wasn’t just on account of the nerves about facing her boss.
The door opened and there stood Dina Garrett. She was somewhere in her late thirties or early forties with sun-streaked brown hair framing her pretty face in a stylish bob. A tailored navy-blue suit showed off her slender, petite frame.
“Hi, Cindy. Sorry to keep you waiting. Come on in.”
Cindy stood and followed her, then stopped in front of the desk. “What’s up?”
“Have a seat.” Her boss indicated the two empty chairs.
“Thanks.” Cindy tried to look relaxed and composed, but that wasn’t easy when it felt like there was a scarlet letter embroidered on her chest.
“So how’s everything?” Dina folded her hands, then rested them on the desk.
Cindy considered this woman a friend. They’d socialized occasionally, and she’d had dinner with Dina, her husband Ted and their two daughters. She’d even attended a piano recital for one of the girls. A family picture was prominently displayed on the desk, and she felt a stab of envy at the smiling faces, the close-knit family.
That was what she wanted someday, but the dream seemed doomed from where she was sitting. It was on the tip of her tongue to reveal everything, but she decided to proceed cautiously. Once this was out of the bag, there wouldn’t be a way to stuff it back in.
“Oh, everything is fine,” Cindy said shrugging. “You know. How are Ted and the girls?”
Dina glanced at the picture and smiled. “Doing great. Summer camp. Swimming. Friends over. When school is out it’s always harder for a working mom to juggle everything.”
Cindy was already afraid of what her future held and didn’t really need to hear that. “Tell them I said hello.”
“I will.” Dina smiled and when it faded she went into supervisor mode. “So, I wanted to see you because I received a complaint about your work.”
“Anyone I know?”
“It was anonymous,” she explained. “But I’m required to investigate and wanted to hear your side of things before proceeding.”
That wasn’t a surprise. Her boss bent over backward to be fair and that required more time, energy and work hours than simply jumping to conclusions.
“I don’t know what to tell you.” Cindy gripped her hands together in her lap. “I’m doing my work the same as I always have.” When there are no complaints, she wanted to add. Nathan was the only variable. “Was the accusation specific?”
“No.” Dina leaned back in her chair. “Because this is you and your record is spotless, I’m inclined to believe there’s no substance to the accusation.”
Cindy’s grip on her hands loosened and blood flow returned to her fingers. “That’s good.”
“But there’s another reason I think it’s without merit.” Dina met her gaze. “I’ve heard rumors. Specifically, gossip regarding you and Dr. Steele having a relationship.”
“There’s nothing—”
Her boss held up a hand to stop the protest. “I don’t need details. Your personal life is just that. Personal. But it’s my job to see that work isn’t affected.”
“It’s not,” Cindy assured her. “Nathan and I—what I mean to say is, Dr. Steele—there is no relationship between us.”
“Okay. Your work has been exemplary from the first day you started here at Mercy Medical Center.” Dina studied her and, going by past experiences, she didn’t miss much. “I’m your supervisor, but you need to remember that I’m also your friend. It’s a fine line to walk and I work very hard at not showing favoritism. But if you need someone to talk to, I’m there for you.”
The sympathetic expression and the invitation for a confidence seemed to unleash the dammed-up feelings Cindy had been struggling to hold back.
“I’m pregnant,” she blurted out.
“I see.” Shock mixed with curiosity in the other woman’s expression. Curiosity won. “Do I know the father?”
“Do you know Nathan Steele?”
“Really?” This time shock squeezed everything else out of her face. “He’s the father?”
“I don’t know quite how it happened,” she hurried to explain.
Dina’s expression was wry. “Then you and I need to have a conversation about the birds and bees. It’ll be good practice for ‘The Talk’ with my girls.”
“I know how it happened.” Cindy felt the heat in her cheeks. “What I meant was that I’ve seen him in the NICU, but he never saw me. Not until the night of the hospital fundraiser.”
“I heard you won the raffle.”
“Won is a relative term. I couldn’t resist messing with him when he said I looked familiar, but he didn’t have any idea who I was.”
“Apparently you clean up pretty good, or at work you look like something the cat yakked up.”
“There’s a visual.” Cindy squirmed in the chair. “He recognized me the next day at work. By my perfume.”
Dina looked more surprised about that than the pregnancy. “Obviously that line worked for him.”
“Not really.” It was only a small lie. “He asked more than once for my phone number, but I turned him down.”
“Something changed your mind because you’re not the sex-in-the-supply-closet type.”
Cindy was grateful for that unwavering faith in her. “I happened to see him in action saving a baby.”
“Ah. The hero factor worked in his favor. It’s very powerful female fantasy material.”
“I still said ‘no,’ but he wouldn’t give up. So finally I gave in to a dinner invitation.” She decided to leave out the portion of the conversation where she offered sex to get him out of her life. That had not worked out as planned.
At least not yet.
“If I had to guess, I’d say dinner went well?”
Cindy nodded. “He’s more charming when he’s away from the hospital.”
“No kidding,” Dina said.
“It wasn’t like that.” Cindy didn’t want her boss to get the wrong idea about him. “He just kissed me good night.”
She also decided to leave out the part about him saying he wanted her sexy, sassy, smart mouth. And the part where he wanted to taste the passion she put into being so tough. It had surprised her that he understood her so well. Maybe that’s what had pushed her over the edge into mindless passion, but she didn’t believe he’d planned to seduce her. Although she’d been very wrong about a man once before.
