CHAPTER 31 Cassie Fields
One Smitten Kitten
We share a steamy kiss before I need to head out to pick up the kids, and I feel like he’s really making a lot of great progress. He seems to have moved onto the acceptance phase, and I’m sure he’ll have his ups and downs—especially after surgery—but for now, I’m taking the win.
Tomorrow morning I’ll meet him at the office instead of at his house, and Dr. Hayward and Dr. Barlow will both examine him as we chart the next stage of his prehab.
I get to the bus stop first, and Jess joins me a moment later. “How are things going with your patient?” she asks.
I clear my throat, and my cheeks turn pink.
“Cassandra Fields, do tell!” she goads me. “Please say you slept with him again.”
I press my lips together. “No. But he did kiss me over the weekend, and we had this, uh…phone thing the other night.”
“Ahh!” she squeals, and she holds up her hand for a high five. “He’s so into you, Cassie. I knew he would be.”
I giggle at her antics even through the little bit of guilt that pings in my chest. “He met the kids,” I admit .
Her eyes widen. “Whoa. That’s big.”
“Not as my boyfriend or anything.” My cheeks redden further at the word I just used. He’s not. We’re not there yet. I don’t know if we’ll ever actually be there. I try to backtrack. “Not that he is, you know. We’re just…uh, messing around or whatever. But—”
“I know you, Cassie,” she says, interrupting wherever I was going with that. “And I know this isn’t just messing around for you. You wouldn’t jeopardize your entire career for messing around.”
Is that what I’m doing? Jeopardizing my career?
Yes, it absolutely is. If Dr. Hayward found out I was sleeping with this VIP patient, he’d fire me on the spot. And he’d have every right to. It’s not just part of the code of conduct and ethics of a medical professional, but it’s part of the contract I signed when I started working at Motion Orthopedics.
It feels like I haven’t known him long enough to put all my goals on the line this way, yet I am. There’s something there between us that I can’t ignore. Something I don’t want to ignore.
I blow out a breath. “Yeah. I don’t really know what it is yet, I guess. Anyway, Lily has been having some separation issues, and she cried for my parents the entire time I was at his place on Saturday, so I brought them with me on Sunday. It was innocent, but good Lord, you should’ve seen him with them. They loved him, and he was so…” I trail off and shrug. “Just amazing with them. He watched Luca every time he did a flip into the water, and he helped Lily get her head down and swim and—”
“And you are one smitten kitten,” she finishes for me.
I lift a shoulder. “Yeah. I am.”
She smiles, and then another parent joins us, so that ends our conversation about that. But she put into words something I hadn’t really allowed myself to consider, and now I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop thinking about it.
Am I jeopardizing my future by being with him? How are we really going to keep this a secret?
I’m not sure, but the text I get from him later in the evening after I get Luca to bed pulls me right back in.
Tanner: Since your kids will be at their dad’s this weekend, spend the weekend with me.
I have all the reasons in the world for why we shouldn’t. Why it’s a bad idea. Why I can’t.
And yet, my fingers type out the response anyway.
Me: I’d love to. Your place?
Tanner: Yes since Miller will be out of town and I plan to spend the weekend naked.
Me: Mr. Banks!
Tanner: Would you prefer I sugarcoat it? I don’t need my bro cockblocking.
I giggle as I read his text.
Me: Not to worry. No cocks shall be blocked.
Tanner: When do the kids go to their dad’s house?
Me: He picks them up on Friday from school, and they return home to me Monday after school.
Tanner: Does that mean seventy-two entire hours with you?
Me: Seventy-eight, if we’re being technical.
I stare at our text conversation as excitement fills me.
It’s strange going into the office the next morning instead of starting my day at Tanner’s house, but it’ll be nice to see everyone.
The only problem is that my sentiment doesn’t appear to be mutual.
I get in early so I can attend the weekly meeting with the other physical therapists in the conference room. Neither receptionist looks up to my cheerful, “Good morning! ”
They both mumble some response, and I chalk it up to them being busy.
