Seducing Chase (5 page)

“If you really think so, why don’t you talk to Doug about it? Or even Nate?”

Wrinkling her nose, Val answered, “I’d look weak. I’ll do the best I can. Other than that, screw ’em.”

“There’s the Val I know and love.” Stacy winked and Val laughed. Her friend paused for a moment and then said, “Honey, I’m gonna be straight with you about something. You haven’t dated much in the past couple of years, and when you did, you went for ‘safe’ guys. Not a one of them could I see you getting serious about.”

“So?” She knew she sounded defensive, but her hackles were up from everything that had happened already.

“So…maybe another reason Nate bugs you so much is because you finally feel like you might’ve met your match.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?” One of Stacy’s eyebrows rose. “Just give him a chance. Maybe he’ll surprise you.”

“Doubtful.”

Their dinners arrived and they dug in. Val changed the topic and concentrated on listening to Stacy regale her with tales of her nieces and nephews, pushing the hospital and especially Nate to the back of her mind with ruthless single-mindedness.

Wednesday morning dawned sunny and warm, and as Val drove into
work
she was amazed how harmless a day could look. She had no idea what to expect after yesterday’s press conference.

When she arrived, there was a message from Doug asking to see her and Nate. Hardly a shocker. She settled into the guest chair with her ever-present legal pad and waited for Doug to get off the phone. Nate sat next to her, and she could smell just a whiff of light cologne, the same one he’d been wearing when they’d gone out to dinner and he’d kissed her. She pressed her thighs together against the torrent of heat coursing through her. The cologne didn’t overpower his natural male scent, and she found herself leaning toward him to fill her nostrils with the musk.

This morning he was sporting a dark-purple shirt with the same color tie and black dress pants. She hadn’t eaten breakfast yet and he looked better than the chocolate croissant waiting back in her office. Val didn’t want to like him. He was screwing up her plans. But something about him drew her, and no matter how hard she wished for that something to go away it only got stronger.

Doug hung up and looked at them, anxiety and resignation showing in his gaze. His eyes were ringed by circles and the poor guy appeared to have aged ten years since Saturday. “We’ve got a final tally for how much Dr. Godlowski took, and it’s not pretty. Four point seven million dollars.”

Nate whistled and Val dropped her chin to her chest before taking a deep breath and lifting her head again. They’d known the amount would be high, but this was beyond even what she had conceived in her darkest moments. Would the hospital that was so much a part of her life even be able to survive something of this magnitude?

“Additionally, our legal department received word certain donors are threatening a class-action lawsuit against the hospital for gross negligence.” Val then looked up at the ceiling, willing a tornado to come along and sweep her away as Nate swore softly.

Knowing there was no natural disaster on the way, just one of a greedy, weak doctor’s making, she leveled her gaze at Doug. “What do you need us to do?”

“There’s more.”

“You’re kidding.”

Doug laughed, but there was no humor in it. “I wish I was. Last night before I left I spoke with NIH. They’re suspending awarding of grant dollars to us until their investigation is concluded.
All
grant dollars.”

Val groaned, her stomach churning, and even Nate shifted in his seat, shaking his head. She glanced over at him, thinking he was probably regretting agreeing to help out.

“All right. Well, there’s nothing we can do about the NIH investigation except try to keep it quiet and cooperate with them,” Val said. “And hope the other researchers don’t freak out too much. I’d be hard-pressed not to if I was them. But as far as the other stuff…”

Nate spoke up. “Confidence in the hospital is eroding, and fast. I’m guessing that not only are you going to experience a noticeable drop in donations, but also in patients.”

“Yes, I expect we will,” Doug answered.

“So you need to go even more on the offensive. I’d suggest buying time on the three or four major local networks and running an infomercial. You should also buy ad space in the local newspaper for the next several weeks and probably do some radio spots too. In them, have your other research efforts front and center to show that no matter what happens, their work is still progressing. You need to convince the average consumer that the hospital can be trusted. Find five or six promising studies and blast the results everywhere you can.”

“Those are all good ideas. Val?”

“Yes?”

“Do you have any other ideas?”

