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The older man smiles, waving away my apology. “It’s all right. I just stopped by to chat with your mate about a patient I’m having some trouble with. Congratulations, by the way. The whole department is beside themselves that our resident genius has apparently been off the market for over a year. Don’t know how he kept it a secret all this time.”
“Oh yeah.” I laugh nervously, shifting my weight from one foot to the other as my eyes dart from Noah, who looks stern, back to the man whose smile seems off somehow. “Well, you know Noah... he’s a stoic one.”
“Right,” the man chuckles. He steps closer to offer his hand. “I’m Dennis, by the way. Dennis Martin. I don’t think we’ve officially met.”
“Oh, right. You’re a cardiologist, too, aren’t you?”
“That’s right,” Dennis says with that same smile that is starting to creep me out. It feels forced. “Not nearly as important as your mate here. Just one of the worker bees.”
I’m not sure what to say to that, glancing at Noah to catch him rolling his eyes out of Dennis’s line of sight.
“You must be so proud to be with a department head,” Dennis goes on. “I can completely understand why you wanted to keep it a secret though. Wanting to make a name for yourself outside his shadow is very admirable.”
“Yeah, well...” I shrug noncommittally. “Gave it our best shot, at least. You know how gossip goes.”
Dennis’s eyes crinkle as his smile widens, nodding. “Right.” He gives Noah his attention then, seeming to be done with our conversation. “I’ll check with you later about that patient file. See what you think.”
“Sounds great,” Noah says flatly. “I’ll shoot you an email after I’ve gone over it.”
“Perfect.” Dennis smiles at me again. “Good to meet you, Dr. Carter.”
“Mack is fine,” I answer out of habit.
“Mack,” he echoes. “Have a good day.”
I watch as Dennis walks past me to leave us, waiting until he’s closed the door behind him before raising one eyebrow in Noah’s direction. “He seems like buckets of fun.”
“He’s a pain in my ass,” Noah grumbles. “He still thinks he should have been given the department head title because of his seniority, but he’s too much of a kiss-ass to be outright uncivil with me. So instead, I have to put up with his fake niceties even though he spends most of his time bad-mouthing me to anyone who will listen.”
“Yikes.” I stick out my tongue. “Sounds like a bitter bitch to me.”
Noah’s mouth twitches, the closest he’s come to smiling since we started our little arrangement. “He is that.” He cocks his head. “Did you need something?”
“Yeah.” I cross the room to drop down into the chair opposite his desk, tucking one leg under my thigh as I get comfortable. “But I also wanted to see if your day was as wild as mine.”
Noah’s brow furrows. “Wild?”
“I have seriously had at least ten people ask about you. Half of them I’ve barely even spoken to before. You didn’t get any of that?”
Noah looks surprised. “Not really. It was business as usual.”
“Ugh.” I shake my head. “Probably because they’re too scared to ask you. I guess I’ll be the one to bear the brunt of the gossip.”
Noah looks apologetic. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine,” I tell him. “So far, it’s mostly been funny. I’m pretty sure at least three of the people I talked to today insinuated you had some kind of alpha mind-control powers and worried I might be in a captive scenario.”
“I guess as far as reasons why you would saddle yourself with me go, that one isn’t completely far-fetched.”
“Hey, don’t be all mopey. There were at least four others who I’m almost positive were jealous. Just saying, you’ve got options out there when we fake break up.”
He frowns. “I’ll pass, thank you.”
“Suit yourself.”
“I’m sorry,” he offers again, looking genuinely concerned. “That you’re having to deal with it.”
I wave him off. “It’s okay. I’m a big girl. It’s annoying, but it’s entertaining at least.” I grin at him slyly. “You’ll deal with worse when you meet my grandmother. I assure you she will be ten times more insufferable than anyone working at this hospital could ever hope to be. I’ll make that your penance.”
