Page 214 of The Doctors Will See You Now

Harlow was in a meeting. Thank God. Otherwise, she’d have been forced to be here covering it for Gossip, and I was already distracted enough without seeking her out in the audience every five seconds and wondering if Brent was doing the same.

He’d thanked no less than twenty people for their so-called roles in urban greatness, but make no mistake, he’d thanked not one single fucking individual more than he thanked himself.

“…And with me at the helm…”

See?

“And leaders like Dr. Scott Shepard at St. Luke’s, I know we can take everything we’ve achieved and elevate it to the next level.”

Christ, this guy was a real crock of shit. I’m sure my opinion has nothing to do with the fact that Harlow used to bang him.

But seriously. He sounded like a douche—at least to my ears.

“Today, I’d like to present Scott, and all of St. Luke’s Emergency Department, with this commendation of excellence, with specific respect to efficiency and overall treatment experience. Step up here, Scott.”

I did as I was told, rising to my feet and trying not to blink too rapidly as the cameras went off in my face. As a public event of the city, the press corner was already bursting with legitimate news outlets, including all of the major networks. But thanks to my current stint on The Doctor Is In, it was overfilled, packed to the motherfucking brim by every bloodsucking leech and paparazzi in the city. Though, I guessed the publicity from something like this could really only be good—theoretically, anyway.

Brent reached for my hand with his right and extended a glass statue in the other, all the while smiling in the direction of the cameras instead of making eye contact with me. He was a natural at this whole dog and pony show. Being in the public eye now, I decided to use him as an example of what not to do. Not for public opinion—he had that in spades—but for my opinion of myself.

The more I paid attention to all of that fake warmth, all I felt inside was cold.

“On behalf of the city of New York, thank you,” he boomed, and I just stopped myself from rolling my eyes all the way when they hit the bottom.

Down in front of me, Pam sat with a smile on her face and applause echoing off of her hands as she looked at me and only me. I looked away as quickly as possible.

Brent squeezed my hand meaningfully.

I cleared my throat. “Uh, thank you,” I managed.

His smile deepened, the asshole.

I tried to step away, but he clasped a hand on my shoulder and turned me back.

“Hold on, Scott. Before you run off to save more lives,” he said, laying it on thick, “I’d like to take this opportunity to brag a little bit.”

Oh, wow. Something new.

“Scott and I have actually already been working together on something that is really close to my heart. I’ve followed the policy of health and public safety in this city closely for years, and in an effort to make this city even better, stronger, safer, I’ve appointed Scott as the head of my team for reworking the policies that need work and scrapping the ones that are lacking completely.”

Following closely? Appointed me? I approached him!

“I’m looking forward to working together, Scott,” he said as the crowd broke out in applause.

Goddamn, he was good. He’d trapped me, and now, thanks to the lives of innocent people being at stake and all, I had no choice but to agree.

“Can’t fucking wait.”

“Knock. Knock!”

Scott’s voice echoed off of the walls of my entryway even though the door still separated us. The bastard could definitely boom like no other. I hopped off the couch and headed toward the door to let him in. Just before turning the knob, I caught sight of my nearly blinding smile in the reflection of the large mirror my mother had insisted on placing near the door. I sighed. Boy, I guess I really did like him, huh?

“Hello? Frances?” he teased, impatient as ever, and I rolled my eyes.

Fucking Frances. It would only be thirty-five more years or so before my given name was age-appropriate.

Without humoring him with a response, I took the time to peek at the smartass through my peephole. The longer I spied, the more enjoyment I got. It wasn’t until I’d sat motionless for nearly thirty seconds, entranced by the thrumming vein in his corded neck, that I realized what a creeper I was being.

A totally smitten creeper…