Seducing Chase (2 page)

When Val got back to her desk her voicemail light was on. Sighing, she fell into her chair and plopped her legal pad down within easy reach. Staring at the phone, she bit her lip. Right now she’d rather have a root canal than call a million journalists back, only to give them no news. But already the news was leaking—it had been since a few hours after the doctor’s note was discovered—and there was no time like the present. The sooner she checked messages, the less time she would spend worrying about them. She picked up her pen, pressed the button for the speakerphone, then put in her voicemail password. The machine beeped and told her she had seven new messages.

The messages played and, after writing them down, Val decided she would only make one return phone call, hoping she could put off the others until she was given better instructions than “no comment”. Didn’t anyone outside of PR know that was a horrible way to handle things like this? “No comment” was how rumors and conjecture got thrown around. Come to think of it, she was surprised Nate, the PR guru, hadn’t insisted they say something else. Picking up the phone, she dialed the number on the pad in front of her.

When the call was picked up, she said, “Hey Fred, it’s Val.”

Fred Stansfield, the business reporter at the local newspaper, answered, “So what’s going on?”

Val countered with, “What have you heard?”

Fred chuckled. “Always trying to get the other guy to talk first, huh? That’s all right, I don’t mind. I heard your Dr. Godlowski made off with a boatload of cash. Any truth to that rumor?”

She didn’t bother to deny it. “It’s true, but the official word, while we try to figure out exactly what happened, is no comment.” When Fred groaned, she continued, “I know, I know. I’ll have more for you by tomorrow, I promise. I don’t suppose you’re willing to sweep this under the rug, at least for a day or two?”

“Are you kidding me? This is the biggest thing to happen to CCC since I’ve been working for the paper. You know we have to print the story, Val.
And
you know I’d rather print it with information coming straight from the horse’s mouth.”

“I know,” Val answered. “Listen, I’ll try to call you back later if I can.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

Val hung up and reached into her top drawer for the bottle of ibuprofen she kept there. Shaking two into her hand, she downed them with a swig of coffee. A knock sounded and she looked up, as Nate stuck his head into her office.

“Can I come in?” Val sighed and nodded, then watched as Nate folded his long, toned body into one of her guest chairs. “Listen, I think we need to talk. It’s vital we present a united front on this stuff or Doug’s gonna freak out even worse than he is right now.”

Her eyes narrowed. What was he playing at? Why should he care? “Okay…”

“So anyway, I thought we should have a couple of actionable steps right off the bat.”

Rolling her eyes as his corporate buzz-speak, Val answered, “All right. Like what?”

“That whole ‘no comment’ thing. I’m guessing you know it’s a bad idea.” To her irritation, she responded to his little smile with one of her own.
Do not get googly-eyed over the competition.

“Yes, and I already told Doug as much.”

“Maybe if he hears it from me it’ll sink in a little more.”

Val leaned back in her chair, folding her arms over her chest and piercing Nate with her stare. The bastard didn’t even blink. “Obviously you have his ear and I don’t.”

“Like Doug said, we go way back. It makes sense he trusts me. Then our first recommendation will be to get rid of the ‘no comment’ stance.” He winked—actually winked—and Val’s breath caught, as she realized what a twinkle in someone’s eye really looked like. It made Nate even more attractive, and she bit down on the side of her cheek to distract herself. “See how easy it is to work together?”

A nervous laugh escaped her. “Yeah, easy.”

“Seriously. Can we also agree we need to act immediately? I don’t want rumors floating around when we could be addressing the facts.”

“Yes, I agree. The news has already spread. I don’t even know how so many people found out about it so quickly, but I’ve been getting calls since Saturday night, many of which I haven’t returned yet, since Doug hadn’t solidified a course of action. I’ve been working behind the scenes doing what I can in the interim.”

“Good, good. I would like to know who’s contacted you. Doug wants to see both of us again in a little while. Can you bring a list to the meeting? That way we can figure out who to get back to first and who can be put off.”

“Sure.”

“You’re suddenly very agreeable.”

I don’t have a choice.
Val shrugged, not meeting his eyes. “We’re working together and it won’t help to be at odds with each other. And like Doug said, we’re all on the same side.”
I need you to leave before I decide we really are and start to like you.
A relationship with Nate would be a waste of her time and quite possibly cause permanent damage to her career if the affair came to light.

“Yes, we are.”

Her phone rang. It was Doug’s secretary, asking her to meet him and Nate in Doug’s office in an hour. Nate left to check into his hotel and, after making the list he’d requested, Val tried to work on some other projects and ignore her ringing phone, letting her calls go to voicemail since she had nothing to say yet anyway. The clock crept toward the top of the hour and she was finally able to make her way to Doug’s office for the second time that day.

Nate and Doug were both already there. Val moved past Nate to the small table near the windows, setting down her pad and phone before seating herself. Doug and Nate also sat, with Doug at the head of the table and Nate directly across from her. It was less intimate than her office, but not much better for her sanity.

Right in my line of sight with his infuriating, suddenly reasonable, hot self. Awesome.

“First of all, Nate, you need to know the facts. This is such a mess—it could take down the entire hospital if we don’t handle the situation correctly.” Nate glanced at Val with a question in his eyes and Val shrugged. Doug was probably being over-dramatic, but better that than blasé, and if Nate was going to help he needed to take this stuff seriously too. “Our state and federal funding has been cut fifty-six percent in the past two years. We rely on grants and donations to keep our research department going, so something like this is a huge deal and potentially very damaging to the reputation of the hospital.”

