was not good. Not the sex, that had been beyond good, but the fact that it had been with one of his new bosses was not good. If he had known that, he would’ve walked away from her. He refused to follow the same path as his mother. She’d used sex to get what she wanted when she’d been a young surgeon and he’d seen how that had broken his father’s heart.
He wanted to get the fellowship on his own merits, because he had talent. He wanted to prove to his mother that he had what it took to be the very best, to get where he was without sleeping his way there. He’d show her.
Mindy’s appearance was bad.
Very bad.
He tried to move to the back of the crowd, but it was too late. She looked out over the crowd, and that bright smile faded, wavering slightly as their gazes locked.
“Without further ado I would like to introduce the new head of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Dr. Mindy Walker.”
Mindy blushed slightly and broke the visual connection as she came up beside Dr. Chang, shaking her hand as everyone applauded her politely.
Sam tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he pretended that he didn’t know her. Even though no one else had seemed to notice the interplay between the two of them, he felt singled out.
Why did it have to be her? Why did his only one-night stand in the last three years have to be someone who was responsible for the fate of his career?
Bloody fates.
He slid his attention back to Mindy, who was now addressing the crowd.
“I want to thank everyone here. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my specialty. I don’t tolerate a lot of things when it comes to my surgical practice. Fragile lives are in our hands. There is no time for mistakes and because I’m new to this hospital and have yet to get to know all of you, I’ll be requesting each one of you to work on my rotation for at least a week or more before I make any decisions about who will be getting a fellowship. My department is not large by any means yet. I’m also one of the top IVF and fertility doctors in the country. I’m a board certified OB/GYN. Pregnancy and the safe of arrival of babies and their mothers are my passion. One I take seriously.” She paused, her gaze penetrating him, and it was then Sam knew he was in trouble. Deep trouble.
“I look forward to working with all of you.” She turned and began to chat with Dr. Chang and the other heads.
Everyone clapped politely as the crowd dispersed to start their rounds. What else could they do? The committee had the control over the fellowship. He just had to make sure he kept his nose down and worked hard.
And keep his distance.
Sam tried to slip away with the crowd.
“Dr. Napier, could you come here a moment, please?” Dr. Chang called out.
So much for slinking off and going unnoticed today.
He turned around and walked over to Dr. Chang and Dr. Walker. Mindy’s face was expressionless as he approached them.
“Yes, Dr. Chang?” He said his words carefully, because he didn’t want his Scottish accent to bubble up. He’d told Mindy that it surfaced when his emotions weren’t in check.
“You were late this morning. Are you okay?” Dr. Chang asked.
“I…” He tried not to make eye contact with Mindy, who had a pink tinge to her cheeks. “I overslept, that’s all. It won’t happen again.”
Dr. Chang nodded, assessing him. He hated disappointing her. She embodied everything great in pediatric surgery and he wanted one of the fellowship spots. It’s why he had been willing to come to West Manhattan Saints and work in a hospital that had ties to his mother and ties to Professor Langley, who was the first man his mother had had an affair with.
Sam detested Langley, but having a chance to work and learn beside Dr. Amelia Chang? He could put aside all his animosity for that.
“See that it doesn’t,” Dr. Chang said.
“I’ll make sure of it, Dr. Chang.”
“Dr. Walker has requested you join her service for the first rotation.”
Sam cringed inwardly. “Of course.”
“It’s a great honor to learn from her. The skills you’ll learn from her will be invaluable.” Dr. Chang didn’t say any more as she walked away, presumably to start her rounds. The only people around the charge station now were him and Mindy.
No. Not Mindy. Dr. Walker.
Well, whoever she was. She looked none too pleased to see him.
“Dr. Napier?” Her eyes were positively flinty, her arms crossed and her lips pursed together in a thin line. Sam wasn’t exactly sure how she got the words out.
“Dr. Walker,” he acknowledged. He wanted to ask her why she hadn’t told him what her job was, but, then, the conversation last night had never really stretched to that.
“Well, I hope you have a good understanding of high-risk pregnancies and have clocked some hours in OB/GYN and genetics. My caseload here is heavy. I have mothers coming in from a lot of different hospitals, some as far west as California, to seek my professional help. I don’t want an inept surgeon bumbling around in my OR.”
She was clearly angry.
“I can assure you I’m one of the top residents in this program, Dr. Walker.”
Mindy snorted. “That remains to be seen.”
“What do you mean by that?” Sam asked.
“You know what I mean,” she snapped under her breath. “Don’t think sleeping with me gains you any extra footing here, Dr. Napier. In fact, it’s detrimental to your position in this program. I don’t play favorites.”
Sam vibrated with anger and without thinking he grabbed Mindy by her arm and dragged her to the nearest empty exam room, not caring who saw them. Which was saying a whole lot. He hated drawing attention to himself, but suggesting he’d slept with her to get ahead? That was taking it too far.
He was here to work hard for himself. He needed to nip this in the bud. He didn’t want any rumors flying around.
And he wasn’t going to allow a rumor to destroy his career, his reputation.
He pushed her into the exam room, flicked on the light, shut the door and stood in front of it, stopping her only means of escape.
“Do you think I slept with you to gain footing? If that’s what you think, you had better change your opinion right now.” His brogue was coming out very thickly, but he couldn’t control it.
He was angry.
Very angry.
Mindy was shaking with a mixture of anger and betrayal.
Dammit.
Of
