Seduced by the Heart Surgeon

by Carol Marinelli

  ‘Then you have an issue,’ Zack said, and Freya blinked at his assertion. She had never met anyone so in command of themselves.

  ‘We’re going to be building your profile and reputation and for that we’d hope—’ James started.

  ‘Now there are two issues,’ Zack interrupted. ‘I don’t need my profile or my reputation to be built, they already speak for themselves.’

  ‘They do,’ James said. ‘But our partner, the Bright Hope Clinic, desperately needs funds. I see you’re keen to do some pro bono work.’

  ‘That’s the main attraction.’ Zack nodded. ‘Working on these cases with top-level facilities is an enticing prospect.’

  ‘How many charitable cases were you thinking of taking on?’ James asked.

  ‘One a week during my regular list and I’ll also do a full pro bono list one Sunday a month.’

  There was a lot of good that he could do in three months, Freya thought.

  ‘I’ve brought Freya in to discuss the PR side of things.’

  ‘I don’t get involved with any of that.’ Zack shook his head and looked at her and she recognised his voice. It was the one he had used on her that morning when they’d discussed the condom issue. He was now utterly engaged in work. Only Freya was scorching with embarrassment, because Zack was looking at her and talking to her exactly as if they’d never met. ‘If I come on board I won’t be doing interviews and happy smiley photos. I’m sure young Paulo won’t mind. I hear no other surgeon wants to touch him.’

  ‘Correct,’ James said.

  Paulo was five years old and had been brought to the Bright Hope Clinic from Mexico with his single mother, Maria. His complex cardiac problems meant that no surgeon would operate on him as it was very possible that he wouldn’t survive surgery.

  ‘It happens a lot.’ Zack nodded. ‘I take on high-risk patients that others refuse to go near.’

  ‘I’ve explained that to Freya,’ James said, ‘and I’ve spoken with my colleagues. We’re all agreed that we’re not involving ourselves in charity to fudge figures just to make us look good. We want to do some necessary work and that involves risks.’

  ‘I’d only operate if I thought there was a chance,’ Zack said, and James nodded. ‘I focus on the surgery,’ Zack continued, and turned to Freya. ‘That’s it.’

  He was arrogant, utterly immutable, and if Freya wasn’t so angry that he’d known who she was all along, she could possibly have jumped on his lap and started purring.

  She didn’t know how she could simultaneously be embarrassed and cross while also being impossibly turned on.

  ‘I work on short-term contracts and the patients benefit from that.’ Zack further explained his stance. ‘I might not be around to do the follow-up but they have my skill and attention in the operating theatre, or the OR, or whatever the terminology is you use here. In Nepal I was working in a field hospital so I can’t wait to use the amazing facilities here. I am up to date with technology and I am also very hands on with the basics...’

  Freya crossed her legs.

  ‘Will you consider extending your contract?’ James asked. ‘If things are going well?’

  ‘I’ll speak with you after a month.’ Zack conceded the smallest fraction. ‘If I can commit for another three months, I’ll let you know then. If I can’t commit to more than that it will give you time to start looking. I am, though, going to Australia for a couple of weeks in April.’

  ‘To visit family?’ James asked, and Freya blinked as Zack simply didn’t answer the question.

  Yes, they were being told that what Zack did in his own time was his concern only.

  And then Freya glimpsed again the joy of anonymity and the pain of it going wrong. Zack had told her in bed this very morning that he was running from stuff. Their gazes met briefly and then Zack flicked his away and she saw his neck stretch in slight discomfort.

  Oh, she wanted to know this man.

  ‘So, when could you start?’ James asked.

  ‘I just have to sort a couple of details out and then I can let you know.’

  Freya’s phone buzzed and James tensed. He loathed texts and Freya rolled her eyes at his familiar response. ‘It’s mine.’

  She glanced in her bag and saw that it was Mila.

  ‘Sorry about that,’ Freya said.

  ‘Do you have any questions for Freya?’ Jack asked.

  ‘I do but I’ll speak with her later,’ Zack said.

  ‘I...’ Freya was about to say she couldn’t hang around but she knew she was just putting off the inevitable. ‘Sure.’

  ‘I’ll send Zack through to you when we’re done.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Freya said. ‘It was nice meeting you, Zack.’

  Her voice was pleasant and her lips smiled, but her eyes told him what a bastard he was.

  She went into her office and her skin was crawling with embarrassment and she pressed her fingers into her eyes.

  This was, very possibly, going to be the longest three months of her life.

  ‘Freya?’

  She turned at the sound of Stephanie’s voice.

  ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Just...’ Freya took a breath. ‘A bit dizzy,’ she explained. ‘It was a big night last night.’

  ‘Sure,’ Stephanie said and handed over some files and then left.

  Great, Freya thought. Stephanie just loved to have her nose in everyones business.

  No doubt, that Freya was dizzy, would soon work its way back to James.

  Freya made the call she had just missed.

  ‘How are you?’ Mila asked.

  ‘You really don’t want to know,’ Freya said.

  ‘Oh, but I do.’ They both laughed. ‘I’ll have to prise it out of you later.’

  She’d better not! Freya thought.

