Forever Perfect: Billionaire Medical Romance (A Chance at Forever Series Book 1)

by Lexy Timms

  “I am.” She was cautious. After yesterday, she had no idea who to trust anymore.

  “I’m George Harris,” he said, and held out his hand when she acknowledged her identity. “I’m one of the owners of The Greens Resort.”

  “I thought…” Mel cleared her throat. It was stupid dry. She wondered idly if the bottle of bourbon was still sitting on the floor by the door. “I thought Mr. Mendez was the owner…”

  The man’s eyebrow shot up. “Mr. Mendez is—rather, was a manager we hired. As part of the incentive package, he was given a small percentage of the resort. He is not and was not an ‘owner’ except in the strictest sense. It is, however, about him that I wanted to speak to you.”

  Mel took a moment and unraveled the twisted sentence. “What about Mr. Mendez?” she asked, indicating that the man should sit, though placing a man in that expensive of a suit in that derelict of an office chair seemed almost insulting. “We don’t really have much contact with him.”

  “No,” Mr. Harris said slowly, sinking into the chair. “I realize that, but when you teamed with Doctors Overseas to create a clinic here, we also funded a substantial portion to see it built.”

  Mel started connecting the dots. The picture forming wasn’t a pretty one. What did he do? The mind positively boggled with possibilities. She spoke carefully, wondering just how much fast talking she was going to have to do to preserve the clinic’s status with the resort. “With the stipulation that a doctor was available when called to the resort. Dr. Layton was called the other day; was there a problem with him? I hadn’t heard of any issue.”

  Mr. Harris held up a carefully manicured hand to halt what had become a frantic torrent of words. “The problem isn’t with your doctor, so much as with my manager. You see, the wording of the agreement was somewhat…twisted over the years. We had asked—let me repeat that: asked that in case of emergency a doctor would be willing to examine and treat a guest of the resort. Continuously making house calls for upset stomachs is not a prerequisite for funding this clinic.” If anything, the man looked somewhat chagrined to be admitting this.

  Mel sat upright. Any residual trace of grogginess from sleeping in an office chair was gone.

  “It was brought to my attention through your organization that Dr. Layton was detained for several hours a couple of days ago and, well, to use a disagreeable term, was blackmailed into giving out free consultations to our guests on the threat of losing funding for the clinic here.”

  “He—what?” Mel shook her head. She ran the words through her mind a couple more times, letting the meaning sink in.

  He’d done that…for her?

  “You were not informed?” Mr. Harris asked, frowning at her from across the desk.

  Mel blinked a few times. “No, apparently not yet. It’s been a heck of a week and Dr. Layton was in surgery all day yesterday…” She let the sentence hang, not sure what else to add.

  Mr. Harris nodded slowly, and seemed if anything to relax marginally. “I see. From what I’ve been able to gather from members of my own staff, your doctor was forced, and regretfully, I do mean forced, to provide a number of consultations while working under the threat of a loss of funding for this clinic. Mr. Mendez was not in a position to make such a threat, nor was he in any way able to have carried out such a threat. We value your contributions to the area and our partnership with this clinic. We have only ever asked that someone respond to emergencies.”

  The man had ‘please don’t sue me’ stamped all over his perfect face. Mel knew she was staring. She knew he was expecting her to say something, but nothing came out. She sat there with her mouth open, trying to make a sound. “Uh-huh,” was the best she could pull off, and even that took some solid effort.

  He spent the day…saving my clinic? He’d tried to tell me, hadn’t he? She couldn’t remember now. What had he said? She wracked her brain but could only come up with half of the conversation. She remembered in excruciating detail what she’d said. She felt the blood drain from her face. What had she done?

  Focus, girl. The pretty man is still talking.

  “I guess…how did…Did you say Doctors International contacted you?”

  Mr. Harris nodded, as if relieved that she was finally taking part in the conversation. “Indeed. Apparently, a hospital administrator in New York contacted them.”

  Huh. There was only one way that could have happened. “Did Brant—Dr. Layton call this administrator?”

