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CHAPTER TWO

SAM HURRIED DOWN the hall of West Manhattan Saints at a quick pace, but considering he was late it was a pace that wasn’t quick enough for his liking. He’d been reluctant to leave that temptress’s bed this morning, but he had and before she’d woken up.

Which was good. He didn’t want to deal with any aftermath. At least her apartment was close to the hospital, but he was still late. He was never late and people would notice. It wasn’t good.

Not when today was the day the new head of maternal-fetal medicine was being introduced to the peds floor. He’d barely made it to the hospital in time for a shower and a fresh set of scrubs. His sweater, currently hanging in his locker, still smelled strongly of Scotch. He straightened the collar of his white lab coat and slung his stethoscope around his neck without missing a beat.

“Holly said you didn’t make it home last night,” Rebecca, their new roommate, teased as she fell into step beside him.

“Since when did you become my keeper?”

“You’re tetchy this morning. What happened last night?”

“Nothing. Look, shouldn’t you be on the trauma floor?” Sam asked, trying to get rid of Rebecca before she pried too much deeper. His roommate didn’t need to know that he’d had a one-night stand. He didn’t know her well enough yet and she seemed to report everything back to Holly, Tessa or Kimberlyn. And those three were always purporting to know nice girls to set him up with. The three of them were in cahoots.

Sam figured it had something to do with the fact that he had been the only male in the brownstone for some time. Not to mention that they were all loved up themselves and seemed determined to push soulmatedom on everyone else.

“Heading there now. Just wanted to wish you good luck with the new head. I hear she’s tough.”

Sam grunted his thanks as Rebecca headed down another hallway that led back to Trauma and he kept on his course to Peds. Before he pushed open the rainbow-colored double doors that led into the pediatric department, he straightened his hair in the reflection of the mirror.

There was already a crowd gathering in the main thoroughfare of the department, right in front of the main charge desk. Sam could see Dr. Amelia Chang talking calmly to the group of surgeons who were all vying for the two coveted fellowship positions in Peds.

As he moved into the group he caught Dr. Chang’s gaze and could see she was quite aware that he was late. Her quiet disapproval and disappointment was hard to miss.

Mother would not be impressed.

At least Dr. Chang wouldn’t humiliate him and call him out on the carpet for being late. His mother’s way of teaching her residents was shaming them so they didn’t do it again. Dr. Chang would probably put him on scut duty. Labs and charting he could deal with.

“Now that we’re all here, we can finally get down to business. As you are all aware, this pediatric fellowship is one of the top five on the eastern seaboard, and we can only open this fellowship to two worthy residents. Because of that, the hospital has always felt that those two positions should not be decided solely by the pediatric head. That’s why the head of Neonatology, Dr. Hall, taking over from Dr. Powers, the head of Obstetrics, Dr. Finn, and also the new head of Maternal-Fetal Medicine will all have a say in who gets those two spots.” Dr. Chang leaned against the charge desk, her eyes scanning the crowd, silently assessing them in that unnerving way she had before continuing.

“I know some of you have questioned the need for Maternal-Fetal Medicine to have an impact on your career as a pediatric fellow at West Manhattan Saints. We don’t see a lot of births that require a need for that, but that is changing. West Manhattan Saints hopes to become an innovative leader in maternal-fetal medicine and high-risk pregnancies. We will be expanding our birthing center to accommodate high-risk pregnancies.”

Sam was stunned, but pleased that this new head wasn’t a waste of resources and he could see the potential of Labor and Delivery, Neonatology and Pediatrics hand in hand to become one of the best hospitals on the eastern seaboard. Still, how many high-risk pregnancies could they possibly see?

“As you know, Dr. Powers retired, and after many years of excellent service we wish her the best. Thankfully, Professor Langley was able to find a replacement for the maternal-fetal role, which means the selection for fellowship won’t be delayed any longer. Dr. Walker is one of the top maternal-fetal surgeons from California.”

A knot of dread formed in Sam’s stomach and he quickly scanned the room and then saw Dr. Walker approaching the group. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Mindy.

