but instead of immediately seducing him, she tucked her pillow under her head and started a conversation. “You look like a completely different person right now. Kayla told me you had family pressures, but I had no idea it was this bad. Why do you let it get to you like this? It’syourlife. You should do what you want with it.”

Charlie breathed deeply and knew it was already too late. He had let his vulnerability show, and denying it now would only make him look weaker. “It’s never really been my life. Since I was a kid, I knew what would be expected of me. The thing is, I never had a problem with that. I wanted to give something big to the legacy of my family, and the fact that doing so just meant I’d be helping more people only made me want it more.” He rolled onto his back, crossed his arms behind his head, and stared up at his bedroom ceiling. “The more he pushes, though, the more I doubt my own ambitions. If he only knew that was what he was doing every time he came over here for another one of his pep talks.”

She tucked a foot under his leg, and the moment felt so intimate, so familiar, he had a hard time convincing himself this was a woman he was only sleeping with for fun. “Do you really want to go into pediatric surgery? I’ve never heard you mention it before.”

“I mean, why not?” he said with a shrug. “It makes my father happy, and I don’t mind the idea of helping kids.”

“I feel like the kids might appreciate a little more enthusiasm than that.” She kicked him lightly with her other foot. “Not mindingthe idea of helping them seems kind of blah, doesn’t it?”

“It’s the most I’ve got to give to anyone these days.”

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