Sex, Lies & Sweet Tea Read online

  “Okay,” I said, slowly making my way to her door. “It’s really his assistant that wants to make my life harder.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “Stacy Little.”

  “Little… Little…” she paused, searching her mind to place her. “If you’re speaking of who I think you are, that woman is a twit.”

  “And how did you come by your information?” I asked, unable to contain my laughter.

  “Put it this way, if leather were brains, she wouldn’t have enough to saddle a June bug.”

  “Don’t worry. I can handle myself and her.”.

  “That’s my girl,” Mimi smiled. “Now about this boy…”

  “I’ll come back later today and we can chat some more about what an amazing kisser he is.”

  “You are in trouble, baby girl.”

  “I don’t care,” I exclaimed, changing my expression to a serious one. “I never thought anyone would ever kiss me like that again. I’ll let it run its course, but mark my words Mimi, it’ll come to an end.” I blew her a kiss of my own and walked out her door.

  “T-R-O-U-B-L-E,” Mimi shouted after me.

  I stuck my head back in her doorway. “I love you.”

  I walked with an extra skip in my step, and decided to stop in the executive break room for a bagel. Carbs were every girl’s enemy, but today I was celebrating.

  The break room was still new to me, and I was amazed at the spread on display for the doctors and executives. A girl could get fat quick around here.

  I spread strawberry cream cheese on half of a perfectly toasted bagel and made myself a cappuccino at the coffee station. Letting my mind wander, I waited for the machine to do its extraordinary coffee thing and thought about Mac.

  I still couldn’t believe I let him kiss me. What happened to me? I’d let reason and sensibility fly out the door without giving them a second thought. What would Daniel think? Damn. Now I felt like I was cheating on my dead husband. I needed to get my coffee and get to work. It was time to stop both the guilt trip and the fantasy.

  I picked up the cup and turned only to feel my foot slide from under the weight of my body and gracelessly kick into the air. “Whoaaaa….” With a resounding thud and a blow to the back of my head, I found myself staring at the ceiling. My world turned dark and my head pounded, ringing my ears with each wave of pain.

  Prying open my eyes, I found a handsome man standing over me dressed in white. The pain rang out with each beat of my heart and I lost him, my field of vision now full of stars and white light. I blinked, doing my best to breathe through the throb of my brain. There he was again. I closed my eyes tightly and mumbled out one word. “Mac?”

  “Are you okay? That was quite a fall.”

  The deep voice was coming from inside a tunnel. I desperately tried to focus. Blinking over and over, I finally came to realize what’d happened. I was flat on the floor of the break room. Embarrassed at what I now understood to have happened, I did my best to sit up.

  “Hang on.” The voice was soft and deep—very deep. “Don’t go anywhere just yet.”

  Suddenly the flashes of light were back. I saw only white, but heard the voice loud and clear. My head continued to pound, and as I slowly came back to the world around me, I could feel the cold tile floor under my hands.

  “Can you tell me your name?”

  “Sam,” I whispered.

  “Sam, can you open your eyes for me?”

  I blinked hard. Coming into focus was a very handsome man with deep blue eyes and shiny black hair. It was combed straight back and perfectly wavy. I grabbed his arm, noticing even in my stupor, his bicep muscle was hard against my hand.

  “Sam, I’m Dr. Giles. You slipped and hit your head. I want you to lie here for just a moment.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I stammered. “Did I trip? Did I make a mess? Is my dress over my head?”

  “I think you slipped on a puddle of water,” he replied. “And don’t worry about the mess.” He leaned in closer to my ear to whisper. “I covered you with my lab coat, you’re not exposed.”

  My head was clearing, and it was all becoming very real. A fabulously handsome man watched me wipeout and had to cover my bare ass with his coat. I was mortified, and yet grateful I’d chosen cute panties this morning. “I can sit up,” I groaned. “I think my ego is bruised more than my head.”

  Placing his cool hand behind my head, he helped me to sit. My brain was throbbing and the pain rang from the back of my neck to my face. “Let me take a look in your eyes again, Sam. You could have a concussion.”