The vixen from last night, the bumbling yeti who had spilled his Scotch and then seduced him, was walking with Dr. Finn. She looked so different from last night. All that glorious, silken mahogany hair was tied back and she wore black square glasses with only light lip gloss. Her look was demure, professional, but as Sam let his gaze rove over her, her appearance didn’t fool him. He knew what was lurking under the surface and just the thought of her in his arms and under him caused his blood to boil.

This was not good. Not the sex, that had been beyond good, but the fact that it had been with one of his new bosses was not good. If he had known that, he would’ve walked away from her. He refused to follow the same path as his mother. She’d used sex to get what she wanted when she’d been a young surgeon and he’d seen how that had broken his father’s heart.

He wanted to get the fellowship on his own merits, because he had talent. He wanted to prove to his mother that he had what it took to be the very best, to get where he was without sleeping his way there. He’d show her.

Mindy’s appearance was bad.

Very bad.

He tried to move to the back of the crowd, but it was too late. She looked out over the crowd, and that bright smile faded, wavering slightly as their gazes locked.

“Without further ado I would like to introduce the new head of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Dr. Mindy Walker.”

Mindy blushed slightly and broke the visual connection as she came up beside Dr. Chang, shaking her hand as everyone applauded her politely.

Sam tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he pretended that he didn’t know her. Even though no one else had seemed to notice the interplay between the two of them, he felt singled out.

Why did it have to be her? Why did his only one-night stand in the last three years have to be someone who was responsible for the fate of his career?

Bloody fates.

He slid his attention back to Mindy, who was now addressing the crowd.

“I want to thank everyone here. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my specialty. I don’t tolerate a lot of things when it comes to my surgical practice. Fragile lives are in our hands. There is no time for mistakes and because I’m new to this hospital and have yet to get to know all of you, I’ll be requesting each one of you to work on my rotation for at least a week or more before I make any decisions about who will be getting a fellowship. My department is not large by any means yet. I’m also one of the top IVF and fertility doctors in the country. I’m a board certified OB/GYN. Pregnancy and the safe of arrival of babies and their mothers are my passion. One I take seriously.” She paused, her gaze penetrating him, and it was then Sam knew he was in trouble. Deep trouble.

“I look forward to working with all of you.” She turned and began to chat with Dr. Chang and the other heads.

Everyone clapped politely as the crowd dispersed to start their rounds. What else could they do? The committee had the control over the fellowship. He just had to make sure he kept his nose down and worked hard.

And keep his distance.

Sam tried to slip away with the crowd.

“Dr. Napier, could you come here a moment, please?” Dr. Chang called out.

So much for slinking off and going unnoticed today.

He turned around and walked over to Dr. Chang and Dr. Walker. Mindy’s face was expressionless as he approached them.

“Yes, Dr. Chang?” He said his words carefully, because he didn’t want his Scottish accent to bubble up. He’d told Mindy that it surfaced when his emotions weren’t in check.

“You were late this morning. Are you okay?” Dr. Chang asked.

“I…” He tried not to make eye contact with Mindy, who had a pink tinge to her cheeks. “I overslept, that’s all. It won’t happen again.”

Dr. Chang nodded, assessing him. He hated disappointing her. She embodied everything great in pediatric surgery and he wanted one of the fellowship spots. It’s why he had been willing to come to West Manhattan Saints and work in a hospital that had ties to his mother and ties to Professor Langley, who was the first man his mother had had an affair with.

Sam detested Langley, but having a chance to work and learn beside Dr. Amelia Chang? He could put aside all his animosity for that.

“See that it doesn’t,” Dr. Chang said.

“I’ll make sure of it, Dr. Chang.”

“Dr. Walker has requested you join her service for the first rotation.”

Sam cringed inwardly. “Of course.”

“It’s a great honor to learn from her. The skills you’ll learn from her will be invaluable.” Dr. Chang didn’t say any more as she walked away, presumably to start her rounds. The only people around the charge station now were him and Mindy.

