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Natalie did.
But she didn’t.
But she really, really did. If she was going to have to put up with him being in Memphis, being at her hospital, she should have some perks, right?
“Would you let me?”
He didn’t hesitate, just held her gaze. “I would.”
“Because you want to further the knowledge of your staff?” Why she pushed, she wouldn’t delve deeply to label, just that she wanted his clarification.
“Because you asked,” he corrected, his gaze locked with hers. “Although, you’re right. Part of my position is to further my staff’s knowledge. The hospital is great, otherwise I wouldn’t have considered the move. But I hope to bring positive changes. Dr. Luiz suggested I discuss those with you as he thought some of our ideas overlapped, and you could be key in the implementation process.”
He was completely sincere, and Natalie found herself being sucked into the idea of working with someone who’d been operating on the cutting edge his entire career. He’d been at a hospital with the resources to make history, not follow in its footsteps. He wanted to bring that to her hospital.
“If we hadn’t met in Miami and you hadn’t stolen my dream job, I might like working with you,” she admitted, somewhat reluctantly.
He studied her a moment, then asked, “Do you expect me to say I’m sorry, Natalie? I won’t.” He had that dark and dangerous look about him that had her glancing away. “I’m not.”
For Miami or taking her dream job? Or both? Natalie wondered. Either way, her adrenaline rush from the successful procedure and watching his innovative surgical technique was wearing her down, leaving her restless and needing to get away.
“Are you going to the retirement party for Dr. Luiz?” he asked.
The party was almost two weeks away, sponsored by the hospital, and a big deal.
“What kind of question is that?” The man had been her mentor since residency. “Of course I’m going. Just because he sold me out to the board in favor of you doesn’t mean I’d bail on his retirement party.”
Matthew’s expression tightened. “Is that really how you see what he did?”
Natalie closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “He did what was right for the cardiology department, for the hospital, and for Memphis. I don’t fault him for that.”
“Sure you do.”
He was right. She did.
“I understand why he did what he did.” She did understand why the board preferred Matthew. “What I don’t understand is why you left an amazing hospital and research facility to
come here.”
A weary look crossed his face so briefly that Natalie wasn’t sure she hadn’t imagined it. Maybe she had, because he just shrugged and said, “I like a challenge.”
“Ha. Getting this hospital anywhere close to what you left is going to be a challenge. An impossible one, because we don’t have the funding you’re used to.”
He studied her a moment, then shrugged again. “Sometimes challenges can be a good thing.”
* * *
“You should bring a date,” Monica encouraged as Suzie nodded her agreement, and Natalie wished her friends would find a new topic of conversation.
Every time she saw them all they wanted to discuss was Matthew. When was the last time she saw him? What did he say? What did he do? It was getting old.
“Make him jealous.”
Natalie rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to make him jealous. I want...”
She wasn’t sure what she wanted. Honestly, she understood the hospital hiring Matthew. He was brilliant. The man had been improving pediatric cardiac outcomes for over a decade and the entire hospital was ecstatic to have him join them.
If only Natalie could feel that same joy.
