Finding Her Prince. Robyn Donald

is spotless, I’m inclined to believe there’s no substance to the accusation.”

      Cindy’s grip on her hands loosened and blood flow returned to her fingers. “That’s good.”

      “But there’s another reason I think it’s without merit.” Dina met her gaze. “I’ve heard rumors. Specifically, gossip regarding you and Dr. Steele having a relationship.”

      “There’s nothing—”

      Her boss held up a hand to stop the protest. “I don’t need details. Your personal life is just that. Personal. But it’s my job to see that work isn’t affected.”

      “It’s not,” Cindy assured her. “Nathan and I—what I mean to say is, Dr. Steele—there is no relationship between us.”

      “Okay. Your work has been exemplary from the first day you started here at Mercy Medical Center.” Dina studied her and, going by past experiences, she didn’t miss much. “I’m your supervisor, but you need to remember that I’m also your friend. It’s a fine line to walk and I work very hard at not showing favoritism. But if you need someone to talk to, I’m there for you.”

      The sympathetic expression and the invitation for a confidence seemed to unleash the dammed-up feelings Cindy had been struggling to hold back.

      “I’m pregnant,” she blurted out.

      “I see.” Shock mixed with curiosity in the other woman’s expression. Curiosity won. “Do I know the father?”

      “Do you know Nathan Steele?”

      “Really?” This time shock squeezed everything else out of her face. “He’s the father?”

      “I don’t know quite how it happened,” she hurried to explain.

      Dina’s expression was wry. “Then you and I need to have a conversation about the birds and bees. It’ll be good practice for ‘The Talk’ with my girls.”

      “I know how it happened.” Cindy felt the heat in her cheeks. “What I meant was that I’ve seen him in the NICU, but he never saw me. Not until the night of the hospital fundraiser.”

      “I heard you won the raffle.”

      “Won is a relative term. I couldn’t resist messing with him when he said I looked familiar, but he didn’t have any idea who I was.”

      “Apparently you clean up pretty good, or at work you look like something the cat yakked up.”

      “There’s a visual.” Cindy squirmed in the chair. “He recognized me the next day at work. By my perfume.”

      Dina looked more surprised about that than the pregnancy. “Obviously that line worked for him.”

      “Not really.” It was only a small lie. “He asked more than once for my phone number, but I turned him down.”

      “Something changed your mind because you’re not the sex-in-the-supply-closet type.”

      Cindy was grateful for that unwavering faith in her. “I happened to see him in action saving a baby.”

      “Ah. The hero factor worked in his favor. It’s very powerful female fantasy material.”

      “I still said ‘no,’ but he wouldn’t give up. So finally I gave in to a dinner invitation.” She decided to leave out the portion of the conversation where she offered sex to get him out of her life. That had not worked out as planned.

      At least not yet.

      “If I had to guess, I’d say dinner went well?”

      Cindy nodded. “He’s more charming when he’s away from the hospital.”

      “No kidding,” Dina said.

      “It wasn’t like that.” Cindy didn’t want her boss to get the wrong idea about him. “He just kissed me good night.”

      She also decided to leave out the part about him saying he wanted her sexy, sassy, smart mouth. And the part where he wanted to taste the passion she put into being so tough. It had surprised her that he understood her so well. Maybe that’s what had pushed her over the edge into mindless passion, but she didn’t believe he’d planned to seduce her. Although she’d been very wrong about a man once before.

      “Neither of us planned for this to happen,” Cindy added. “Precautions were … problematic. It’s just one of those things. But I want to clarify that there is no relationship between the two of us.”

      “Okay.” Dina didn’t look away.

      “I’m aware that the staff is gossiping. For what it’s worth, I believe the complaint about my work has more to do with the social differences between us. Although on the surface the two aren’t connected.”

      “Just someone lashing out,” Dina agreed.

      Cindy leaned forward in her eagerness to dispel any lingering doubts. “It’s just talk. I told him to back off, so that should be the end of it.”

      “Don’t be too sure.” The other woman looked skeptical.

      “If not, I can deal with this. I have to,” she added. “I need this job. Looking for another one isn’t an option because of the medical insurance. Pregnancy would be a pre-existing condition and excluded from another employee plan. I’m just barely scraping by now. I couldn’t handle it if medical bills were added to everything else—”

      Dina held up her hands. “Don’t borrow trouble. Not yet anyway.”

      Cindy got the subtext. “Yeah. When the baby starts to show, I won’t have to do anything but waddle down the hall to stir up trouble and start talk.”

      “Okay, let’s hope this is the end of it. Probably whoever called the hotline is just an anonymous whiner,” Dina said. “If there’s anything else I can do for you, let me know.”

      “Thanks.” Gratitude for her friend’s understanding and support brought a lump to her throat and Cindy swallowed hard before saying, “You’ve already done it.”

      Dina shook her head, an indication that boss-mode was gone for now. “Wow. A baby. How do you feel?”

      “Not too bad.”

      “Have you seen the doctor?”

      “Rebecca Hamilton,” Cindy said.

      “Excellent choice. That’s who I would have recommended.”

      What a relief that someone besides Nathan knew and she could talk about what she was going through. For another few minutes Cindy shared the changes already starting in her body, the emotions so close to the surface, the fears for the future. Dina talked about her own experiences and the joys of being a mom.

      When Cindy left the office, she was relieved about her job status but not much else. The last time she’d been involved with a man, he’d taken her confidence along with her money. Yet again her life had been complicated by a man and she had the nagging feeling that Nathan Steele could take more than her bank account.

      But that wasn’t going to happen.

      Just talking to him could cause trouble and cost her what little she had left. To keep peace in the workplace, she needed to become as invisible as she’d been before that darn dinner where she’d caught Dr. Charming’s attention.

      Somehow she had to rewind and delete.

       Chapter Seven

      Cindy was in the kitchen looking in the nearly empty refrigerator for dinner inspiration when she heard someone at the door. It was rare for her doorbell to ring, especially