“I understand that, and I’ll do everything I can to help you. Now, I spoke to Val briefly and we have a couple of items we want to start with. First, ‘no comment’ is not only ineffective, but oftentimes does more harm than good. If you aren’t trying to hide anything, why won’t you comment? Trust me. You don’t want the press to think you’re hiding something. They’ll come after you like a starving dog to a bone.” Doug nodded.
Unreal.
In a few sentences Nate had done what Val hadn’t been able to in the hours of meetings yesterday. She’d said the same thing to Doug, but he’d stubbornly stuck to the “no comment” policy. Val’s jaw clenched and Nate continued. “Secondly, we need to start addressing this immediately. It’s already gone more than half a business day with no one crafting the message.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Doug answered.

“Good.” Nate motioned toward Val. “I asked Val to bring a list of all the media inquiries she’s received thus far, so we could prioritize who we’re getting back to. One thing—I shouldn’t be a public face in this. If the press finds out I’m here they’re likely to think this is a much bigger deal than you want them to. You and Val make the most sense as spokespeople for CCC.”

Doug looked thoughtful. “That’s a good point.” He turned toward Val. “Do you have the notes from yesterday’s meeting?”

Val picked up her legal pad. “They’re right here, but I haven’t had a chance to transcribe them into the computer.”

“No problem. Can you just read them over for Nate’s benefit? Then we’ll go through the media requests.” Val read her notes aloud and they got down to business, making plans and prioritizing the contacts from the press. Nate offered to craft a series of press releases while Val got to work on the list.

“Do you have office space that Nate can use while he’s here?” Doug asked. “I’d put him somewhere up here but you guys are going to be working so closely I thought your department might better.”

My department? Near me?
Her heart rate sped up and her face grew hot. One corner of Nate’s mouth kicked up and she forced herself to ignore him. Finally she was able to recover enough to mumble, “Um, sure, there’s an empty office a few down from mine.”

Great. I sound like a complete idiot.
The thought of having him right down the hall filled Val with a mixture of dread and excitement. It was a toss-up which was winning.

“Great. Oh, and Nate? Don’t forget to give Karen all your tax information.”

Tax information? What exactly was Doug’s plan for the man? Had Nate been trying to lull Val into a false of security when he said he wasn’t after her job? But why would he do that?

Maybe instead of loving it, he’s getting sick of the rat race and wants to find a nice, steady job, preferably with his “old friend”.

Val and Nate left Doug’s office and made their way back to the building that housed the public relations department on the huge, sprawling campus. “I had no idea the hospital was this big.”

“Sixteen buildings, over a million square feet,” she responded from rote.

“Wow, that’s incredible.”

Val made no comment. Nate was probably trying to be friendly, but she wasn’t in the mood to accept his attempts. If Doug was hiring Nate she could kiss her position goodbye. Of course, why would some guy who no doubt earned a boatload from the celebrities he got out of scrapes want to come to Buffalo to work for a non-profit cancer hospital? It didn’t make sense. Even if he was tired of the hamster wheel, surely the man could find another job in New York City. Why would he uproot himself to move nine hours away from his current life? Thoughts whirled in her mind and Val was unable to focus on any one thing besides the possibility this was the end of her dream job.

They arrived on the floor where both public relations and marketing were located. “Well, here we are. It’s not much, as you no doubt noticed before.” Val indicated the empty office. “I’m sure it’s not nearly as grand as what you’re used to…”

“It’s fine. I won’t be around long enough for it to matter.”

Val appraised him. Nate had just given her the perfect opening. Leaning against the door in what she hoped was a casual way, she asked, “How long
do
you plan to stay?”

Nate glanced up from behind the desk, where he was stowing his laptop bag. “Just a few days, hopefully. Definitely no more than a couple of weeks at the very most. My regular clients expect me to be available to them.” Val couldn’t help the quirk of a smile that crept up on her face. “What?”

“Nothing.” He pinned her with a look, and she had to consciously stop herself from squirming under his scrutiny. It was obvious he wasn’t used to being the butt of jokes. Biting her lip, she cleared her throat. “It’s just…the way you said that made it sound like you were running an escort service.”

Nate threw his head back and laughed.

My God, he’s gorgeous. I hate him. I want him. I hate that I want him. He is
so
not my type. This won’t end well if I let it begin. Which I won’t. Waste of time. Bigger priorities.

Val’s heart raced and heat pooled in her belly. Nate abruptly stopped laughing and his gaze followed her hand, as she pressed it to her stomach, before rising to her breasts. Her body temperature kicked up yet one more notch. Finally he made it back to her face. Male interest glinted in his heated stare.

“I can assure you, I’m not running an escort service. I can also say with conviction that I’m not trying to take your job. I’m helping an old friend, that’s it. So you can stop worrying.”

“I wasn’t—”

Nate raised an eyebrow. Damn the man and his perceptiveness. Of course, even though she loved it, she could see how a man like Nate would be bored out of his skull by her job. He was used to the frenetic pace of New York City and living the high life. Slogging away his days at a nonprofit cancer hospital in Upstate New York probably wasn’t his idea of a good time.

“Yes, you were. It’s only natural. I’d feel threatened if I was in your position. But Val, I have no intention of trying to snatch your position from you. I’m doing what I can to help someone who’s helped me in the past. That’s it.” A brief shadow fell over his face before he smoothed out his expression.

She stood, silently regarding him.

“Have dinner with me.”
Where did that come from? Is he asking me out on a date?

She realized she was gaping at him and snapped her mouth shut, her brain whirling, trying to come up with an appropriate response. At a loss, she finally asked, “Dinner? Why?”

“Just as colleagues. You need to eat, right? And I don’t know my way around here at all.” He smiled at her. “Take pity on the poor, helpless man.”

Val barely suppressed a snort.

Pity? You’re not likely to need anybody’s pity. You don’t even live in the same universe as helpless.