lunchtime Jaclyn had heard so many versions of what was going down with the Matthews lawsuit that she wondered where was rumor control when you needed it. The only good thing was that so far no one knew the identity of the person who’d snitched on Terrence and for that she was grateful.
She hadn’t known what to expect when she’d made the decision to come forward to report Terrence’s drug abuse. But her parents had raised her to do the right thing, and knowing about the abuse and the harm it could cause her fellow doctor had been the determining factor in making her talk. No one knew she was the one responsible for Terrence losing his job. Not even her roommate Isabelle.
No one except Dr. De Winter.
Just the mention of his name made a picture of him flash in her mind. He was so drop-dead gorgeous. Most of the other female staffers felt the same way, too. She’d heard the comments, and she’d noticed that several of them would cook up any excuse to go up to his office, only to return with what they considered the same disappointing news. Dr. De Winter had suspected them from the first. In other words, he’d seen through their attempt at shrewdness and wasn’t having any of it.
Thoughts of Dr. De Winter still took up residence in her mind hours later at the end of her shift. But they’d been pushed to the background after she’d overheard some interns trying to figure out who had nailed Terrence. They had what they termed a snitch among them.
They’d claimed if they’d known about Terrence, they would have implemented a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Who in their right mind would want to go up against the Matthews family? they’d asked. Hadn’t the snitch caused the hospital more harm than good now that the family was withdrawing its financial support?
As far as Jaclyn was concerned things were getting out of hand. What if Dr. Dudley was wrong and she was identified as the person who’d come forward about Terrence? She could see some of the interns turning on her and making her life at Hopewell unpleasant.
She knew the one person she needed to talk with and found him standing at a nurse’s station writing in a patient’s chart. Taking a deep breath she walked over to him. “Excuse me, Dr. De Winter, may I speak with you privately?”
Lucien stopped writing at the sound of the soft feminine voice. He didn’t have to glance up to see to whom it belonged. He forced the air from his lungs as he turned and looked into Jaclyn’s face. He immediately saw from the look in her eyes that she was troubled by something. But he had to play it cool, remembering he couldn’t jump at the chance to be alone with her any more than he would any of the other interns.
He stuck his pen into his pocket and lifted a brow. “I’m about to call it a day, Dr. Campbell. Is it something that can wait until tomorrow?” he asked in a no-nonsense, very professional tone, knowing his words had been overheard by Nurse Tsang who was all ears.
As usual her radar was on high alert. The woman had a tendency to mind everyone’s business but her own. “No, sir. It can’t wait.”
He glanced at his watch. “Very well, then. We can go to my office.”
They walked side by side toward his office at the end of the corridor. And with every step he took he inhaled her scent. The tropical fragrance of jasmine reminded him of the night-blooming flower from the island where he’d been born. She was wearing it well and it made him recall sultry summer nights.
As he walked beside her, he racked his brain for something to say that wouldn’t come out as too forward. He glanced over at her. With her exotic features and dark hair, she could pass for an island girl if it wasn’t for her fair skin. She was a beauty. He’d thought so the first time he’d seen her and he thought so now.
He increased his pace and she managed to keep up with him. Lucien could imagine those long legs beneath the slacks could do so with ease.
It had been a quiet day, no emergencies that had needed his attention beyond the norm and for that he was grateful. He had been about to call it a day, had hoped he could quietly slip out without seeing her more than he already had that day. But now it seemed he would be in close quarters with her. As long as he kept things on a professional note he would be fine.
At least that was his prayer.
But his prayer didn’t help him a few minutes later when they’d reached his office and he held the door open for her to enter. She brushed past him and her scent had made him tremble.
He knew at that moment he had no business bringing her to his office. The space was tight as it was and having her in it would make it even more confining. And as he stepped into the cramped room behind her and closed the door, he knew he was in trouble.
Deep trouble.
Jaclyn glanced around the office, remembering the first time she had been here. That had been her first week at the hospital and Nurse Tsang had reported to Dr. De Winter that she hadn’t turned in her end-of-the-day report on time. Jaclyn had argued that her report had been turned in on time, but Nurse Tsang’s watch had been set two minutes early. Dr. De Winter had calmly suggested that to eliminate confusion in the future she get her report in five minutes early. What he hadn’t said and what she clearly understood that day was that the head nurse enjoyed making everyone’s lives miserable and she’d have to avoid getting caught in her trap.
Jaclyn took a deep breath when she remembered the last time she’d been in his office. It was last month when she had reported Terrence’s drug use. She had done a lot of soul searching before requesting a meeting with Dr. De Winter and now it looked like the decision she’d made that day might be coming back to haunt her.
“Please have a seat, Dr. Campbell.”
“Thank you.” She sat in the chair next to his desk and she watched as he sat down as well.
“If you’re here regarding the remark I made earlier today in the group session, it wasn’t made to call you out or to make it seem as if you didn’t know what needed to be done.”
She shook her head. “Yes, I know, but that’s not why I’m here,” she said softly.
He nodded. “Then why are you here? You said whatever you needed to talk to me about couldn’t wait until tomorrow.”
She inhaled deeply again, wondering why the man had to look so heartthrob sexy. She’d been around good-looking men before, but there was something about Dr. De Winter’s looks that could literally take a woman’s breath away. She wondered if he knew the effect he had on women and decided yes, he had to know.
“Dr. Campbell?”
She blinked, realizing he was waiting for her to say something. “They are talking.”
He raised his brow and a guarded look appeared on his face, and she wondered the reason. “Who’s talking?”
“Everyone. They know. Or they think they know and those who don’t are trying to figure it out.”
He leaned back in his chair and simply stared at her, but it was a stare that made tiny flutters appear in her stomach. “I think you need to tell me just what you’re talking about,” he said in a gentle tone, so gentle it made her want to tell him everything, especially her misgivings about letting him know about Terrence and how everyone was trying to figure out just who told. But she wanted to go even farther and spill her guts about how she felt about him, how she dreamed about him at night and how she often envisioned
