Page 56 of Careless Whisper

I should’ve resigned the minute I knew he was coming here. I’d been foolish, egotistically holding on to the hope that he’d see how great a nurse I was, regret the past, and want me. Yes, that’s why I stayed because I thought the man I loved would finally get his head out of his ass and love me the way Ideserved to be loved. All I got was a couple of on-call-room orgasms and a ton of heartache.

We stood there for a breath, nearly two. There were no hugs; she wasn’t the type, and I wasn’t in a place to do it without breaking apart.

“I’ll leave my badge and…stuff at the nurse’s station.” I was going to say goodbye to my colleagues, to Luther, to Nina, to everyone who’d been a team with me. I hated that now they’d all wonder if it would be their turn to get into trouble.

“Yes.” Cindy looked just about ready to keel over.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay.”

She set her jaw, shaking her head. “If we let you go, you’d at least get some severance, now…”

I gave her a sheepish smile. “I’m going to let you in on a secret…well, it’s not a secret, just that I don’t talk about it to anyone.”

She frowned.

“I…you know the Lancaster Foundation that funded the peds center for us last year?”

She nodded hesitantly.

“Well, my mother is a Lancaster.”

Cindy’s eyes widened.

I grinned. “Money is…well, it’s not a problem.”

“You are a Lancaster?”

“Well…yes. I am one of the heirs.”

Cindy huffed out a laugh. “You’re kidding me?”

I let out a long breath, shaking my headslowly.

“So, I don’t have to worry about you living on the streets?”

“Not unless I want to,” I stated nonchalantly.

She let out a relieved sigh. “I’m just…I’ve been so worried. I was going to give you a month’s pay myself so you’d?—”

“Cindy, you softy,” I teased, but my eyes filled up. She cared about me, and that touched my heart in the best way possible.

When I took a step toward her, she held up her hand. “Do not hug me,” she warned, but she was smiling.

Then she licked her lips, and a slow, sly smile took over her face. “Can I tell Dr. Loring who you are? I mean…you know she’s been trying to get funding from Lancaster for her trial.”

I knew, and since I was working on that project, I’d said nothing to G’Mum and Grandpa; otherwise, I knew they’d play nepotism without a moment’s thought.

“Why don’t we keep it under wraps,” I requested. “It’s probably going to come out one way or the other.”

I hadn’t wanted to work on the trial project with Maren, but after what she pulled last time, I needed to be there to make sure she didn’t fudge the numbers like she did with the Armitage Foundation.

“Thanks again, Cindy.” I walked out of her office, my feet finding momentum as anger surged through me.

Letthe asshole have his OR, his complaints, and his vendettas dressed up as protocol.

I went straight to Elias’s office, pleased that he was there. A part of me wondered if this was just the kind of opportunity fate was waiting to inflict, one last cruel laugh at my expense—but I also didn’t care.

“Reggie—”

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