Chapter 10
TEN
DREW
The look on Alexandra’s face hits me like a knife to the gut.
“There’s no reason for the Tates to think that,” I insist. “But I can tell them I lied about the relationship—”
“Sure, and they’ll think you’re being a gentleman,” Alexandra says flatly. “And your office door was open through the whole conversation, so Celine probably heard it. So the story will spread through the hospital, and I’ll get a reputation as the secretary who slept with her boss.”
The knife in my gut twists. I’ve really screwed up. “I’ll talk to Celine. She won’t tell anyone.”
But Alexandra doesn’t look reassured, and maybe she’s right. I think I can trust Celine, but I can’t be completely sure. She’s friends with a lot of the other admin assistants, and for all I know, she’s already texted them.
“And there’s a chance it’ll leak through the Tates,” Alexandra points out. “At a fundraising event or something. Dr. Malone dating an admin assistant is pretty juicy gossip.”
She’s right. The Spring Fling gala is only a couple weeks away. I could ask the Tates not to mention it to anyone, but that would probably make them more curious.
And would they keep it quiet? Peter probably would, but Nina? I don’t know.
“Do you want to involve HR, then?” I ask. “Try to get ahead of it? It was my fault, Alexandra, and I’ll take responsibility.”
I can just imagine how that conversation would go.
You see, I lied and said I was in a relationship with my admin assistant. No, it wasn’t true. Yes, I’m aware it was an inappropriate thing to say. Yes, as the department chief I should have known better. No, I can’t explain how it happened.
Of course, I could explain how it happened. My lizard brain took over, and I spoke a fantasy out loud. Unfortunately, I don’t think that explanation would help.
But this is my fault, and if Alexandra wants me to humble myself in front of the HR department, I will.
“I don’t know,” Alexandra says slowly. “I really don’t want to lose this job.”
“Of course you won’t lose your job,” I tell her. “I’ll take responsibility, Alexandra.”
“I know,” she says. “But . . .”
“But?” I prompt her.
She takes a deep breath. “Well, you’re the chief of surgery, and I’m an admin assistant who’s worked here for less than a month. So even if you say it’s your fault . . .” she sighs. “People may still see me as the problem. I’ll be the girl who led you astray.”
And the guilt hits me like a wave. Alexandra isn’t wrong. Some people will always blame the woman, regardless of the circumstances. And there’s a huge power imbalance here; as she aptly pointed out, I’m the chief of surgery and she’s a recently hired assistant.
She won’t lose her job over this, I’ll make sure of that. But she’s employed by the hospital, not by me, and this could still be a black mark on her file. Down the road, if HR can find another reason to fire her, they might.
“And now Celine’s probably noticing that we’ve been in here for the past ten minutes with the door closed,” Alexandra points out.
Fuck, she’s right. And if I open the door, Celine will be able to hear our conversation. I could ask Celine to leave to give us some privacy, but that would defeat the purpose of opening the door.
“Let’s go get coffee,” I suggest.
“Sure,” Alexandra agrees dully.
As we walk through the outer office, Celine stares at her computer screen with unnatural focus.
Yep. She overheard the conversation with the Tates.
“Want anything from the coffee shop, Celine?” I ask, trying to keep my tone casual.
“No, thanks,” she replies.
“Okay,” I say with a nod. I consider reminding her that everything that goes on in my office is confidential, but that would probably make things worse. She’d think I was protesting too much.
Alexandra and I walk to the coffee shop in the lobby, which is surprisingly busy. There are a few people ahead of us in line, and it feels very exposed. Other people might go for coffee with their admin assistants at ten in the morning, but it’s not something I’ve ever done before.
And most administrative assistants don’t look like Alexandra Parker.
“Hey, Drew.”
I turn and see that Luke Carlton’s joined the line behind me.
“Hey, Luke.” Since Alexandra and I are clearly in line together, it would be rude not to introduce her. “This is Alexandra Parker, my admin assistant. Alexandra, Luke Carlton. He’s one of the general surgeons.”
“Nice to meet you, Dr. Carlton,” Alexandra says politely.
“Call me Luke.” Luke gives me a tiny smirk. He’s probably remembering our conversation in the lounge, when Austin asked if my new assistant was cute. And I described her as tall and skinny, with glasses.
“What would you like to drink?” I ask Alexandra. “Caramel latte with whipped cream?”
“Oh,” she says, looking surprised. “No, drip coffee’s fine.”
“You sure?” I ask. “Let me buy you a latte, Alexandra.”
“You should definitely go for the latte,” Luke chimes in. “The drip coffee here’s not very good.”
