Amorous (The Lincoln Series Book 1) (15 page)

“I do trust you.”

He smiled. “Obviously.”

She stepped into his arms and laid her cheek against his heart.

He raised her palm to his lips and kissed it softly. “I’ll never hurt you, Marie. Never.”

Marie loved her job but sometimes Mondays were no fun no matter how much you liked what you did for a living. AJ had returned from a meeting with the hospital administrator mumbling and slamming every door he could get his hands on, so she knew if she wanted to survive his mood she needed to anticipate what he needed and have it waiting for him while she nimbly stayed one step ahead of him, and out of his way. She glanced up when he quietly opened his door and walked to her desk.

“I need to apologize for my behavior this morning.”

Marie put her hands on the armrests of her chair and leaned back to keep from fainting. AJ had never apologized, not that she ever felt he needed to, but his display of anger this morning was nothing new. She expected the occasional loss of control considering the tremendous amount of responsibility he had and he never unleashed his anger on her or anyone undeserving. The doors and furniture, however, were another matter.

“I also want to tell you that I appreciate everything you do for me.”

“Thank you Dr. Carr—I mean AJ.”

He smiled. “You are getting better at that.”

She smiled in return. “I’m trying.”

“You are doing excellent work, Marie. I want you to know that.”

“You said that already.”

He shifted nervously. “No. I said I appreciate everything you do then I said you are doing excellent work. Those are two different things.”

Marie instinctively got up and poured him a cup of coffee.

“I get the feeling you’re trying to tell me something I’m not going to like.” She turned toward him and offered him the cup.

AJ took it in one hand and rubbed his temples with the other. He looked at her and said, “Thank you. Maybe we should talk about this in my office.”

A knot formed in her gut and she followed him through his door. She walked to the chairs in front of his desk and stopped. Was he going to let her go? She couldn’t think of anything else that would make him act this way. Did Dr. Jameson take her position out of the budget and now AJ had to tell her she was laid off? He just said she was doing a great job. Maybe he was going to give her a reference.

He sat on the end of his desk and set the coffee next to him. He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Please, Marie, sit down.”

She sat slowly and struggled to hide the shaking in her hands. She’d never been fired before and she felt like her world was going to end.

“I do not know if you are aware of this but apparently there are rumors going around the hospital that we are having an affair.”

Marie blinked and her thoughts came to a screeching halt. “What?”

“Douglas informed me this morning that he has launched a full investigation into my alleged abuse of power. He is convinced the rumors are true and he claims the only reason I am not on unpaid leave is the board would not approve his motion.”

“But what…who…”

She swallowed hard. Her relationship with Warren, according to AJ, was against company policy. If someone knew about her and Warren it wouldn’t take long for Dr. Jameson to find out about it and she could get fired.

“AJ—Dr. Carrington, I…”

“Marie, I am not telling you this to worry you. I will do everything I can to protect you but someone from Human Resources will be contacting you soon. I do not want you to feel uncomfortable about talking to them. Answer all their questions honestly. I will deal with any decisions they arrive at. If they misinterpret anything I have done I will deal with it.”

“But, you’re not the one who…” She fell silent.

He stood and paced to the windows. When he turned to face her he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

“Douglas is investigating me, not you. If they ask you anything that does not directly pertain to me or anything I may or may not have done, remind them of that. Otherwise, I want you to answer their questions honestly and concisely. Do not elaborate. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” He walked back to his desk and put on his suit jacket. “I need you to do something for me. Warren’s secretary is starting today. She is with HR right now and they will be sending her up when she is done with her paperwork. Warren is presenting at the trauma conference and I had agreed to get her settled in, but in light of what has happened this morning, I have arranged to meet with the board in an hour. Charles Anderson has asked me to meet with him before the other board members arrive so I will be heading there now.”

“Of course, I will show her around. Her computer was installed on Friday and IT called and requested notification when she arrives so they can set up her user ID and password.”

“You can reach me at Mr. Anderson’s office if you need anything.”

“Don’t worry, AJ, Tracy and I will be just fine. I think we can handle her first day on the job without a chaperone.”

“Why am I not surprised you already know her name?” He smiled. “Thank you, Marie. I knew I could count on you.”

****

Marie followed Janet into the sundrenched foyer of twenty-six St. August Lane. The huge house had been on the market for nine weeks and only one offer had been made. Janet mumbled something about the seller being a pain in her ass and if he would just learn to compromise, she wouldn’t have to waste the whole Sunday trying to sell it for more than what it was worth.

Janet led her down the hall into the kitchen. It was flooded with sunlight too and Marie drifted into a fantasy of Warren kissing her as the sun heated their bodies.

“This house is beautiful, Jan. How much does it take to buy a home like this?”

Janet arranged the last of her brochures on the counter and leaned against it with a sigh.

“Not as much as Mr. Duncan thinks he’s going to get for it.” She brushed a strand of hair from her brow. “But still more than I think it’s worth. The house is beautiful, but old. It needs a lot of updating like a new roof and a furnace. The location is what jacks up the price. It’s in the most prominent part of Lincoln so buyers are willing to spend a little more.”

“Then why isn’t it selling?”

“Because Mr. Tightwad wants eighty thousand more than the average value of houses in this neighborhood.”

“I’d love to have a house like this someday.”

“I thought you liked Warren’s house. This one is too prissy.”

“I do like his house, but I don’t think he’ll be putting it up for sale anytime soon.”

“He loves that house, Marie. It’s where he grew up. And if you like it too why would he sell it? You practically live there now anyway. Once you two get married you’ll only have a few things left to move.” She winked at her.

