Hollywood Temptation

Lucille let out a long, slow breath. “That would be great, Selena. I don’t want to go back to Barney and let him know I’m struggling with this.” She lifted up the pile of papers. A colored catalog slipped out and landed on the floor.

Selena bent to pick it up. She couldn’t help but smile. It was a catalog from one of the shopping channels. “You don’t? Do you?”

Lucille’s face flushed as she laughed and reached out for the catalog. “Don’t tell anyone, but it’s my guilty pleasure. They sell fabulous jewelry.” Their hands brushed together. “I do try to stick to a budget.” She gave Selena a sympathetic smile. She understood, but she wasn’t going to criticize.

Selena nodded. Wow. Apart from Colt, no one else had really paid any attention to her. The girls she’d socialized with when she’d been with Mark had turned out to be fair-weather friends. She hadn’t heard from them since Mark had flung her out. Maybe Lucille could be her first real friend in LA.

She took a deep breath and gave Lucille’s hand a squeeze. “Then maybe we can help each other.”

…

Helen had her arms folded across her chest. “It’s been a week, Colt. The lawyers are already circling. You didn’t follow the proper procedures when you fired Lara.”

His stomach sank like a stone. Why was a feeling of dread circling him? Colt lifted up his hands in exasperation. “She was texting her friend the name of the patients in the waiting room. She broke confidentiality. A total nonstarter. She had to go.”

Helen nodded. “I agree. Unfortunately, our lawyer doesn’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean your hasty decision is going to cost us. At a time when we can ill afford it.”

Colt swallowed. He knew exactly how the stretched their finances were right now. He shook his head. “I don’t understand. It’s included in the contract she signed. If you breach patient confidentiality, you’re out of here.” He swept his arm out in a grand motion.

“You replaced her the next day. It looks almost as if you planned it.”

“What?” He’d heard it all now. “I planned the fact Selena’s ex would throw her out of her apartment and she’d be hit by a flying shoe? I planned the fact she’d stop at this clinic to get her head stitched?”

Helen raised her eyebrows. “The timing does appear to be convenient, but you’re right.” She tapped her pen on the table.

Colt refused to shift under her unnerving gaze. She tilted her head. “I notice things, Colt. You seem to be quite taken by our temporary receptionist. Is there anything you need to tell me? Did you know her before she worked here?”

Helen Ridgeway was a woman who noticed everything about everybody. The undercurrent between Selena and himself hadn’t been missed. Every time he was in the same room as her, all he could do was look at her. She hadn’t helped matters when she’d teased him about her underwear. He’d already admired her hot-pink thong when it was wrapped around her stiletto heel.

It had haunted his dreams almost every night since.

He pulled his shoulders back, meeting Helen’s gaze. “What do you want to do?”

“Lara wants her job back.”

He shook his head fiercely, trying to push the thought away that he’d have to fire Selena. “Absolutely not. How could we trust her around any patient information? She’s already proved unreliable.”

Helen’s voice remained steady. “But she didn’t sell the story to the press.”

“She didn’t?” Now Colt was genuinely surprised. When he’d caught Lara texting, he’d immediately assumed it was her who had sold the story to the press a few weeks ago. “How on earth do you know that?”

Helen took a deep breath. “I have my sources.”

“What does that mean?” He flung his arms in the air in frustration. He was a partner in this clinic. Helen’s husband might have been the founder, but everything happening affected him, too. “Helen?”

She might be like family to him, but sometimes she frustrated the hell out of him. Sometimes she spoke to him as if he was still some fifteen-year-old boy with massive burns, requiring plastic surgery.

She shook her head. “The celeb that was exposed made a last-minute appointment. Lara was off those few days. She had no access to the information. We still haven’t found the source.”

“And how are we going to find the source? We can’t afford any more leaks. We’re lucky the Feds aren’t knocking at our door.”

Helen shook her head. “It gets worse. I’ve just had a call from our lawyer, and I think we’re about to make the papers again tomorrow.”

“What?”

She put her fingers on either side of her head, circling them as if she were trying to stave off a headache. “Polly Perkins. Remember her? Had bigger implants last week? Someone’s leaked it to the press.”

Colt slammed his hand off the wall in frustration. “Not again! Who is it this time? Where are these reporters getting their stories?” He ran his fingers through his hair. “We’ve got to put a stop to this, Helen.”

Helen scowled. “I know. This is serious. You know I’ve hired a company to update our IT systems.”

He nodded. “They were here last week, and I’ve changed all my passwords.”

“Well, that’s not all they’re doing. They’re also investigating the whole system. I’m hoping they’ll be able to track down the log-ins and who accessed the information that was leaked.”

“They can do that?” Colt held up his hands. “We’ve got over fifty people working here, and let’s face it, any one of them could have accessed the information.”

“That’s why I’m getting specialist help, along with a specialist attorney.”

He raised his eyebrows. “At what cost?”

Helen shook her head. “Let me worry about the cost. I’m trying to keep things quiet. The less people that know about this, the better.”

It made sense. He knew that. But Colt shook his head. “Even if it wasn’t Lara who caused the leak, she was still in breach of her contract for the text she sent. I don’t want to see her around here again.”

“And neither do I, but if giving her the job back means she doesn’t cost the clinic a small fortune, then it’s something we have to seriously consider.”

Colt’s words were definite. “Well, I won’t be considering it at all.” Not for a second. Selena was

already getting under his skin. He was counting down the three weeks until she’d paid her outstanding bill, and he knew she didn’t have a way to pay it back otherwise.

Helen raised her eyebrows. “I don’t think you’re being entirely rational here.”

“I guess as partner I don’t need to be.”

“Are you trying to play hardball with me? Because this could get ugly.”

“Helen’s House is every bit as important to me as it is to you. Do you think I want to tell those people they can’t have the help that they need?”

“I know that.”

“Then why do I feel as if we’re fighting?”

“I might need to make an executive decision to fire Selena and take Lara back.” Her voice wavered slightly, as if she wasn’t quite as in control as she wanted him to believe. “If we use the proper procedures, we can always fire Lara again.”

“You can’t do that!” His voice raised a few octaves.

“Why not? Selena doesn’t have a contract here. She’s only working to pay back what she owes.”

Colt clenched his teeth, taking a deep breath before he spoke. “Are you willing just to write off her debt then? Because other than that it’s unethical, Helen. You know it is. And I’m getting tired of the way you like to make decisions without consulting with any of the other partners.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You think I don’t know the refurb of the spa is really an expensive favor for a friend?” Her eyes widened, but he wasn’t finished. “And let’s talk about the salary we’re currently paying your grandson, Josh. What is his purpose around here anyway?”

It was a low blow, and he knew it. But Helen’s business decisions were contributing to the problems, and this clinic was his livelihood as well as hers. He was here because he wanted to be, not because he had to be. He worked here almost entirely because of the connection to Helen’s House and the kids’ charitable plastic surgeries.

Her head tilted to one side. “Are you forgetting who helped you get here?”

Low blows worked both ways.