Page 27 of Push

That was enough to get my shit together and get out of the car.

The loud laughter of the girls working on reception died when I walked through the door. There was no hello today. Their eyes dropped to the desk, and they shuffled papers to avoid looking at me.

I muttered a “hi” anyway as I passed on my way down the long corridor to Judy’s office. On Thursdays, she finalized the pay run. She’d be in her office, but she’d be cranky. She hated paperwork.

I rapped a cautious knock.

“Fuck off.” The muffled voice croaked from inside. “I’m busy.”

Grimacing, I cracked open the door and peeked in.

Judy’s head snapped around. A permanent frown marked her face, but it speared down even sharper than usual. “Look who it is.” She lowered her glasses down her nose. “If it isn’t Don Juan himself.”

“Morning, Judy.”

“Morning yourself, Donnie. So, you decided to show up to work? Do you know how many calls I had to make yesterday?” She spun around on her chair and faced me head-on. “The girls on reception ran around like chooks with their heads chopped off to reschedule your appointments and sweet-talk people into seeing your fill-in. Not an easy job. Seems your patients like you…” She eyed me up and down. “Not sure why, though.”

I slid the extra-large coffee on her desk. “Sorry, Judy.”

She grunted, but her wrinkled hand landed on the lid, and she inched the coffee closer. “I suppose you got me one this big because you’ve got a favor to ask?”

“I wanted to talk to you about Kayleigh.”

“I’ve talked enough about that silly girl over the past two days to last a damn lifetime.” Judy huffed another grunt of annoyance. “You fucked around and found out, and suddenly fixing your mess is part of my job description.”

“You’re the clinic manager. Handling employee relations isliterallypart of your job description.”

“That’s right, Donnie. Employee relations. Notsexualrelations.” I opened my mouth to deny thesexualpart, but Judy’s hand shot up to stop me. “Save your denials for your wife.”

Time to bring out the big guns.

Judy was a stubborn old duck, but I’d worked out a few tricks to keep her happy. I produced the white paper bag from behind my back. My secret weapon. I slipped the bag onto her desk next to the coffee.

Judy’s eyes narrowed. “Is there a brownie hiding in there?”

I nodded. “It’s warm too.”

“If you’re trying to butter me up, it’s working.” She leaned back in her chair, her eyes pinning me over the top of her glasses. “Alright. Here’s what I’ve got for you. I wasted the whole afternoon yesterday on the phone with the lawyer.”

“What did he say? Is Kayleigh gone?”

“In your dreams, Donnie. She clocked in ten minutes ago.”

“Shecannotbe here.”

Judy croaked out a laugh. “Uncomfortable for you, is it?”

“Obviously.”

“You probably should’ve thought about that before you stuck your di—”

“Christ!” I raised my palm. I didnotneed to hear those words out of Judy’s mouth. “What did the lawyer say?”

“He said the second we fire Kayleigh’s skinny ass, it’s the second she files a sexual harassment claim against you and the clinic. How do you reckon Ian will feel about defending that claim, eh? He’s been watching the books like a hawk. I reckon he’d lay an egg if I told him legal action was on the horizon.”

She wasn’t wrong. More financial pressure was the last thing the clinic needed, but I had to be firm. There couldn’t be any repeats of the kiss or the months leading up to it.

“I’m not stepping one foot into a treatment room with Kayleigh,” I said. “The two of us being alone togethercan’thappen. So, unless you want to spend another day rescheduling patients—”

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