  “According to the desk clerk, he was on the phone with someone named…” Mr. Harris pulled out a small notepad and flipped through it. “Margery. He was speaking loudly, as sometimes the connection was less than perfect. According to our employee, Dr. Layton was arranging—Sorry, rearranging his schedule for an extended stay in Belize.”

  “Your desk clerk heard a great deal,” Mel said, shooting him a look to let him know that maybe he wasn’t as innocent in all this as he was trying to be.

  Mr. Harris had the grace to look embarrassed. The skin around his eyes tightened a little, and he seemed to be sweating again as he nodded. “Yes, well, we did have a talk about that as well.”

  “Mr. Harris,” Mel said, deciding that she’d heard more than enough for one day. She rose, offering him her hand, smiling to let him know that lawsuits weren’t exactly pending…yet. “Thank you for making a trip out here to let me know. It means more to me than you could ever know.”

  Harris rose and took her hand. His entire body relaxed. She still suspected he could do with some serious rehydration. He smiled, clearly relieved. “We do treasure the relationship we’ve built with this clinic, Doctor.”

  Mel nodded and fished around on the desk until she came up with the keys to the Jeep. “I can run you back to the resort,” she said, though she still had half a mind to check him in. “I have to get there before the plane leaves.”

  “Oh, no! I’m sorry, but it left an hour ago.” Harris waved off her offer to drive. “And I brought a cabana car. But I thank you, and please tell Dr. Layton the next time he comes to Belize, we’ll be pleased to buy him dinner in our five-star restaurant.” Harris smiled and started for the door.

  “Can I at least offer you some water for the road?” she asked in sudden concern, but he waved her off again, and climbed into the golf cart that was waiting, his driver taking to the road with enough speed that he would be back in air conditioning soon enough. Hopefully.

  Mel watched them go, her body numb. She stepped back into her office, thinking about everything that had been said.

  The plane had left an hour ago. An hour ago.

  Next time he’s in Belize…

  Sure. Next time.

  Heart breaking, she sank back into her office chair, wondering again what had happened to the bottle of Jack Daniels and whether it was too late to take up drinking before lunch.

  The phone rang, and she jumped. She swore under breath and grabbed the receiver, already dreading whatever was going to come next. Only Doctors International calls came in on that line. And they’d contacted the resort. It wasn’t going to be pretty.

  “Dr. Bell.” She tried to keep her tone neutral

  “Melissa, this is Kenneth Holdman.”

  This stalled out all her ready-made excuses before she’d even gotten off the ground. “Kenneth?” She laughed nervously. “I haven’t heard from you in years. Are you still with Doctors International?” She absently ran her free hand through her hair. Kenneth had been instrumental in founding the group years ago. It was he who had gotten her started with this clinic in the first place.

  Shit! They called him out of retirement.

  “You might say that. Actually, I’m currently filling the position of chair of DI.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning whatever goes wrong anywhere in the world ends up in my lap,” Kenneth said good-naturedly, but she could hear the truth behind the words. Someone powerful was pissed. Very pissed.

  He cut right to the chase. “Your Dr. Layton has been bus
y. I understand from an old friend of mine that he spent a day giving consults to people who are not DI-authorized patients.”

  “He was blackmailed,” Mel protested. “The owner of the resort was just here and told me. You called just as he left.”

  “I spoke to him, I believe, a Mr. Harris. Yes, he explained the situation. But you cannot deny that Dr. Layton may indeed profit from such activities in his civilian practice. Whatever his motives for complying with the wishes of Mr. Mendez, he was drumming up new business for himself stateside.”

  Mel’s hand tightened on the receiver. “Kenneth, you know that’s not the way it happened.”

  “Mel, this organization cannot tolerate such activity for any reason. Such a precedent is dangerous and unethical.”

  “But he was forced into it for the sake of the clinic!”

  “In what way?” Kenneth countered. “There was nothing the resort or Mr. Mendez could have done to the clinic in any sort of retribution.”