“Well, okay.”
I order the latte for Alexandra and mint tea for myself. Luke buys himself a muffin, then mercifully disappears in the direction of the surgical ward.
“Not a coffee drinker, huh?” Alexandra remarks as we wait for her drink. “I thought all doctors got addicted to coffee during residency.”
“I’ve just never liked it,” I lie with a shrug.
I take a big sip of tea and scald my tongue. Now I can’t taste the mint, but that’s not a bad thing.
I scan the lobby for a place to sit. The café tables next to the coffee shop are all taken, and the benches along the wall are occupied too. I really didn’t think this through very well. Who knew there would be so many people hanging around the hospital lobby in the middle of the day?
“We could go outside, maybe?” Alexandra suggests as she picks up her latte.
“Sure.”
We walk through the lobby and out the main doors, past people waiting for cabs and Ubers. There’s a little garden off to one side with a bench in the middle, and it’s mercifully unoccupied.
We sit on the bench, and Alexandra takes a sip of her latte. Her tongue darts out to lick whipped cream off her upper lip, and I have to look away.
I’m sure she’s not trying to torture me.
I focus on the ground, and Alexandra’s words come back to me.
They’ll assume we slept together, but I couldn’t hold your interest.
Which is ironic, because this girl’s held my interest since she walked through my door.
And because of my interest—my inappropriate but uncontrollable interest—I told a lie that could hurt her badly.
I need to fix this. And I think I might see a way to do it.
I sneak a look at Alexandra, and I’m relieved to see that she’s taken care of the whipped cream situation.
“So I have an idea,” I tell her. “It may seem a little crazy, but hear me out.”
“Okay,” she says cautiously.
“I think you’re right about the gossip,” I say. “I could try to shut it down, but there’s no guarantee it would work.”
“Yep,” she agrees flatly.
“So, I thought, if you’re not already in a relationship . . .”
She shakes her head. “I’m not.”
I can’t hide my sigh of relief. “So what if we tell everyone we’re in a relationship? That way, we’d take control of the narrative, and no one could accuse us of sneaking around. We’d tell Heather Larkin and the chief of staff, so everything would be above board.”
Alexandra’s eyes widen in surprise. “Tell everyone we’re in a relationship . . . with each other?”
“Yeah. A relationship with a coworker is allowed, as long as you disclose it. You couldn’t be my admin assistant anymore, but I think you might still officially report to Heather anyway. So you could work for her directly, or she might reassign you to someone else.”
“But we’d just be pretending, right?” she asks. “We wouldn’t actually date, we’d just say that we were?”
“Of course, pretend,” I say quickly. “I mean, if you’re comfortable with it, we could go on a couple dates. So people think it’s a real relationship, and not just . . .” I trail off as I search for the best way to phrase it.
“A secretary sleeping with her boss?” Alexandra supplies.
“Yeah. But obviously I wouldn’t expect you to sleep with me,” I say in a rush. “Or anything physical.”
A faint blush creeps across her cheeks. “Obviously,” she agrees.
“But we could eat lunch together sometimes,” I suggest. “And maybe play tennis again.”
The corner of her mouth lifts a little. “You want a rematch, huh?”
“Of course I do,” I admit. “I don’t like losing. And this way, when people ask about our relationship we’ll have something to tell them.”
Alexandra chews her lip thoughtfully. “How long would it last?”
She’s actually considering it. “How long do you think would be reasonable?” I ask.
“A couple of months, maybe? That way, it’ll seem like more than a fling. Unless you think that’s too long—”
“No, it’s fine,” I assure her. “Should we say three months? That would take us to the middle of August.”
“Yeah,” she says with a nod. “That sounds good.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. Under the circumstances, it’s probably the best option.” She smiles a little. “If we can make people believe it.”
“Why wouldn’t they believe it?”
She rolls her eyes, like she can hardly believe I’m making her spell it out. “You saw the look on Nina’s face when you said I was your girlfriend. You’re a surgeon, and I’m an admin assistant.”
Alexandra was worried people would think we’d slept together, but she’s not sure they’ll believe we’re in a relationship. She thinks she’s not good enough, and that bothers me. A lot.
I almost point out that Peter Tate didn’t have any trouble believing she was my girlfriend, but I realize how she might interpret that. That a man would believe it, because she’s young and hot. That her appeal is entirely physical.
And that’s not true at all. Sure, she’s gorgeous, but she’s also damned entertaining. I still laugh when I read the texts she sent at Heather’s meeting, when she suggested I say I was saving up for a hamster.
For the past couple weeks, talking to her has been the highlight of my day.