Thank God I’m not a freshman.
Talk about a distraction I don’t need. It’s actually a relief I’ll never lay eyes on him again.
Chapter 11
Cormac
Shell-shocked from seeing Scarlett, I zombie-stroll into Bradley Ford’s office and take a seat, mirroring Darragh.
Ford, wearing a sharp navy suit, his salt and pepper hair in a precise, neat crop close to his scalp, turns to us after shutting the door.
“Darragh,” Ford says warmly, shaking my brother’s hand. Then he assesses me. “And Cormac O’Rourke. Hard to believe it’s been…what? A decade?”
His gaze holds mine too long, like he’s measuring for flaws.
I just stepped onto the campus, and I already have one. That student who just left his office,I fucked her!
My God, this isn’t happening.
“Yes, almost a decade,” I answer, my voice is steady, but my palms are ice.
Ford walks behind his desk and folds himself into his office chair. My brother and I take the seats in front of his desk, facing him.
His diplomas gleam in perfect rows on the dark wood-paneled walls of his office. On a credenza off to one side, sit an array of photos of him at award ceremonies, medical galas, and shaking hands with politicians.
“What have you been doing since Cascadia, Cormac?” he asks, and here we go, right out of the gate. “I read the conference papers. You were poised to become the next surgical prodigy. Shame what they did to you.”
I might have an ally.
Darragh jumps in, my original, loyal ally. “He’s an institution man. Didn’t want to tear down Cascadia with lawsuits. They had a difference in opinion on process. But that kind of break is hard onanyone. He went to Vegas. I have a villa there. He got centered.”
And arrested.
“He’s ready to be back in the field,” Darragh keeps speaking for me. “And a spot at Hamilton is what he wants.”
Ford nods at Darragh and then looks at me. “Anything to add?”
He knows how we operate. How we champion each other. I’m supposed to be humble. And it appears to have worked.
“I want to be where the purest part of medicine is,” I say my practiced line. “At the start. With fresh minds.”
“That’s good. Can I borrow that?” Ford grabs a pen and scribbles on an embossed notepad.
I don’t add that I also want to be in the mouth of that student who just left. She sucked me better than any woman ever has.
Fuck.
“Now, originally, I had planned for you to take over Darragh’s freshman course,” Bradley says, clicking his pen closed.
Darragh nods. “He’d be perfect for it.”
“Yes,” Ford cuts in. “But plans change. That position has already been filled.”
My jaw tightens. Here comes the pain. It sounded too good to be true. Too easy.
Darragh stiffens. “Filled?”
“By a doctor who doesn’t have half the credentials as you do, Dr. O’Rourke.” Ford’s gaze flickers to me. “However, another opening has come up. Pharmacology. MS-3s. One hundred and twenty-minute lectures. Three days a week, one lab. Large hall, seventy students.”