  “He didn’t know that!” Mel yelled, and then lowered her voice. “He had no idea, Kenneth. He just arrived a few days ago.”

  “Then maybe you can tell me about him punching another doctor? Ironically, the dentist now needs two teeth.”

  He had her there. “I…I don’t know why he did that…” she muttered, wishing she had gotten that out of Brant yesterday.

  Actually, she was wishing a lot of things about yesterday at this point.

  “According to Dr. Sanchez…” Kenneth began.

  “Who?”

  She heard the rattle of papers. “The anesthesiologist,” Kenneth said after a moment. “Apparently, there was a conversation in the surgery room which angered Dr. Layton, and although we do not and cannot tolerate any form of sexual harassment or discrimination…”

  “Wait, wait…hold on. Are you telling me that Dr. Layton sexually harassed a rotund dentist?”

  “No.” Kenneth took a deep breath. “No. According to Sanchez, Dr. Stanley Diaz made several remarks of a personal nature about a female staff member at the clinic. Dr. Layton took Dr. Diaz outside and laid him out. I spent most of the morning talking to Dr. Diaz and convincing him to drop the charges.”

  This was news to her. Just how much did her staff hide from her? “Did he say which female staff member was involved?”

  “No. It doesn’t matter. I convinced Dr. Diaz to drop the charges by reminding him that sexual harassment was also actionable.”

  Mel closed her eyes. She had a feeling the unnamed female was her. The feeling in her gut told her that was why Brant had hit the man for things that had been said about her. He’d spent two days in hell to defend her clinic. He had told her outright that he loved her and she…

  She had sent him away.

  “However,” Kenneth continued, “you have some rogue doctor drumming up business in an area he wasn’t supposed to be in, and attacking other doctors. I’m sorry, Mel, but his contract is ended as of now. We have no place for this sort of thing.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Mel said with a sigh. “He’s gone anyway. He left an hour ago.”

  “Then who called and insisted on a visa for a Maria Gomez?”

  She stood up so fast that the chair crashed to the floor behind her. “What?”

  “Melissa, he’s trying to transport a minor female out of the country. Do you have any idea—” Whatever else he had to say was lost. The phone swung on its cord, as Melissa was already running by the time she got to the door.

  Chapter 17

  “Is he here?” Mel burst into the lobby, skidding across the tile floor and almost crashing into the wall that held Carmen’s eternal stare.

  “Is who here?” Carmen didn’t even blink.

  Mel waved her arms. She looked like a lunatic, but damn it, she was going to be noticed. “Brant. Dr. Layton. Is he here?”

  Carmen rose from her chair and looked to her left at the empty room. She sat back down and looked up at Mel. “No.” The far wall recaptured her attention.

  Mel looked the woman for a long moment. “Carmen, we’ve worked together for a long time.” Then realized that there was nothing more to say after all. “Forget it.” So Mel left, walking into the clinic proper. She checked Maria’s room, but the girl was asleep.

  “Tina, where’s Dr. Layton?”

  Tina looked up from the monitor she’d been frowning at since she’d come in. “I thought he left with the others.”

  “I wish I could’ve left with them,” Elena said, and nudged Tina’s arm. “Or stayed with them. Or anything with them. Especially anything with them. They were CUTE. All doctors. All crazy hot.”

  “Yeah,” Tina said, smiling, “Who could turn that down?” Then as one, both nurses stopped and looked at Mel, letting her know with the weight of their glares just what kind of idiot they took her for.

  She growled, “I know! I know!”

  Escape seemed best at that point. As she turned and headed for the door, she stopped halfway there, turned, and came back. “If anything happens, just…uh…”

  “We’ll find you.” Tina said, a look on her face that questioned Mel’s sanity but was leaving it as a conversation for later. Mel made a noise like a strangled cat choking up a hairball and dashed again. This time managing to keep from skidding on the floor in the lobby, though she tripped on the steps coming out of the building.