When I walk into the conference room, the meeting hasn’t started quite yet, but everyone is already gathered. A hush falls over the room as I walk in and take a seat, and it feels like everyone is looking at me.
Do they know? Did they somehow find out that I’m planning to spend the weekend with my patient? Do they know I kissed a patient? Had phone sex with him? Crossed all the lines of what’s appropriate?
It feels like they do.
Deep down, a thought claws at me that maybe they’re just jealous that Dr. Hayward chose me to work with him instead of them . He had a good reason with my background in sports medicine, and these are professionals who should understand that.
But the truth is, having me go to his house every day and clearing my patient schedule only gave a bigger workload to some of the people in this room. Dr. Hayward didn’t hire me thinking I’d only have one patient, and surely that’s what this is about.
Still, I don’t like feeling like I’m not a part of this team, and that’s exactly how I feel as the rest of the PTs leave and Dr. Barlow joins just Dr. Hayward and myself to discuss Tanner’s progress.
I give them the latest rundown of his progress and the different exercises we’ve been focusing on, and they agree that we can start to add in more strength training, which means we’ll be spending more time in his home gym and less time in his family room. We detail a comprehensive plan, and I find that while I didn’t love being in the meeting with the other physical therapists, I do enjoy this part of my job—creating a plan with the doctors and moving forward on Tanner’s progress .
Melissa, one of the receptionists, interrupts our meeting to let us know that Tanner is in exam room four, and all three of us head that way.
I can’t look him in the eyes as the doctors both take a look at his knee, and they’re both happy with the way the swelling has gone down.
“We’ll keep our initial date for surgery, but keep progressing like this, and your rehab afterward will be a breeze. I’d like to see you back in here again next Tuesday,” Dr. Barlow tells him at the end of the exam, and I glance up to see him grin.
God, that smile. Those lips.
I sigh, and Dr. Hayward glances over at me after Dr. Barlow heads out.
“Coach texted me last night asking when I can return to the training facility,” Tanner says.
Dr. Hayward glances at me. “It’s fine for you to go to practices and team meetings, but under no circumstances should you participate.”
Tanner nods. “What about strength training?”
“I’d need Cassandra there with you or in close contact with your trainer so we can ensure you’re sticking to the plan. Just to be certain, is this arrangement still working out for the two of you?” he asks.
Tanner nods. “Obviously, given what you just said about my progress, I would prefer to keep working with Cassie.”
Dr. Hayward glances over at me, and I swear, sometimes men are so freaking clueless. If I was having an issue with this patient, does he really think I’d bring it up in front of said patient?
“I agree,” I say, and I offer a tight smile as I do my very best not to raise any eyebrows in here. I clear my throat. “It’s been conducive to my schedule with my kids, and I’ve enjoyed helping Mr. Banks on the road to recovery. ”
As it turns out, nothing I possibly could’ve said would have raised the eyebrows any higher than they already were.
Tanner heads out, and Dr. Hayward stops me before I walk out of the room.
“A word, Cassandra.”
I stop and turn back toward him as I pray that the guilt isn’t in my eyes.
He sighs. “Alex said you brought the kids over to meet Mr. Banks. Is that true?”
I clear my throat. I don’t even know how Alex would know that…except the kids talk to him a few times a week, and I wouldn’t put it past Luca to brag about it.
The fact that my boss is also friends with my ex-husband shouldn’t matter. This is my career, and I won’t be intimidated by my ex.
“Mr. Banks invited them,” I say quietly. “He felt bad taking me from my family on a weekend when they’re with me rather than my ex-husband, so he asked me to bring them along.”
“Be careful there, Cassandra. Be mindful of your professional obligations.”
“Always, Dr. Hayward.” I smile sweetly even though I’m positively seething on the inside that he would have the nerve to say that to me.
Only…he’s right. I’m not minding my professional obligations. Instead, I’m planning an entire weekend naked with this man.
And I can’t wait.