  ‘I just wondered if there was any news about that surgeon for Paulo? I’ve got Geoff, his cardiologist, here now and he’s concerned.’

  ‘He’s in with James now. Let me...’ Freya glanced up as James and Zack came to the door. ‘I have to go,’ Freya said hurriedly. ‘I’ll call you back.’

  Zack noticed her cheeks redden and that Freya was flustered as she quickly ended the call.

  ‘All okay?’ James checked, because Freya was usually completely together, or did everything to appear to be.

  She was behaving very oddly today.

  ‘Of course it is,’ Freya said. ‘I thought you were giving Zack a tour.’

  ‘We’re going to do that at eleven. I’ve just got a patient that needs a quick review. If you can get started on the paperwork, and a head shot so that everything is in order, that would be great. We’ll also need you to write up a press release and let the world know we’ve got Zack on board.’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Oh, and I’ll ring the Bright Hope Clinic and see about getting the child looked at by Zack today,’ James said.

  ‘I can do that,’ Freya offered.

  ‘Do what?’

  ‘Arrange his transfer.’

  ‘Zack has to see the patient first.’ James frowned. ‘Since when did you start acting as a receptionist? I’ll leave Zack with you.’

  He walked out and Zack stood and watched as Freya picked up the phone.

  ‘Could you give me a moment, please?’ Freya asked.

  ‘Sure,’ Zack said, and stood there.

  ‘I meant I’d like a moment of privacy, please,’ she snapped, and Zack stared at her for a second before exiting her office, closing the door behind him.

  God, this morning was a disaster, she thought as she frantically called Mila back.

  ‘You haven’t told James about me yet,’ Mila said. ‘Have you?’

  ‘No,’ Freya admitted. ‘And he’s just about to call
the clinic.’

  ‘It’s fine,’ Mila said. ‘I don’t generally man the phones. I’ll have him put through to Geoff, but, Freya, he needs to know that the Bright Hope Clinic is mine.’

  ‘I know he does and I am going to tell him.’

  ‘If you can’t do it face to face, just text him.’

  ‘He hates texts.’

  ‘Well, he’s going to hate finding out that we’re going to be working together a whole lot more.’

  ‘Leave it with me.’

  Freya ended the call, took a breath and opened the door on her currently more overwhelming problem. Zack was leaning up against a wall outside and not looking very impressed to have been asked to step outside. ‘Sorry about that! Come on through,’ Freya said, and put on her bright corporate smile and stepped back to let him in. She waited till the door was safely closed for the smile to go and then she let him have it.

  ‘You knew...’

  ‘No.’ He gave a small shake of his head.

  ‘You weren’t even surprised when you walked in. It was supposed to be one night, no names...’

  ‘I thought you looked vaguely familiar but it only clicked this morning when I was in the shower,’ Zack said. ‘I just looked you up, and you were quite a wild child, it would seem.’

  He thought of the photos of her collapsed and being carried out of a nightclub that he had seen, and he thought of the article he had read that spoke of drugs and alcohol and a lengthy stint in rehab.

  ‘I’m not discussing this here,’ Freya said. ‘I don’t bring my private life to work.’

  ‘And neither do I,’ Zack said. ‘So go and get some blood work done and then tell me when I can start work.’

  Where were the green eyes that had locked with hers last night? Oh, he was looking right at her but his expression was serious.

  Grim.

  ‘I’m a cardiac surgeon and this morning we had unprotected sex and it would appear you’ve had a habit. I’d like a little more than your word that you’re not using.’

  And she could only find a grudging admiration that he had the guts to address it directly.

  ‘I’ve never done drugs.’ She looked at him. ‘I did have some tests last week and they all came back clear.’

  ‘Has there been anyone since then?’

  ‘Zack!’

  ‘Freya, don’t play coy. You’ve got all my lab results sitting on your desk, I haven’t been with anyone since I had blood pulled, and I sure as hell haven’t been in rehab. So I need to know the score.’

  ‘I had some blood work for fertility issues and they ran the tests as routine. I was in rehab for an eating disorder. Happy now?’

  ‘Well, happy isn’t the word I’d use to find out the condom split with someone having fertility treatment, but, yep, glad to know we’re both clean.’

  ‘Well, you don’t have to worry about the fertility issue. I haven’t started treatment and I shot my ovaries.’

  ‘Shot your ovaries?’ Zack frowned and then got it.

  Her eating disorder meant she couldn’t have kids and he understood better now what she’d told him about running and trying not to.

  ‘I’ll let James know that I can start straight away, then.’

  He gave her a nod and turned to go but Freya halted him. ‘Zack, you won’t—’

  ‘Freya.’ He turned around. ‘I’d never say anything and, as you’re about to find out, I’m a very different person at work.’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘The only reason I am talking about last night in this office is because it’s pertinent to work. What happened is not to be brought up or discussed, do you understand that?’

  ‘Yes.’

  * * *

  It was the longest day.

  All she wanted to do was go home and curl up with her shame, yet, now that Zack was on board, her life had gotten busy.

  His résumé was impressive on a professional level. He’d worked all over the globe, in both lavish and sparsely equipped hospitals. She looked up his hometown and her eyes widened when she read about the tiny population and how widely it was scattered.

