Page 45 of The Apprentice
The more Daire spoke about the Amatory, the more attractive he became. He was sexy, but his brain made him damned irresistible.
I tilted my head, unable to break my gaze from him, and he stared directly back at me. As if he was a magnet I was drawn to, I began to lean forward. My need to feel his lips on my own was an unstoppable force. He began to move toward me as well.
The force of the car stopping jerked us apart, and Daire didn’t waste a second, throwing open his door and stepping out, acting as though we hadn’t been about to kiss.
I mentally cursed myself and exited my side, ignoring the burn that assaulted my cheeks and made my stomach churn. I straightened my jacket and raised my chin, gathering the courage to put on the stern expression I was known for.
I paused to stare at the building and took a moment to appreciate the hard lines and boring architecture. To everyone passing by, the business looked like any other with four walls of windows, over ten stories high. There was a driveway that wound around into a semicircle near two automatic doors, and I assumed it was a drop-off zone for patients. Our driver hadn’t stopped there, though, and instead parked in one of two designated VIP spots near the side.
The large name on the building caught my attention.
The Eoin Killough Memorial Hospital.
My breath stuttered and drawing air into my lungs became difficult. Dad. Sloan had named it after Dad. Tears prickled the corners of my eyes, and I wiped them away quickly. The image of Dad’s face from the photo on his grave flashed through my mind, and I wondered how he would’ve felt about this. Would he have loved it or hated it? I didn’t know and that tore me up inside. I rubbed my chest to soothe the agony ripping my heart apart.
Daire stared, giving me a moment.
I inhaled deeply. When I nodded, he gestured for me to follow him. I didn’t argue, forcing my feet into action as we headed toward the sliding glass doors. As soon as we entered, we were approached by a guard who stopped when he got a good view of us. He nodded at Daire and moved backward again, and Daire gave him a short finger wave in thanks.
He leaned close to me. “When you first enter, a patient is expected to show their membership card,” he said, voice lowered.
“Do we accept emergencies? What if we accept someone and they aren’t a member?” I asked.
He made a sound in the back of his throat. “Then, they can expect a hefty bill. The kind that’s a lot worse than what they’d get from any other hospital.” He shrugged. “We have our own EMS transport, and those who aren’t under our employment know not to bring patients here unless they’re a member.”
I hummed in acknowledgement as we walked past a reception desk operated by an alert young man with short blond hair, green eyes, and a suit that looked slightly too big for him. He nodded with a small smile as we passed, and I couldn’t help but return it. We went through a set of doors that Daire had a key card for and down a long light blue hallway that led to another desk, this one manned by nurses.
Daire stopped in front of the circular desk and grinned at one of the ladies in blue scrubs. She appeared to be the oldest, withfine gray hair pulled into a small bun and a pair of green cat-eye glasses. As soon as she saw Daire, she tugged her spectacles down to the end of her nose and looked over the top of them.
“Well, well, well. Look who decided to show their ugly mug.” The teasing lilt in her Brooklyn accent had me smiling. “What happened, kid? You lose a bet?”
“Ha ha. You’re hilarious, Meredith.” He flashed his white teeth and patted the desk ledge in front of him. “I’m here on business.”
“Look at him.” She laughed and glanced at the other nurses as she straightened her back with her arms against her side as though mocking Daire. “I’m here on business.” Deepening her voice, she mimicked him.
He shook his head. “One day, you’re going to tease the wrong person.”
She laughed. “Honey, I’m not that stupid. You don’t see me doing the same thing to Mr. Killough, do you?”
He sighed and waved his hand at me.“This is Fionn Killough.”
She clapped her hands. Eyes bright, she grinned wide. “Ah, the prodigy taking over the big business!”
I nearly choked and glanced at Daire. “She knows?”
He laughed in answer. “She’s a nurse.”
Meredithtskeda lot like Sloan did when he was lecturing me and waved her hand impatiently while slapping the other on her hip. “We know everything. We also know more than the doctors, but don’t tell them that. You don’t want to hurt their inflated egos.”
“They’re notthatbad,” Daire argued.
She shot him a narrowed stare. “The one doctor we do like, we don’t see very often because you always take him away.”
He winced. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” It was clearly a lie, and the small ashamed smile said otherwise.
She grunted and turned around toward one of the other nurses. “Gloria, doyouremember Rory?”
Gloria was a tall, rotund redhead with bright lipstick the same color as her hair. She put her hands on her hips and gave Daire a disgruntled look even as she spoke to Meredith. “Rory? Oh, yeah, the cute natural redhead doctor with the adorable Irish accent. The only one who treats us with respect. The same one who actually acknowledges all the work we do, but also the one who Daire pulls out of the clinic all the time for personal emergencies. That Rory?”