No. Not Mindy. Dr. Walker.

Well, whoever she was. She looked none too pleased to see him.

“Dr. Napier?” Her eyes were positively flinty, her arms crossed and her lips pursed together in a thin line. Sam wasn’t exactly sure how she got the words out.

“Dr. Walker,” he acknowledged. He wanted to ask her why she hadn’t told him what her job was, but, then, the conversation last night had never really stretched to that.

“Well, I hope you have a good understanding of high-risk pregnancies and have clocked some hours in OB/GYN and genetics. My caseload here is heavy. I have mothers coming in from a lot of different hospitals, some as far west as California, to seek my professional help. I don’t want an inept surgeon bumbling around in my OR.”

She was clearly angry.

“I can assure you I’m one of the top residents in this program, Dr. Walker.”

Mindy snorted. “That remains to be seen.”

“What do you mean by that?” Sam asked.

“You know what I mean,” she snapped under her breath. “Don’t think sleeping with me gains you any extra footing here, Dr. Napier. In fact, it’s detrimental to your position in this program. I don’t play favorites.”

Sam vibrated with anger and without thinking he grabbed Mindy by her arm and dragged her to the nearest empty exam room, not caring who saw them. Which was saying a whole lot. He hated drawing attention to himself, but suggesting he’d slept with her to get ahead? That was taking it too far.

He was here to work hard for himself. He needed to nip this in the bud. He didn’t want any rumors flying around.

And he wasn’t going to allow a rumor to destroy his career, his reputation.

He pushed her into the exam room, flicked on the light, shut the door and stood in front of it, stopping her only means of escape.

“Do you think I slept with you to gain footing? If that’s what you think, you had better change your opinion right now.” His brogue was coming out very thickly, but he couldn’t control it.

He was angry.

Very angry.

Mindy was shaking with a mixture of anger and betrayal.

Dammit.

Of course the one time she had a one-night stand it had to be with a surgical resident and one she was going to have direct involvement with. The day before she’d slept with Sam, she’d been going over the residents’ files, reading over notes from other attendings, reports from other doctors and patients.

Dr. Samuel Napier was well respected, admired and most if not all of the surgeons who worked with him commented on his bedside manner with pediatric patients and his skill in the operating room. Though he dealt more with older children than babies.

She’d earmarked him as one to watch, but hadn’t intended to choose him as her first resident. Her process was to weed out the weaker members of the herd. Mindy had had another resident in mind, but when she’d walked into that meeting and learned that her hot, brooding one-night stand was none other than Dr. Samuel Napier she had been absolutely furious.

No wonder he got good reports.

He probably slept with all his attendings. Not a hard thing to do when most of the surgeons in Pediatrics at this hospital were female. He’d used her. She knew she shouldn’t have let her guard down, because she couldn’t trust anyone.

And now he’d frog-marched her into this exam room to give her a talking-to? And she was his superior? No, this wasn’t happening. Mindy refused to be pushed around again.

“I’m not changing my opinion of you just because you say that I should. Why should I trust you? You didn’t even tell me you worked at the hospital, that you were a surgical resident.”

Sam’s eyes narrowed, those delectable lips which she could still feel imprinted against her body, were pursed together.

“You didn’t tell me you were a surgeon either.”

“I did too.”

A diabolical grin spread across Sam’s face. “No, you didn’t.”

Mindy opened her mouth to argue further and realized through those hazy, jangled memories of their meeting in the bar that all she’d told him had been her first name and that she’d moved to New York to start a new job, but not what that job was.

“You know that I’m right.” His grin turned smug and he leaned against the door.

“You could’ve still looked up my CV online once you learned about the new head of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and our meeting was just an opportune moment.”

The grin disappeared. “I did not sleep with you for personal gain. I’m extremely good at my job, so if you need to test me, so be it. I will take whatever challenge you have for me, and gladly. Though it’s a waste of time.”

Mindy snorted. “You think that maternal-fetal medicine and working on my service is a waste of time?”