  As I focused, I got a better view of him. Good Lord, he was handsome. The bright blue of his eyes contrasted magnificently with his dark skin and hair. His closely shaven beard made him look mysterious and gorgeous, like a GQ model. He waved a small penlight over my eyes and leaned away as if to get a better look at the entirety of me. “I think you’re going to be okay,” he said, holding me at arm’s length, both of his massive hands gripping my shoulders. “Can you stand?”

  “Yes,” I breathed, embarrassed now that I could fully appreciate how striking he was, not to mention the crowd surrounding me.

  “I just wanted a cappuccino,” I joked.

  Taking the majority of my weight against his hard and muscular body, he helped me to my feet and gave me a bewitching smile. It was then I noticed the coffee all over his white lab coat. King Giles, M.D. was stitched in red over the top pocket filled with tongue depressors and notecards.

  “I’m so sorry, Dr. Giles,” I apologized. “I’m afraid I’ve ruined your coat.”

  “I have plenty of them,” he announced. His voice was deep, velvety and full of soul. “And please, call me King.”

  I looked at my dress and found one tiny drop of coffee.

  “I don’t know how I managed to not spill that all over me.”

  “It’s actually quite impressive,” he laughed, raising a sexy eyebrow.

  “Sam Peterson,” I said, extending my hand. “Executive acrobat and barista.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sam,” he replied with a big smile. Shaking my hand firmly, he lingered before letting go. I noticed, and was positive that was his intent. “You must be new.”

  “Just started a couple of days ago. I work in the administration office with Mr. Miller. I’m the new executive head hunter… recruiter.”

  “Ah.” He listened to me without breaking his gaze as he held his white doctor’s coat to his side. He clearly didn’t want to get coffee on his well-fitting pinstriped pants and French cuffed shirt. It was then I noticed his cufflinks.

  “Caduceus?” I asked.

  “Oh, the cufflinks? They were a present—a long time ago.”

  “The staff carried by Hermes,” I whispered.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “The winged staff with the two snakes,” I explained, pointing to his wrists.

  “Yeah, well some of my friends thought after four sleepless years of torture, I needed something to remind me I graduated from med school.”

  I nodded. “Did you know,” I asked, taking his wrist in my hand and examining the cufflink closely. “That the medical symbol is actually Asclepius?”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Nothing, it’s just my Gran taught me a lot of Greek mythology. It’s a common mistake. Asclepius is actually the god of medicine. The staff of Hermes is more associated with alchemy and magic.”

  “You’re very coherent for someone who just knocked their head. I’m impressed. Would you like me to work some magic and fix you another cappuccino?” King gave me a half-smile that made him look incredibly sexy and dangerous to a woman’s heart.

  “After that whole episode, I don’t think I need the added excitement of caffeine. I think I’ll just take a couple of Advil and get back to work.”

  “I’m here most of the day.” His voice was deep and sexy and the mere sound soothed my aching mind. “Come find me if your head continues to hurt or you start to
feel nauseous. It could be a concussion. I don’t know magic, but medicine? That I know.”

  “I will.” I nearly whispered the word, anxious to leave the embarrassing scene and my unsolicited mythology lesson behind.

  “In fact,” King added. “I want to give you three words to remember.”

  “What?”

  “Three words. I want you to remember them for me.”

  “Okay.” I tilted my head and gave him a suspicious look.

  “Don’t make a face at me. This is important. Repeat after me: Rose.”

  “Rose.” I had to smile. He was truly a magnificent man and gazing up at him was making me weaker in the knees than the blow to the head.

  “Dinner.”

  “Dinner.”

  “Hill.”

  “Hill,” I repeated with a final nod.

  “Okay, Sam,” he said, passing the custodial staff who’d been called to clean up. “Page me if you need anything.”

  “I will. Thank you. Um,” I hesitated as he waited at the door for me to complete my thought. “Dinner?”

  “Are you asking me to dinner?” he asked with a boyish grin, causing his eyes to twinkle.