  In the clearing she saw the gardeners at the edge of the jungle, hacking away at the edge of the encroaching brush. Joseph was with them, but he was involved and too far away. She ran to the bungalow that had been assigned to Brant. It was empty; in fact, it looked like it had never been used. Mel stopped for a moment to think. He might not have had time to use it, come to that. Most of the nights here, he’d spent with her.

  The resort. His friends…of course they returned to the resort for the night.

  She ran to the Jeep, her breath raw in her throat and her heart pounding in her ears. She jumped in and fired up the engine, trying to figure out where the smell of overripe fruit was coming from. She slammed the shifter into gear, roared off, and fired down the driveway.

  And slammed to a stop. She looked into the brush. It was possible…but he wouldn’t have…

  She killed the motor and stepped through the overgrowth. All of a sudden her headlong flight became a tenuous walk, uncertain and afraid. What she couldn’t determine, though, was what frightened her more: if he wasn’t there, or if he was.

  Breaking through into the clearing, she saw that the natural pool was empty.

  In that instant, her heart broke. He truly was gone. There was no one there, and even if she went all the way out to the resort he would have gone home by now.

  She sank down into the dirt, her legs no longer able to hold her up. There was no point. None. She’d chased him away and gotten what she deserved.

  Leaves rustled nearby. It occurred to her how oddly quiet the jungle had become.

  Predators?

  Her mind raced. She hadn’t been careful. Something else might have been down by the water. She closed her eyes, focused, and forced herself to be calm as she opened her eyes again, ready for panthers or giant snakes or whatever.

  She’d had a shitty day and wasn’t about to let some stupid animal mess it up now. I pity the fool…

  Only, it wasn’t a wild creature. It was something more dangerous…more potentially destructive than any creature that lived in the jungles of Belize.

  Brant was sitting on a stone beside the large basalt boulder, writing in a small journal.

  He looked…she swallowed. He looked like everything she ever wanted in the stillness of the night when the loneliness ate at her.

  Khakis, a gray t-shirt with BELIZE emblazoned across the chest, those ridiculous, horrible, wonderful sneakers with the garish laces. And a face that was wreathed in sadness. He hadn’t seen her, didn’t know she was there.

  But her heart had figured things out and had gone from shattered pieces into a wild, untamable whole that threw itself against
her ribcage with all the joy of a thing fully restored.

  She crept up on him with the stealth of a lioness. Or at least she tried. In actuality, she stumbled with all the grace of a confused boar. He heard her approach then, the journal falling from his lap, his pen falling alongside it. He rose and looked at her. The sadness was still there, but it was covered now by confusion. Uncertainty. And maybe…just maybe…a little hope.

  Melanie stopped just out of reach. Damn, he was beautiful. She didn’t cross the few feet between them, she flew. The impact of her in his arms knocked the wind out of him, but his arms, his big strong arms wrapped around her and he buried his face in her hair.

  She wrapped a leg around him, holding him for dear life, too afraid that if she let go, let him slip away, he’d be gone for good. For this moment, she was his and he was hers and he felt good, so good. For the moment, she could bury herself in another person and feel safe, loved. It was a moment that couldn’t end, it was inconceivable that it could ever end.

  “I thought you were gone,” she cried into his chest.

  “I can’t leave.” He held her so tight she squeaked. “I have a contract. What’s more…I really don’t want to leave. I told you before, I don’t like the idea of leaving you.”

  She pulled back just far enough to look up into his eyes. There was truth there, that’s what everyone said, there was truth in the eyes and she needed it now, needed to be sure she knew was the truth was.

  “You love me,” she said. It was a statement, an admission, a test, it was a hundred things at once, but most of all, it was a wonder and an incredible realization. “You honestly love me.”

  He nodded. Was the truth in his eyes? Maybe. But the emotion was in the kiss, the deep soul-searching kiss where they asked and answered a thousand questions without ever saying a single word.

  When they parted, she closed her eyes and lay her hand on his chest. It felt so small there against him. “I have something I need to say.”

  He stroked her hair and caressed her cheek. “Tell me.”

  “You’re fired.”