She was applying for the job?
“Does she know who the request came from?”
Paulo’s head tilted. “It came from Marcos Pinheiro, since he’s the head of oncology. Why?”
What was he supposed to say? “Oh, remember that whole professionalism is key thing? It’s already gone way beyond that.”
And boy had it. Several times. In multiple positions.
He swallowed hard. That was probably the dumbest move he’d ever made. And if he admitted to it here and now, his project was dead in the water. She hadn’t been a nurse at his hospital at the time, so there had been no problem. Right?
When Paulo started to hand him the file, he waved it away. “I know who she is.”
He wanted to tell the man, hell, no, he didn’t want her. Standing next to her at that wedding had made something in his gut churn to life, just like when he’d worked her father’s case. After a few drinks, things had gotten out of hand, and the rest was history. A crazy sensual history he was better off forgetting.
But if he said he wasn’t willing to accept this particular nurse, he would have to explain why, and that could make for a very awkward conversation. It could also mean the death knell for this project, since no one else had responded to their request. Was he looking a gift horse in the mouth here?
He’d certainly enjoyed kissing that mouth.
He took a deep breath, hoping he wasn’t making a huge mistake. “I can give her a try and see if she works out.”
The administrator shook his head. “We’d need to be able to offer her three months, minimum, and six months is what she prefers. She wants the experience, Sebastian. She can’t get it in less time than that. Take it or leave it.”
In other words, his pet project was resting on the answer to this one question.
The question was could he keep his hands to himself for that long? Yes. Some mistakes did not bear repeating, no matter how pleasurable they had been at the time.
“Sure. Why not.”
He could handle six months of anything. After all, he’d lived in a household that had been pure hell during the time Natália had been undergoing her cancer treatments. He’d never told his sister what he’d found out about their father. And seeing the jerk at her wedding had made a slow boil start up in his gut. It had been part of the reason he’d dragged Sara to the bar that night. To avoid having to interact with the louse that had cheated on his mother and made her cry, who had said terrible things about his sister when she’d been ill.
The folder slid back to Sebastian’s side of the desk. “Take this down to Human Resources, then, and tell them that I’m okaying the transfer.” The man tapped his pencil on the paper in front of him. “But I’m keeping six months as the maximum, and I’m holding you to these figures. So, keep the costs down as much as you can.”
Time for a little last-minute haggling. “I want to be up and running in a week or two.”
“A week or two? The ambulance needs to be painted at the very least. I don’t want anyone mistaking it for an emergency vehicle, especially if you’re taking it into the favelas.” His lips tightened. “And no narcotics of any kind are to be carried onboard, understood?”
The favelas could be dangerous places on a good day, and if someone thought that they could find drugs inside it would be a recipe for a disaster.
“Understood. I’ll make arrangements for the painting.” He wasn’t going to tell the administrator he already had a body shop lined up. A friend of a friend who was giving him a huge discount on the job.
“If this goes well, it will be great PR for the hospital. So make sure everything runs smoothly. No snafus, got it?”
“I understand.” And if there were snafus with Sara? What if she expected to take up where they’d left off at the motel, once she found out she’d be working with him? Although the fact that she’d disappeared before he’d woken up made him think she wouldn’t. There’d been no sexy good mornings. No breakfasts in bed. Just an empty motel room.
There would be no snafus. Sebastian would do everything in his power to make sure they were able to work together. As long as she was okay with keeping things purely professional.
And if she wasn’t?
Then she might very well make his life difficult. Or at least his job.
So he had to make sure that didn’t happen.
No matter how hard it became. At least for the next six months.
* * *
Sara was elated. Even though part of her had been dreading this trip for the last week.
Would she run into Sebastian? It had been five and a half weeks since they’d found themselves at that motel together. But they’d both had far too much to drink. He probably didn’t even remember that night. Not that she’d waited around to find out.
What did it matter? She had the job! Carrying her small suitcase up the walkway toward the huge modern hospital, she felt like she was coming home. She’d spent almost a year of her life at this place while her dad had undergone treatment—first chemo, and then surgery to replace part of his femur with an internal prosthesis, a surgery she hadn’t even known existed before they’d come here. That was when she’d realized how insulated her little world was.
Her dad’s care had been first class. His doctors had saved his life. And Natália, the neonatal doctor who had shared her personal story of surviving the same type of cancer, had infused him with the will to try. Sara really believed that. The two had become fast friends over the course of their time there. And if she had to face Natália’s brother at her new post, well, she would grit her teeth and bear it. He hadn’t tried to contact her since that night, but that was understandable, since she’d been the one to sneak out at the crack of dawn.
Her stomach gave a twinge of nerves, the butterflies she’d felt for the last week developing wings of steel as they flapped around her belly. Her dad was worried about her being this far away from home, but at twenty-six it was well past time she found her own wings and flew away. Even if they were waging war inside her at the moment.
She was pretty sure that in the big city men made love to women and then went on about their lives—wasn’t that how things were depicted on television? Thank God she’d never told her father what had happened that night. He would have been firmly against her coming here if he’d known, and it might tarnish his perception of Sebastian. Instead, Sara had simply told him that she’d spent the night with a friend after having one too many drinks.
And she had.
Pushing a buzzer at the entrance, she gave her name to the person who answered. The glass door promptly clicked open and she pushed through it, wiping Sebastian Texeira from her thoughts. At least for now.
The service entrance was well lit, the marble fittings she remembered being in the main corridor were echoed even here. Employees were treated well. You could tell by the care put into the details. They probably had to attract and keep the best talent in the country, so they treated them right. And now she was here. Among the best of the best. A place she’d never thought she’d be. The fact that it was only temporary made her determined to get as much as she could out of the experience. Maybe she would learn something she could introduce to her own hospital back home.
She swung into the door marked “Administration”, where she was supposed to meet some of the members of her team. As soon as she entered the room, however, she stopped, her heart stumbling for a beat or two. Sitting in a beige leather chair, one ankle propped on his knee, was the person she had just shoved from her mind. The wings in her belly turned into chainsaws, slashing at her innards and turning them to mush.
“What are you—?” She tried again. “I’m sorry. I’m supposed to meet someone