  “No.” I could feel all the blood rushing to my throbbing face as I blushed. “I think I’m still a little confused.”

  “I’ll check on you later.”

  I waited for him to leave so I could wallow in my embarrassment for a moment before going back to my office. In two days, I’d managed to knock out, take down and fall all over two of the hottest men I’d ever met. Autumn Valley may not be all that bad after all.

  *

  The administration office was teeming with activity. Miller was holding court in the giant boardroom. Filled with lots of suits, I tried not to stare as I walked down the hall to my office.

  Settling in at my desk, I rubbed the back of my head to feel the new lump I’d acquired. I opened and closed the drawers, thinking maybe I had packed some aspirin from home with my essentials. Nothing. Then I remembered.

  I pulled my purse from the bottom drawer and found the Advil from Mac. I took two pills from the bottle and held it in my hand, recalling the night before.

  With the wind in his sandy-colored hair as we drove with the top down, Mac looked incredibly hot in his aviator sunglasses. He was so handsome, and that Adam’s apple made my heart race. My stomach flipped a little as I thought about how he managed to be adorable and sexy at the same time. He cleverly took me to his own beautiful overlook to watch the sunset. And what about that kiss? Did I want him to kiss me? He was so smooth. Maybe too smooth for me.

  I shook my head and tried to get him out of my mind. I needed to concentrate on work. I logged into Pandora and chose Sam Cooke Radio, still lingering on the thought of handsome Mac. I’d been forced to wade through a lot of crap after Daniel died, and it was nice to be anxious for a good reason. I decided I would just allow myself to be happy in my fantasy of Mac Callahan.

  “Stacy,” I called into the intercom.

  “Yes?” she replied, her voice high and as annoying as ever.

  “Can you come into my office, please?”

  “Yes.”

  I’d never seen so many hand-written notes and receipts and I still didn’t have the recruitment plans I needed, not to mention the physician contracts. I wanted documents and answers. Pronto.

  “Yes,” she chirped as she came into my office and took a seat.

  “I feel like I’m missing a bunch of files,” I explained as I gestured to the three stacks of paper she’d left for me. “I need you to pull some of the pieces of this puzzle together for me.”

  “You have everything in front of you, Sam.”

  “You mean to tell me there are no other records of this LLC besides what you have given me? There are no physician contracts? Where are the receipts for all the entertaining while Mr. Miller was recruiting?” I rattled off my questions with precision, not pausing for her answers.

  “Sam.” Stacy smiled and glared at me at the same time. It was a classic Southern belle move. You never knew if you were about to be praised or cut into small pieces, put in hefty bags and tossed into the nearest swamp. “You have it all.”

  “I need the name and number of the attorney who writes the contracts. I want copies of everything that has gone out of here.” She wanted to be nasty, but I was about to pull rank.

  “I can get that for you. And I can see if there are other copies of the contracts. But Mr. Miller keeps the information confidential. The doctors are very private,” she insisted, giving me a condescending tone and attitude. “Mr. Miller has always kept the recruiting very close to the belt. I’m surprised he hired you. No offense.”

  “None taken,” I replied smoothly, hiding my snarl under a sweet smile. “I’m just here to straighten out a few years of chaos so I can get to the task of recruiting a couple of new physicians for the expansion.”

  “How did you know about the expansion?” Stacy asked with surprise. “I mean, that’s strictly board business. I know because I take minutes at all the board meetings.”

  “Stacy,” I quipped with thinly veiled politeness. “I know because I can read. I’ve gone through everything Miller gave me and I have a brain.”

  “I’ll get you what I can.” Stacy rose from her chair. She’d had enough of me.

  “Thank you.”

  I didn’t know I’d be dealing with thousands of slips of paper and receipts and no clear idea as to how they recruited new doctors. I could start fresh and do my own thing, but something told me Miller and Miss Whish-Whish Pantyhose would never allow me to deviate from the prior approach. And then it occurred to me that Dr. Giles could help me better understand the process—at the very least, from the doctor’s perspective.