Val briefly glared at Nate. “Get some patients to do video or audio testimonials. Put them up on the website and include them with the TV and radio ads. We need more than just the doctors and researchers—we have to show that regular people still think CCC is the best place for their cancer treatment, despite our recent difficulties.”

Doug nodded. “Great idea.”

Nate didn’t say a word and Val considered jamming the heel of her boot into the top of his foot, just to see him wince. The guy was almost unflappable. “Anyway, I’ll go back to my office and start getting the ad space purchased and the air time reserved. I’ll also get in touch with the AV staff to let them know we’re going to need their services. Nate, since you seem to be so good at it, can you begin crafting talking points for use in these?” She felt better being the one giving orders, rather than receiving them, and she even threw a smile Nate’s way—one with teeth. Two could play at this game. He raised an eyebrow.

“Of course. I’m at your disposal.”

Val barely contained a childish retort. “Doug, are we all set for now?”

“As much as we can be. Thanks for everything.”

“Not a problem. It
is
my job, after all.” That was an uncalled-for dig and she knew it, but couldn’t seem to stop the words. She rose and turned to Nate. “You coming?”

“I hope so.”

Val narrowed her eyes briefly, but Nate’s expression betrayed nothing. Deciding to ignore what she was sure was a deliberate double entendre, she strode to the door of the office and out into the hall. She and Nate didn’t talk on the walk back to the PR department, but she was intensely aware of him next to her—the heat radiating off his body, the way he kept stealing glances at her. When they reached her door, she unlocked it and went into her office. “Let me know if there’s anything you need.” She’d intended the remark to be an obvious brush-off, but Nate apparently wasn’t deterred. He walked in after her and shut her office door.

“So when are we going to talk about what happened?”

Val toggled her mouse to wake up her laptop, avoiding his gaze. “How about never?”

“How about right now?”

“Nate, we have work to do.”

“I know.”

“So why don’t you leave and let me do it?”

“Why won’t you give me the time of day? You responded to that kiss. You can’t fake a reaction like that.”

“Look, we’ve got a long day ahead of us. I don’t have time to massage your ego about why I’m not interested in you.”

“Not interested…” Nate murmured.

Turning away from him again, Val typed in her password. “Yes. Not interested.”

“I think you are.” He rose and rounded the corner of her desk before swiveling her toward him.

The look on his face made it clear he wasn’t going to allow her to keep denying the attraction. Maybe if she admitted to it he’d leave her alone. “Maybe I am, but this can’t happen.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re working together. And then you’re leaving.”
And you make me feel different than any other man I’ve met.

“All the more reason to enjoy ourselves while we can.”

He knelt and his arms, thick with sinewy muscle, snaked around her waist, hauling her to him. She let out a little whimper she hardly recognized as coming from her, and her breathing became labored. Her body, seeming to recognize his even as her mind fought against the attraction, melded with his. As Nate’s mouth descended on hers, she tried to remember why this was a bad idea.

Her heart hammered in her chest, as his tongue demanded entrance to her mouth. She opened without thought and he gave a grunt of pure male satisfaction as his kiss possessed her. Nate rose, pulling her out of her chair at the same time, and lifted her into his erection, pushing one thick thigh between her legs as best as he could with her skirt in the way. When the hard length of him brushed against her, she moaned and heard an answering growl from him. He was so hot; scorching her from the inside out.

Nate shifted, reaching a hand up to grasp the back of her head to tilt her mouth to his liking. Sinking in even farther, he dragged another moan from her mouth as his tongue continued its exquisite torture. With the other hand he grabbed her knee and pulled upward until her skirt rode up and the heat at the juncture of her thighs met his groin. Pushing into her again, he bit her lower lip and then laved over it with his tongue.

Val heard the noise of her colleagues walking past her closed office door and was jerked back to reality. Reaching her hands between them, she pushed him away and sank back into her chair, wiping her hand over her mouth. Nate staggered backward and then caught himself on her credenza, breathing hard. He moved toward her once more, but she held up her hand. “Stay where you are.”

Nate blew out a harsh breath. “If that’s what you really want, I’ll respect that.”

“I can’t believe I just let that happen here.”