“I do. My plan is to work with Dr. Chang and become a pediatric surgeon. Infants go to the NICU or the neonatologist. You’re just a glorified obstetrician.”

Mindy shook her head. “You’re a bit arrogant, aren’t you?”

“You have to be in this line of work. You have to be tough for the patients, for the parents and you have to be that tough to swim in this shark tank.”

“You think surgery is a shark tank?”

“I do. Don’t you?”

Mindy couldn’t argue with him on that. It was. She’d learned the hard way that you couldn’t trust other surgeons, especially not when you had ten or more residents competing for OR time, competing for attendings’ attention and competing for only a couple of spots in a small fellowship pool.

When she’d entered surgery she hadn’t been a shark. Dean and Owen had been sharks, but she hadn’t. All she’d had had been raw talent. It used to infuriate Dean when she was chosen over him when they’d been residents. That should’ve been a clue.

Well, now she was one and she wasn’t going to let an arrogant resident think that she wasn’t. She needed to be tough. When she’d taken this job and uprooted her life to start fresh in New York City, she’d known she was going to have to be a shark from the get-go.

“Well, I guess I’ll be wasting your time, but know this, some of those pediatric patients’ problems start in utero. You think my specialty is a waste of time? Let me tell you something. The more my specialty advances, the more genetics advances and the more likely your job as a pediatric surgeon will become obsolete. Operating and taking care of those issues while the baby is still in utero will save them countless surgeries later in life. Dr. Chang is an excellent pediatric surgeon, but she doesn’t have the skill to operate in utero. If people like me have our way, all pediatric problems will be taken care of while still in the protective walls of the womb and there will be less children on the pediatric floor.” She moved closer to him. “Soon pediatric surgeons will be like the dinosaurs. Extinct.”

Sam didn’t say anything. In fact, for a moment he looked at bit shocked.

“So you think my specialty, my service is a waste of time? Well, I won’t hold you to your rotation on my service, but I can tell you, Dr. Napier, that I won’t be basing my vote on a resident who isn’t willing to graciously learn all the specialties that are involved with taking care of children.”

Mindy tried to move past him, still shaking.

“Wait.” Sam grabbed her arm to stop her.

He was so close. Only a couple of hours ago he’d been in her bed. When she’d woken up and he’d been gone, it had stung, but she had been almost euphoric and definitely relaxed when she’d got into work. Until she’d seen him standing with the residents.

It had been like a slap to the face.

Just reaffirming to her that she couldn’t trust men. They were all users.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Walker.”

Mindy was stunned. “Thank you, Dr. Napier.”

“I’ll gladly work on your service and I’ll prove to you my merit as a surgeon, but please know that I didn’t sleep with you because you were my attending. Had I known, I would’ve kept as far away from you as possible. Nothing will taint my career at this hospital, or my chance to become a fellow in Dr. Chang’s program. Nothing.”

As Mindy looked up at Sam she wanted to believe him, but couldn’t. “Okay. I’ll give you a fair chance, Dr. Napier, but one toe out of line…”

“The implication is clear.” He let go of her arm and stepped away from the door. “I look forward to learning from you, Dr. Walker.”

Mindy nodded. She was pleased that she’d gotten through to him, but she could see the barriers, ones that had come down just a teeny bit last night, were building again. Walls that were meant to keep people out, from knowing the true Sam.

She didn’t know the true version of him. Maybe if circumstances had been different, if something more could’ve stemmed from their night of passion, she might know the real Sam who remained locked behind those protective walls.

There could’ve been something more there.

Whatever he was protecting, it ran deep and Mindy would never know.

It was for the best.

She was his boss; he was a resident. That’s all it could ever be, but she couldn’t help but feel an inkling of regret.

“I’ll see you at rounds in thirty minutes.” Mindy didn’t look at him, but he didn’t stop her from leaving this time, which was good, because she had to distance herself from him emotionally.

Dr. Samuel Napier was off-limits, even if she didn’t want him to be.