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Although she need not have worried.
Vale wasn’t at the office when she arrived.
“He called to say he had a meeting at the hospital and would see you in the operating room,” Kay informed her, handing Faith a stack of papers. “He also asked for you to handle any of these phone calls that you can, to save him time this afternoon. He’s got a full day ahead.”
Didn’t they always? Faith sighed. “Of course.”
Kay gestured to Faith’s hair. “I like your hair like that. Did you have it highlighted at your appointment on Friday?”
So much had happened between this morning and last Friday Faith had forgotten her co-workers hadn’t seen the changes she’d made. “Cut and highlighted. I couldn’t get it pulled back right this morning.”
“If right is how you usually wear your hair, then good. I like you better this way,” Kay said in her usual blunt manner. “How was the grandiose Steve Woodard and Sharon Wakefield wedding?”
“Grandiose,” Faith said, not wanting to be reminded of how she’d spent her weekend. In bed, naked, with her boss.
And he’d wanted to continue… If she’d said yes, would she have woken in his arms? Shared breakfast with him? Walked to work with him hand in hand?
No, she’d been right to end things now. Why wait for the inevitable? Why give Vale the chance to break her heart? A relationship between them would never have worked.
“I saw photos in The Post. There’s a really nice one of you and Vale. You looked gorgeous, by the way, and happy.”
There had been photos of her and Vale in The Post? What had the caption read? Wakefield heir goes slumming? Wakefield heir dumps top model for smart chick, what was he thinking? Wakefield heir… Faith winced, hoping Kay didn’t read too much into the reaction.
Of co
urse there had been photos of the wedding. No doubt gossip rags and papers alike would have a whole section on the famous heiress’s wedding to a sporting legend.
“Did you get to meet many stars?”
“A few,” she answered honestly. Almost every guest in attendance had had a recognizable face. “Vale kept me pretty busy.”
And how. Faith fought to keep heat from her face.
“The man is a workaholic!” Kay accused, but with admiration in her voice. “Well, I hope you got a chance to sightsee. Cape May is a gorgeous historic town. I love all those old Victorian houses. Was the Wakefield home close enough to the park for you to see the lighthouse? I visited there once when I was a kid.”
Faith didn’t wince again, barely. She even managed a half-smile. “I did get to visit the lighthouse. Thanks for asking.” She held up the stack of papers Kay had handed her. “Guess I’d better get started clearing these before meeting His Highness in the O.R. to implant Mr. Anderson’s two-lead DBS device. Keep your fingers crossed we cure his dyskinesia and tremors today without any negative side effects.”
When Faith arrived, Vale was already scrubbed and preparing to enter the surgical suite. She hadn’t intentionally dawdled, but time had slipped away from her while fielding his phone calls and catching up on her own workload.
“Did Kay give you my message?” he asked, glancing briefly at her when she’d finished scrubbing.
“She gave me all of your messages. I was able to take care of most of them.” Did she sound bitter? Ridiculous. She’d been helping Vale from the moment she’d started at the clinic. Why would doing so bother her now? But, then, screening his messages wasn’t what caused the bitterness in her throat.
“Good.” He stepped into the sterile gown, allowed the nurse to do up the back, then gloved up. Except for the rare comment regarding their patient, he ignored Faith throughout the remainder of the surgery.
Never had he ignored her. Never. Today, he was making a statement. One she was getting loud and clear.
There was no going back to the way things had been before their weekend together.
Unlike her, he looked as if he’d slept well. His appearance was impeccable, as always. No dark circles beneath his brilliant blue eyes, ever. No glances of longing at the woman he’d made passionate love to all weekend.
How dared he make her want him so badly!
Only, really, what had he done? Had sex with her and told her he wanted to continue their relationship beyond the weekend? How could she hold that against him?
But naive as it might be, she hadn’t expected such a drastic change in their professional relationship.
He turned, caught her watching him, met her gaze for the briefest of seconds. He never missed a beat in how he guided the DBS lead under the neuro-physicist’s guidance, never looked the slightest moved by the questions she knew she hadn’t kept from her face.
