CJ pushed through the entrance and took a deep breath. As tired as she should feel, she didn’t. She felt exhilarated. She’d taken the first step toward putting her strategy into action.
“CJ Patterson, is that really you?”
She turned to face the man who’d called out to her. Dark hair ... tall. Blue eyes.
A mixture of anticipation and irritation detonated in little consecutive bursts.Carter Cost.
Dr. Carter Cost.
The rich, gets-whatever-he-wants, womanizing shit.
Irritation won the battle.
“Carter.” Her tone sounded as icy as she’d intended it.
He noticed. “It’s been a long time.”
Not long enough. “It has. Well. I was on my way—”
Cost glanced at the clinic, then at her. “I was on my way in there.” He hitched a thumb toward the clinic. “I’m the preceptor here and for the clinic in the mill village. When Juanita called around noon and asked me to push through an authorization for you, I thought she was kidding me.”
CJ suddenly felt very sorry for Juanita. Not only had she missed out on completing the requirements to have an MD after her name, which she obviously deserved, but she had to work under the oversight of this guy. No wonder she had such a foul disposition.
Crap. That meant CJ would be stuck dealing with him.
“How long will you be in town?”
CJ snapped back to attention. “A few weeks, probably. My sister—”
“Oh God.” Sympathy flashed in his eyes, which at one time had tugged on her heartstrings. “I’m sorry. Shelley ...” He shook his head. “It’s just terrible.”
“It is, terrible. Yes.” CJ really did not want to do this with him.
“Look.” He wrapped those long fingers around her forearm, squeezed gently. “Let me sign off on a couple things in here and we’ll have dinner.”
Nowas on the tip of her tongue.
“You can’t say no,” he insisted with that charming smile that had probably broken many a heart. “I won’t have it. That’s an order. Give me five minutes.”
Before she could argue, he disappeared into the clinic.
She supposed he was why Juanita hadn’t bothered locking the door directly behind CJ. She was expecting Cost.
Maybe CJ shouldn’t waste her sympathy on Juanita. She might still be carrying a torch for her old flame.
She had nothing to worry about where CJ was concerned.
She wasn’t about to try the same poison twice.
But she would have dinner with him. As preceptor of the village clinic, he would have some knowledge of the patients and the neighborhood. Not to mention he could ensure she was approved for working at the clinic as long as necessary.
Follow all leads—that was going to be her motto.
Someone somewhere knew something.
She had to find that someone.
Chapter Twenty
