Only he was and maybe he had been all along.
Bleep.
CHAPTER TWO
“I’M SORRY I’M LATE,” Eleanor apologized to the hospital CEO, to the hospital medical director, to the NICU director and several other hospital bigwigs whose titles she couldn’t quite recall. “I—I worked, and then I had to shower and change.” She glanced down at her barely there dress and way-too-exposed body as if that explained everything. “And then my sister had …”
She stopped, realizing she was rambling, realizing that they all stared at her as if she’d grown a second head and spoke in foreign tongue. Or maybe they were all staring at her too-ample bosom overflowing out of Brooke’s idea of a sick joke.
Eleanor couldn’t be sure because she couldn’t see any of their faces clearly. Which was probably a good thing because she was pretty sure disapproval marred their expressions. They’d never take her or her suggestions for the hospital seriously again.
“Dr. Aston, how do you feel about your father donating the money for the new wing?” A man poked a microphone in her face.
Bile pooled in her stomach. The press. She’d known she’d have to deal with them, both at the ribbon-cutting and at the reception afterward. She wanted to shrivel up and become invisible in the hope they’d go away and not notice her.
Fat chance of that when she was essentially the guest of honor.
Not her, really. Just Senator Cole Aston’s daughter.
Which technically she was, but if someone had told her she’d been accidentally swapped at birth, she’d have no trouble believing them as she was so different from her socialite mother, power-hungry father and mediadarling sister.
She much preferred being Dr. Eleanor Aston, who was someone she was proud to be most of the time.
She didn’t feel proud at the moment.
She felt awkward and uncomfortable and like she might throw up.
She looked at the reporter, wanted to be like Brooke and deliver a smooth, witty line about how proud she was of her father for making such a wonderful contribution to the hospital and community.
But she wasn’t Brooke and under the best of circumstances she wasn’t witty.
Half-naked and surrounded by people who’d once dubbed her “Jelly Ellie” didn’t come close to being the best of circumstances.
Why had the bane of her childhood reared its ugly head now? For years she’d kept that much-used media label out of her head. She wouldn’t let it back in, wouldn’t let the slurs back into her mind, wouldn’t let them degrade the woman she’d become. So she wasn’t a skinny Minny and never would be. She was average, of healthy weight and her curves were fairly toned thanks to the hours she spent in the gym each week. The press could get over their craze for too thin.
Thankfully, the hospital CEO grabbed her by her elbow and whisked her toward the ribbon that partitioned the new wing from the rest of the hospital. A big bright red ribbon that perfectly matched her dress. Had Brooke planned that? Probably. Her sister had an eye for detail.
“We’re already a little behind schedule.” The CEO didn’t actually say that it was her fault but she felt the weight of his implication all the same. He was getting his slam in on Dr. Eleanor Aston being late, but wasn’t going to say anything specific to Eleanor Aston, daughter of Senator Cole Aston. “So we’ll get the show on the road.”
Fine. The sooner they got this started, the sooner they’d finish, the sooner she could go home and try to figure out how she was ever going to face her coworkers again.
Wondering if everyone could see how her legs were shaking, Eleanor stood next to the CEO while he droned on and on about the hospital and what a blessing it was in the community.
Then he did something horrible. He turned to Eleanor to give a welcome-and-thank-you speech.
Immediately, the full-blown panic attack she’d been fighting most of the day took over. Her heart picked up pace, doubling in tempo. A hot sweat broke out on her skin, making her palms immediately feel sticky wet. Her tongue attached itself to the roof of her mouth and refused to budge.
She took a deep breath, reminded herself that the rapid pounding of her heart was just anxiety and not that her heart was really going to explode from fear of being in the spotlight.
Although the blonde at his side felt it necessary to continue to chat softly to him, Ty’s attention was focused solely on the woman standing next to her bosses. His bosses.
In direct opposition to the low-cut-cleavage and long-leg-revealing dress, her ethereal face looked fragile, pale, out of place.
Ty didn’t have to see the pulse jumping at the base of her throat or the tremor of her knees to know she was nervous.
Nervous? More like petrified.
She appeared as delicate as a butterfly’s wing and just as beautiful with those big brown eyes of hers and that full mouth.
A mouth made for kissing.
She’d always kept to herself so much that he’d taken it as a sign that she wasn’t interested.
Was it possible he’d mistaken shyness for disinterest?
She stirred something within him, but he’d just labeled it as curiosity, considering she was the only female he knew who didn’t fall into flirt mode whenever he was near.
He was definitely curious. Beyond curious.
More like intrigued by the plethora of contradictions that defined his colleague.
The CEO waited for Eleanor to speak.
The rest of the crowd waited for her to give her speech.
A too-long pause settled over the crowd.
“H-hello. It—it is …” A few stuttered words began escaping her quivering lips. “An honor …an honor to be here. Today. This evening, I mean.”
“She sure isn’t her sister,” a man next to Ty with a camera in his hands grumbled under his breath.
Surprisingly, Ty’s fingers curled, the man’s comment rubbing him up the wrong way. Why he felt so protective of a woman he wasn’t certain he even liked, he had no clue. But he found himself wanting to speak up, to defend her. How could you defend someone you didn’t really know?
Still, he shot the man a silencing look. “Not everyone is a polished speaker, but Eleanor is a fantastic doctor and woman.”
The man’s bushy brows drew together then he shrugged. “Whatever, pal.” Then he went back to snapping photos.
Not looking anyone in particular in the eye, Eleanor began speaking again, and Ty found himself letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
“Th-thanks to everyone for coming to this wonderful occasion where we’re celebrating the opening of a new neonatal wing at the Angel Mendez Children’s Hospital.” She paused, swallowed hard, then smiled what he knew was a forced smile before she continued. “M-many of you know pediatrician Federico Mendez started this hospital during the depression after the death of his much-loved son, Angel, who suffered from polio. My father, Senator Cole Aston, wishes to continue the tradition started by Federico Mendez.”
Her expression tightened and she cleared her throat, pausing too long yet again.
Come on, Eleanor, he mentally willed her on. Just thank everyone for coming again and be done.
“It is with that same generous and caring spirit that my father donated the funds for this new neonatal wing in the hope that—that …” Between stutters, she thanked everyone for coming to the ribbon-cutting. Then,