  I found his phone and email address in the online company directory, wrote it on a Post-it note and placed it on my screen so I would remember to send him a note.

  What were my three words again? Hill, dinner, and something else. Crap, maybe I do have a concussion. And then it came to me. “Rose!” I shouted aloud.

  “Are you feeling okay, Sam?” Miller was lurking in my doorway.

  “I was just trying to remember something.”

  By the look on his pale face, he was obviously lost in his own hell. “Stacy tells me you are looking for some records that might not exist.”

  “How can they not exist?” I asked. “You’ve had to file with the IRS at some point, and all the expenses of the LLC would’ve been itemized by your accountant. I just don’t understand why I can’t see all of them.” With a heavy sigh, I pulled out my leather book to document the time and day I made the request.

  “Sam,” he began, stepping into my office and sitting in the chair across from me. “Let me explain something to you. I need you to make the business of the PDC more understandable for the board of directors. I don’t need you to investigate every single receipt that goes through it. Are we on the same page?”

  He was looking me square in the eye, something new for Miller, who usually saved his gaze for my cleavage or backside. “Yes, sir. I will give the expense items back to Stacy.” I knew I was pissing him off, but I didn’t care. I decided to do my job to the best of my ability with what I had from this point forward.

  Miller nodded.

  “If the board has any questions about past recruiting records or contracts, they can talk with the accountants or you and Stacy,” I could see the oncoming bus that Miller and Miss Little would happily throw me under, and I refused to play victim.

  “Sam, you’re a talented young lady. Your track record as a recruiter is incredible. That’s why I hired you. But I have to deal with the doctors and the board of directors, and it’s a fine line I walk between the two. I’m here to keep everyone happy. Even Miss Little, if you know what I mean.”

  “I understand. I just want to do my job well, and I thought that meant knowing everything about PDC. But if I only need to recruit and leave the rest up to you, I can absolutely do that
.”

  Miller hesitated, rubbing the arms of the chair nervously. “I don’t want you to hang me out to dry, Sam. I want us to work together.”

  “I won’t hang you out, Mr. Miller,” I said, knowing the reverse was closer to the truth. “I understand the confidentiality agreements that go hand in hand with these contracts, but I need to deal in facts.”

  “I’m aware of your concerns, and I’ll do my best to gather everything we have.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I was going to break for lunch,” Miller said with a sigh as he stroked his basketball of a belly. “Would you care to join me?”

  “No, thank you,” I replied, anxious to get him and the smell of Brut aftershave out of my office. “I’m gonna check on my grandmother over lunch.”

  “Okay.” He rose to his feet and walked to the door. “Make me a list of what you are missing, Sam, and I’ll do my best.”

  “Thank you.” I feverishly wrote in my notebook: 4/24 List to Miller: Contracts, expenses, incidentals for last three years.

  I put aside my notebook and pulled the Post-it note from my screen.

  To: king.giles@­autumnvalleyhealthcare.org

  From: sam.peterson@­autumnvalleyhealth.org

  Re: Contract

  Dear Dr. Giles:

  I was wondering if I could possibly have a moment of your time in the very near future to discuss the recruitment process you experienced at Autumn Valley, including contract negotiations. Going forward, it would be most helpful if I had a feel for what new doctors are seeking in a contract, and any problems that could arise during the negotiation process.

  Regards,

  Sam Peterson

  P.S. Thank you again for coming to my aid this morning in the break room. Chivalry is not dead.

  “Sam?” Stacy’s voice was even more high-pitched and irritating over the intercom.

  “Yes.”

  “Something’s been delivered for you.”

  I surmised from her tone that she wasn’t bringing it back to me. “Okay, I’ll be right up.”

  Stacy was chatting with Chuck when I arrived in the office lobby. Hanging over her desk, he shamelessly flirted, unaware of my presence. “Oh, sorry, Miss Samantha, I didn’t see you standing there,” Chuck said with embarrassment. It seemed odd to see this ogre of a man blush, but it renewed my faith that all men had feelings, even if they never showed them.