Marie walked to the window and looked out at the immaculately manicured landscape. “If that’s where we end up, then yeah. But it’s a little too soon to be planning a wedding. I just want to have a plan in case things don’t work out.”

Janet pinched her arm.

“Ouch! What the hell did you do that for?”

“To wake you up.”

“I am awake. I’m just trying to be realistic. I can’t assume he’s going to marry me.”

“Why not? Everyone else is.” She put her arms on her hips. “Marie, he loves you so much it’s practically tattooed on his forehead.”

Marie walked to the breakfast nook and sat at the table. “Well, he hasn’t told me he loves me.”

“That’s because he’s a man. He’s waiting for you to say it first.”

“Oh, no. I’m not going down that road.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The road where I confess my love for him and he jumps back and says,
that’s too much for me, honey. I’m just in it for the fun
.”

“Oh, come on. He spends every waking minute with you, Marie. And if he wasn’t working right now he’d be here following you around this house like a puppy.” Janet set out some cups next to the creamer and sugar. “He loves you. I just hope someday you will believe it.”

Marie dropped her chin into her hand and watched Janet make coffee. She wished she could believe it but she knew the minute she did, the spell would be broken and the humiliation would take over.

Janet pulled a soda from the refrigerator and handed it to her.

“I know you don’t believe it, Marie, just don’t give up on him. You two are meant for each other. He’ll admit it sooner or later.” She walked back to the counter and poured herself a cup of coffee. “How’s the investigation with you and AJ going?”

Marie opened her drink. “I have no idea. They finally interviewed me last week.”

“It’s about time. It seems like forever since AJ told you about it.”

Marie took a sip. “No kidding. It was four weeks almost to the day. I was afraid they had found out about me and Warren and were just gathering enough evidence to fire me instead. But apparently the people in HR don’t think much of Dr. Jameson so my guess is they just aren’t taking it very seriously. The woman who questioned me looked totally bored and asked me questions from a printed list.”

“What did she ask?”

“She wanted to know if Dr. Carrington had ever taken me to lunch or dinner that was not work related and if we had ever vacationed together.”

“That sounds pretty benign. Friends do those kinds of things. It doesn’t mean you’re sleeping together.”

Marie smiled. “That’s what I said. Then she looked at me and said she could make this easy. She asked me if we had ever had sex.”

Janet almost choked on her coffee. “Wow! I didn’t think they would ask you that unless you were filing harassment charges against AJ.”

“Yeah, it surprised me too. I stammered a bit but she seemed to believe me. She took a lot of notes and then sighed. I thought she was going to ask me about Warren next, but then she recited some company policy about how the hospital is obligated to protect me and make sure Dr. Carrington wasn’t using his position and influence in the company to force me into anything inappropriate.”

“Did she say if they were done with the investigation?”

“No, but I can’t imagine what else they would need to do, so it must be.” She smiled coyly. “She did tell me something off the record.”

“Oh, do tell. That’s always the good part.” Janet’s face lit up.

“She said Jameson has filed so many false accusations against AJ that he has enough grounds to file a harassment complaint against him.” She took another sip of her soda. “I think she’s hoping I’ll convince AJ to do it.”

“What makes you say that?”

“That woman had no love for Dr. Jameson. She couldn’t have been more obvious about it if she had it crocheted to her sweater. She also mentioned, with a gleeful look in her eye, that she was looking forward to ‘grilling’ Dr. Jameson later that afternoon.”

Janet sat across from her. “My mom would love to do that too. She worked for Jameson when I was little. He ran the pharmacy on tenth. She never gave me any specifics but she really doesn’t like him.”

“I don’t know anyone who does.”

Marie heard the front door open and muffled voices carry down the hall as the first potential buyers came in.

Janet winked and stood up. “Time to sell this overpriced castle.”

****

Warren scrubbed the frying pan from dinner as he thought about everything that was eating at his conscience. He never cared much for Mondays but this one was turning out to be worse than most.

HR had questioned Tracy this morning about the alleged affair between AJ and Marie. They had spoken to her over the phone since they only had a few questions for her. She had been honest as he had instructed her to do, so he wasn’t surprised when she had mentioned that Marie was dating someone but has never mentioned his name. She followed her statement up with her belief that she was sure it wasn’t Dr. Carrington because he and Marie were too “businesslike” with each other.

Warren had smiled to himself when she had answered their questions and he thought they were finished. Marie was going to be in the clear. But then Tracy felt the need to elaborate and tell them she had seen Dr. Jackson flirt with Marie a few times. She told them she couldn’t understand why all the gossip mongers suspected Dr. Carrington when,
‘If I didn’t know better, I’d put my money on Dr. Jackson.’
That, of course, led them straight to his door.

Their questions were blunt and direct, and he lied through his teeth. He hated all this secrecy. He wanted to tell the world Marie belonged to him, but that would only tear them apart. He was having enough trouble dealing with AJ and Jake trying to come between them. He wasn’t about to go up against the administration of Central Valley.

Then there was the fact that Marie wanted to move so she could start saving money to buy a house. Why the hell did she want to buy a house? Wasn’t his nice enough for her? He had thought about asking her to move in with him but the need to keep their relationship a secret had held him back.

If he asked her now she’d probably turn him down since she seemed to prefer the overpriced mansions in the rich part of town, especially the one Janet had shown her yesterday. That part bothered him more than anything. He couldn’t afford to buy her a house like that, but Jake could.