Chapter 19
NATHAN
After Zoe slipped away to the bathroom, Nathan kept talking with Marco.
The older doctor had a lot of interesting stories about growing up in a big Italian-American family, starting his practice in Brooklyn, and taking off as a celebrity.
He talked a lot, which was good, because it meant that Nathan didn’t have to say as much.
He listened, nodded, smiled, and added comments in all the right places.
“Oh, and as an aspiring TV star, there’s someone else you should meet,” Marco said. He waved to a young woman with blond hair and big blue eyes, who smiled and came over. “Doctor Nathan Hale, this is Doctor Tory Stevens from the show Doc Tory.”
Nathan held out a hand to the doctor, who grinned at him. “Nice to meet you!” She was very peppy, which Nathan supposed she had to be — she was a pediatrician. Her show centered around her brave young patients as they faced, and overcame, illness and injury.
“Nice to meet you, too,” Nathan said. Zoe had told him to build connections, and he had a great potential connection with Tory.
“I think you know my PR professional, Zoe Devine?” Weeks ago, when Zoe was first pitching a collaboration with him, she’d mentioned working with Doc Tory, as well as a few other doctors.
“Zoe Devine?” Tory’s brow furrowed, and she shrugged, though her bright smile never slipped. “I’m not sure. How would I know her?”
Nathan suppressed a smile. Maybe Tory was as forgetful as she sometimes appeared on the show — she always saved her patients but often lost her keys or forgot to finish her makeup.
“Zoe’s your PR professional as well,” Nathan said. He paused, suddenly unsure. “Or maybe she isn’t anymore, but she was when you got started. She was the one who helped you set up your show.”
Tory laughed. “I’m not sure where you heard that, but it isn’t true. I worked with a big PR company out in LA, where my practice is.”
Nathan’s heart sank. After all this, was it really possible that Zoe had lied to him?
Nathan took off his glasses and started to polish them against his shirt.
Surely Zoe wouldn’t have lied. Maybe she’d worked at that PR company in LA — after all, she’d mentioned working with some big names in PR before recently starting her own business.
Or maybe, for some reason, Doc Tory was lying.
“What isn’t true?”
Nathan put his glasses back on in time to see Zoe come up beside him. She looked refreshed and gorgeous; he always liked her with her hair down. Now, there was a pit in his stomach, though, as he wondered if she’d lied to him.
“Well, Doc Tory here says that she doesn’t know you,” Nathan said, trying to keep his voice light. “But I thought you said you worked together.”
“I don’t recognize her. I’m sorry.” Doc Tory bit her lip. “But I work with lots of people, and I don’t always remember their faces.”
It was as good a reason as any, but when Nathan turned to Zoe, it all became clear. Her face had gone as pale as a sheet, and she wouldn’t meet his eyes. One of her hands had lifted to rub the top of her collarbone, the same gesture she’d made before when she was particularly stressed.
“Zoe,” he said, a tinge of disbelief still in his voice.
“Nathan.” She bit her lip and finally looked at him. Her brown eyes were filled with regret. “I—"
But Nathan wasn’t ready to hear whatever she wanted to say.
He’d staked his reputation, his career, and the future of his clinic on Zoe being an experienced professional who could help him.
Worse, if she was lying about her qualifications, what else was she lying about? Had she been manipulating him?
Had what happened between them even been real, or was that just another tactic to ensure he would remain her client?
Nathan turned on his heel and stormed away.
It was the wrong thing to do, and he knew it.
He should have waved off the misunderstanding, continued with his small talk, and confronted Zoe later.
But he couldn’t. Even though he’d ended things with Zoe, she was the first person in years, maybe in his whole life, who he’d felt this close to.
He’d respected her. He’d admired her. He’d trusted her. And she’d lied to him.
“Nathan!” Zoe hurried after him, though she was slower in her heels.
Nathan didn’t slow or look back. He headed straight for the main doors, brushing past the staff who were still letting guests in, and hurried onto the street.
Right away, a cab flew by just inches away from him, and he took a step back, his heart pounding.
He would never get used to the traffic here.
“Are you okay?” Zoe asked. She took his arm and pulled him back from the street.
Nathan jerked his arm free from her grasp and turned to her. He was fuming. “No, I’m not okay,” he said. “You told me that you’d worked with doctors like Doc Tory, and you lied. You manipulated me. You pretended we were friends, more than friends, and all the while, you were lying.”
“Nathan, please.” Tears formed in Zoe’s big brown eyes. “Give me a chance to explain.”
“No.” Nathan turned back to the street and lifted a hand to hail a cab. “You lied to me, Zoe. After all that, you lied to me. You had so many chances to come clean, but you didn’t.”
“I’m sorry.” Zoe’s voice broke. “I thought—”
“Please.” Nathan cut her off. “I can’t hear this. Not right now. I have a lot to think about, and I need space.”
“It was—” Zoe tried again, but a cab had arrived. Nathan jerked the door open a little too forcefully and got inside. He gave the name of his hotel to the driver as he closed the door behind him, leaving Zoe standing out on the street.
As the cab pulled away, he looked back at her. Her arms were clasped across her stomach, tears sparkled in her soft brown eyes, and she looked both beautiful and sad in the lovely dark blue dress she’d chosen for the event.
She looked as beautiful and sad as she had when she’d told him about her mother’s death. Had that been a lie, too? Had she sensed that Nathan was about to fire her and concocted a story to make him feel sorry for her? Nathan knew that wasn’t true, but he was so hurt that he almost believed it.
He faced forward again as the cab merged into traffic and headed towards his hotel.
He didn’t want to imagine that Zoe had been manipulating him the whole time, but how was he supposed to know?
She was a smooth-talking, charming, big-city professional, and he was a small-town doctor who trusted people and wanted to see the best in everyone.
No, Nathan told himself. She cared about you.
Not everything was a lie. But as much as he wanted to believe that, he wasn’t sure if it was true.
What he’d told Zoe was right: he needed space.
He needed time. Now that they had an offer on the way for the show, there was no reason to stay in New York.
He’d go back to the hotel, get his things, and take the first flight back to Vermont.
It was the only way forward.