The Fake Mate(87)

Well, maybe I will save a certain four-letter word for a later date, given that there’s a good chance she might run screaming if I voice it out loud after only a few short weeks. Still, I can tell her that I want something real. I can hope beyond hope that she might want the same. The conversation with my mother last week flits through my mind, and I try to cling to her advice.

Try not to get too in your head about this. I have a good feeling this Mackenzie of yours might surprise you.

I really, really hope that she does.

I can’t say how much time passes with me still agonizing over one email when a knock sounds at my door, and given that Mackenzie has already gone home for the day, I barely glance at the door when I bid whoever is on the other side to come in. I can’t say that anyone other than Mackenzie would be a welcome presence in my office, if I’m being honest, but there’s a particularly special wave of distaste that washes over me when I see it’s the last person I want to see right now, or ever, for that matter.

“Noah,” Dennis greets me with a pleasantness that feels entirely fake. “I was hoping you had a minute.”

I frown instantly. “I’m actually kind of busy right now, Dr. Martin.”

“Oh? Well, I do hate to bother you.” He practically pouts as he shuts the door behind him anyway, his face saying otherwise. “But it is very important, so . . .”

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose as I turn my chair away from my desk. It’s probably better to just let him have whatever moment he’s trying to have here so he will go away that much faster. I just have to be sure not to let him get to me like the last time we ran into each other.

“Okay,” I say resignedly. “What is so important?”

“It’s actually pretty embarrassing,” he says, looking uncomfortable but in a way that, again, doesn’t feel real. “I really hate bringing it up at all, you know . . .”

I feel myself getting irritated despite my resolve. “Then just spit it out so I can get back to work.”

“Right,” Dennis says as a slow, unsettling smile creeps across his face. “Well. You see . . . I’ve had a dilemma for a while now, and I don’t really know how I should handle it.”

My jaw ticks. “What sort of dilemma?”

“Well . . .” I can see it a moment before it happens, the way his features shift into utter glee, like he’s been planning this moment for longer than I could possibly know. “I was wondering what I should do about you and Dr. Carter lying to the hospital board about your pretend relationship.”

I feel my blood run cold. My mouth parts as I struggle to make words, my brain feeling scrambled. “What?”

“You heard me,” he says, his earlier pleasantness gone and in its place nothing but thinly veiled contempt. “You lied to the board. You and Dr. Carter aren’t mated at all. Which means you purposely lied about your designation and your unmated status to keep your job. Don’t know how you roped poor Dr. Carter into all this, but I guess it doesn’t matter, now that she’s complicit.”

“Dennis,” I say dazedly. “There’s been a misunderstanding, we—”

“I don’t think there’s been a misunderstanding at all,” he chuckles. “But by all means, keep lying. It will only make it that much worse for you when I go to the board and turn the both of you in.”

The both of you.

“You’re wrong,” I say more forcefully, trying to keep my expression even. “Mackenzie and I—”

“Are liars,” he laughs. “Yes, I know. Listen, there’s no use in denying it, I heard your little pretend mate talking to her friend before you carted her out of the hospital for what I’m sure was a great time.”

Heat floods my chest, and I clench my fists to keep from reaching for him. “I think maybe you misheard.”

“I didn’t mishear anything,” he says. “It was pretty clear from their conversation. Now, you can come clean and we can move on to what comes next, or you can keep lying, and I can walk out of your office and go straight to the board.” He clicks his tongue. “I imagine that will be a big surprise for Dr. Carter.”

My heart is pounding so loudly that it’s possible Dennis can hear it, panic clawing in my chest. I realize immediately that I am a thousand times more worried about the idea of Mackenzie’s career being affected by this than mine, and because of that his threat cuts deeper, making me tense. I sense there’s little reason to keep up the charade; it’s obvious Dennis has sunk his claws deep into this discovery. I have no idea what sort of scenario resulted in Dennis overhearing Mackenzie, and I’m not even sure it really matters. All that matters is that I save her from any repercussions, if I can.

“There’s no need for all that,” I try, my instincts going into overdrive to protect her. “She isn’t the one who you dislike so much.”

“That’s true,” Dennis says thoughtfully. “It would be a shame to damage her career like that just because you dragged her into your lies.”

“I never lied,” I argue.

Dennis laughs outright. “I think the board would see it differently.” He clicks his tongue. “Submitting a false disclosure form to avoid a reprimand over your application omission? How would that look with your cushy new job in Albuquerque?”