  Well, they could go with the country-boy angle, Freya thought, and then tried to picture herself suggesting that to Zack.

  Ah...perhaps not.

  What else could she find out?

  It would seem that five years ago he’d been in Canada at an ice hockey match when a player had gone into cardiac arrest and Zack had successfully resuscitated him.

  A couple of phone calls later and she was in touch with the player’s own PA. Nothing was said, just a little touching base query to see if the player might be open to being flown to LA.

  ‘He’s on vacation but I’ll get back to you at an appropriate time.’

  God, no wonder people were tense, Freya thought as she realised that most of the world considered today not really a day for such calls, but at The Hills, though there were no scheduled operations, it was a work day as usual.

  The staff up on the cardiac unit didn’t say, Oh, no, it’s a holiday, as they prepared the bed for Paulo to arrive.

  And neither did the pilot of the luxury helicopter question it when, after examining Paulo and going through his tests at the Bright Hope Clinic, Zack called James.

  ‘I’ve just spoken with Maria, his mother,’ Zack said. ‘I’ve told her that I’m still not sure if he’s a candidate for surgery but I would like to run some more tests at The Hills. Their equipment is terrible.’

  And so by three that afternoon a new little patient with black hair and eyes and a gappy smile was sitting in bed with his worried mother by his side.

  And by five all Freya wanted was home and was struggling to hold it together when James knocked at her door.

  ‘He’s not very sociable, is he?’ James rolled his eyes. ‘I tried to schedule a meeting and he wants it to be held in a meeting room, rather than my office. Neutral territory, he said.’

  Freya actually laughed.

  ‘Three months in a hotel...’ James shook his head. ‘The guy’s a well-dressed gypsy. I’ve asked him to come and get a security tag—can you please sort out his head shot?’

  ‘I shall,’ Freya said.

  She’d sort it tomorrow.

  All she wanted now was home.

  CHAPTER SIX

  SO DISTRACTED WAS Freya that she forgot she’d booked in for another night at the hotel until she was nearly home. Freya decided to check in on Cleo and then head back, grab her stuff and just come home and sleep away the shame.

  She really wanted to curl up and pull the covers over her head and hibernate till the end of March when Zack would be gone but knew that wasn’t going to happen.

  Freya parked and went up to her apartment, and as she opened the door she saw that her neighbour Red was just on his way out after feeding her little pug, Cleo.

  ‘Hi.’ Freya smiled.

  ‘How are you, Freya?’

  ‘I’m well! Thanks so much for this.’

  ‘No problem. Are you back for the night?’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ Freya said, deciding she might just crash at the hotel. ‘If I’m not here, can you let her out for me?’

  ‘Of course.’

  She had great neighbours and favours were freely given and returned. Red told her that he’d watched a movie last night with Cleo and had had a couple of beers.

  Freya thanked him again and kept her smile on and wide, and only when Red had gone did she sink down onto the sofa and let her smile fade. She rested her head in her hands and just sat with the panic that had been chasing her all day since she’d worked out who Zack was.

  ‘Oh, Cleo...’

  She picked up her little, fat friend and told her all of it, well, not in specific detail, but tha
t she’d lost her head last night to the most gorgeous of men on the promise they would never again meet.

  ‘And now I have to work alongside him for three months. I don’t know what to do.’

  Cleo gave her no answers, just snuffled. The little pug was the absolute love of her life. James had bought her for Freya on her discharge from rehab and Freya had finally found a soul she could pour her heart out to.

  ‘How can I face him?’ she asked her fur baby.

  Freya cuddled her for a good hour and then she carried her down for her little walk. Cleo was getting so tired and so old and Freya knew she wouldn’t have her for much longer. James, because he was concerned how Freya would cope when her beloved companion died, had suggested, under the guise that it might give Cleo a new lease of life, that Freya get a puppy.

  ‘I don’t want another dog,’ Freya said to Cleo as she popped her onto the sofa.

  And not just because she could never love another dog as much as this one.

  Freya wanted a baby. She was so over attempts at relationships and had no qualms about being a single mom.

  She couldn’t do a worse job than her parents had, and they’d been together till Freya was thirteen.

  As she drove back to the hotel, Freya felt drained and exhausted. She’d had basically no sleep all night and the most awkward, uncomfortable of days and, joy, she had to face him again tomorrow.

  She stood in the elevator and tried not to think of what had taken place such a short while ago and then she wearily swiped open her hotel door.

  And there, just sitting there, drink poured, tie loose and wearing a triumphant grin, waving an envelope, was Zack. He just watched Freya groan as she remembered the room card she’d left.

  ‘One night, no names?’ Zack checked, holding up the envelope.

  And when you’ve been truly caught, all you can really do is admit it.

  ‘Two nights, then,’ Freya said. ‘I never said I didn’t enjoy it.’

  ‘Great, wasn’t it?’ Zack grinned. ‘Well, thank you for the test results. That was actually very good of you. So good of you that I’m here to service you. Get over here.’ He stamped the floor with his boot.

  ‘I thought we were never to discuss it again.’