“You wanted me,” he argued.

“Yes, I can’t disagree with that. But we’re at work! I think it’s time you go back to your office. We can pretend this kiss never happened. It’s better that way.”

“If you’re asking me to leave, I’ll go. But there’s no way in hell I’m gonna forget it happened.” Spearing her with a heated look, he then opened her office door and walked out.

Val fanned herself. Why did she keep allowing him to kiss her? She needed to get her head in the game and this wasn’t helping. And even worse, taking chances like she just had during the workday? There was something compelling about Nate. She couldn’t even put her finger on it, but Val would need to be on her guard or she’d be shoving Nate to the floor to have her wicked way with him, colleagues be damned.

He wouldn’t mind.
She shuddered.
But I would. Or at least I
should.

Sighing, she turned her chair back to her desk and pulled up her file on media buys.

*****

Nate returned to his own small, nondescript office and closed the door behind him, then adjusted himself quickly. Good thing that suit jacket had been there or he might’ve embarrassed himself on the walk down the hall from Val’s office.

Val fascinated him. She wasn’t conventionally pretty, more like exotic. Maybe that’s what he liked about her. He wondered idly if she had any Asian in her heritage. It would explain the black hair and the shape of her eyes. She was a tiny little thing too, but full of fire. He’d love to get her into bed to see if she was as much of a tiger there as she was in how she dealt with him out of it. Nate hadn’t had this much fun at work in ages.

Sinking into the uncomfortable desk chair, he pulled his laptop toward him. He’d agreed to write talking points, but now he realized they hadn’t talked about how long the TV or radio spots would be. Picking up the phone, he dialed Val’s extension. She answered, sounding breathless, and he smiled.

“Hey. We never talked about length for these spots. I need to have some idea for the talking points.”

“Oh. Yeah, that would help. Hang on.” He heard the clicking of her fingernails over her keyboard and then she came back on the line. “One minute for radio, five minutes for television. That’s what we’ve done in the past and I see no reason to deviate from that.”

“Got it, thanks.”

Hanging up, he went to work crafting the message. This was one of his favorite parts of his job, figuring out exactly what should and shouldn’t be said to bring about the desired result. After a solid couple of hours of work and several consultations with Val, he had a working script for both spots, in several different iterations so they wouldn’t all sound the same. By the time he finished, his stomach was rumbling like a thunderstorm in July. Rising from his chair, he closed his eyes and stretched his arms over his head. He’d removed his suit coat earlier to concentrate on his writing and it felt good to be less constricted. When he opened his eyes again, Val was standing in the doorway to his office, staring at him.

Nate fought to keep a triumphant smile off his face as he asked, “Did you need something from me?”

“N-no. I was just–” She motioned behind her. “Going to the cafeteria to grab some lunch.” She blew out a breath that ruffled her bangs and it was getting more and more difficult to maintain a straight face. “Anyway, did you want me to grab you something?”

I’ve got something for you to grab.

Nate considered voicing that opinion, but decided that wouldn’t help his case.

“I’ll come with.” He glanced up at her after grabbing his suit coat off the back of the chair. “If that’s okay.” He had a freakish need to keep this woman off-balance.

“Of course.”

“I’ll grab the printout of the talking points and we can go over them while we eat.”

Val nodded and he couldn’t stop himself from squeezing her shoulder as he passed her on the way to the department’s printer. More than anything else, he wanted to sweep her into his arms again and show her exactly how much he wanted her. But that would have to wait until later. Not much later, though. He wasn’t going to be around forever. She could hide like a scared kitten now, but he’d coax her out soon. All he needed was the proper bait, and he had a feeling more of those kisses they’d shared might be it.

They walked down to the cafeteria, bought their lunches, and then found a table off to the side. As he sliced into his chicken a la king, he took a moment to let his gaze rove over Val. Today she wore a long, black, suede skirt with black heels. Val wore a lot of black, but it complemented her coloring. On top she wore a red V-neck sweater. He knew from their kiss earlier that the material was soft as a lamb’s wool and his fingers itched to stroke it and, by extension, her again. Shaking his head to clear it, he began to speak.