Dating Dr Notorious (24 page)

He continued to read until the last page was done.

Ben motioned everyone back to the table. “Okay. Let’s talk about this.” He tossed his reading glasses on top of the stack of papers he’d just read.

“Explain your thinking,” he said to Alfred. “I don’t see anything but titles changing.”

“That’s pretty much the story,” Alfred said. “But the beauty is we can tell it to the press any way we want. Your reputation will get tarnished in the process, but it can only help your current situation. The company can appear to be taking steps to correct its public image. You get to retain your decision making power. Hypothetically, this will be a good thing because then you can openly date Dr. Logan without affecting our bottom line.”

Ben crossed his arms and looked at the ceiling as he considered what they were saying. Then he looked back at Alfred. “I still think the company needs a CEO. When there isn’t one, it creates a vacuum other companies tend to want to move in and fill. If we ever decide to go public, and the economy might force the company in that direction one day, then it would be a problem. One of the ways to prevent a hostile acquisition is to keep family in the key roles and as primary stockholders.”

“Are you saying you don’t want to do this?” Alfred looked at Daniel, who shrugged.

“We’re all okay if you don’t,” Daniel confirmed. “We just think your problem is not the company or what we think. It’s the ongoing connection of your ultra clean reputation as the face of the company.”

“So you’re suggesting I should make this change so I can convince people I’m less reputable, but still an okay guy to manage the business?” Ben shook his head, still trying to assimilate it into his thinking.

Alfred and Daniel nodded. Others shrugged and nodded as well.

“Give me a minute to think about this.” Ben stood and walked to the window in the conference room.

Ben remembered Regina had been willing to consider giving up some of her work to be in his life. At the time, it hadn’t even occurred to Ben he might do the same.

Alfred and Daniel were offering him a way to fix things he would never have come up with on his own. He thought of himself as a founder of the company. It was his child, replacing the family he and Catherine had been unable to have together.

But really, what would he be losing? Nothing except an identity, Ben conceded, if he accepted their offer to stay.
Management Consultant
had a nice ring to it. It wasn’t as pithy as CEO, but it was just as financially lucrative.

And what if he wasn’t a CEO, he thought? Could he do other things?

Ben suddenly thought of helping Casey start up his business, and his heartbeat picked up. What if he and Casey were partners? Could he do both businesses? Maybe it would be like semi-retirement to scale back in one place to do something different.

It was the most excited he’d been about work in a long time.

When Ben came back to the table he was smiling. “Daniel, I will agree to this if you amend the paperwork to name yourself and Alfred as joint CEOs. You can retain your current roles, but share the CEO position. This is done all the time and it will preserve the role for the family. We can talk about how it will work later. I agree to be a Management Consultant, but with flexible hours. I’ll give it some thought to details and get back to you tomorrow.”

Ben scanned the table. “Anybody on the board have any big problems with my suggestion to name Alfred and Daniel as joint CEOs.”

They all shook their heads no.

“Good. When the package is finished, it can be circulated to all board members for voting. At that time, you can make any other issues known to Daniel, who will bring them to me and Alfred. Is there anything more to add to the discussion of my resignation as CEO?”

Several of the men down the table were laughing and joking quietly.

“Daryl? Something on your mind?” Ben asked.

“Yes,” said Daryl, another of Catherine and Stacey’s cousins. “Some of us have one more question. Do you think you could ask Dr. Logan to wear her short leather skirt to the company Christmas party this year?”

“No,” Ben bellowed, laughing. “If one of you party drunks made a move on her, I’d have to hurt you. It’s bad enough I have to fight off hundreds of doctors.”

“I would think a fight would be good for your new reputation,” Daryl offered, hands spread in innocence as the laughter rose around them all.

When the laughter died, Ben sat. This solution was going to work, and it was so much easier than anything he’d come up with to fight the press.

“I guess I have one more thing to say about the subject as well,” he looked around the table. “Thanks for supporting me.”

There were many smiles, and the men looked off to keep Ben from seeing their embarrassed faces.

“So let’s move on to item two,” Alfred said, winking at Ben.

But as the meeting talk turned to mundane matters, reality began to set in. Ben found himself wondering about the sanity of what he had just agreed to do. This was going to be a big change in his life.

Then he thought about being able to openly date Regina, being able to eventually marry her.

Before the meeting had ended, Ben had concluded losing his founding role in the company was a small sacrifice for what he would gain.

Alexa and Lauren sat across from Regina at Eddy’s. Regina had purchased a paper she now handed to Alexa and Lauren.

She tilted back her first drink and downed the remaining liquid in the glass.

“Regina? Tell me this is your fine ass in the leather skirt pressed against the wall,” Alexa said, her eyes darkening as she looked at the picture. “I really like Ben. It would be such a shame to neuter him.”

Lauren said nothing, biting her lip nervously as she and Alexa waited for Regina to answer.

“Of course it’s me. That was my best damn disguise,” Regina said indignantly. “Ben really likes that skirt.”

“The way he’s pressing himself against you, it looks like he really likes what’s in the skirt to me,” Lauren said, relieved, laughing and sipping her drink.

Regina looked at Lauren with fascination. “Wow. That was almost a dirty comment. What or
who
has gotten into you?”

“No one has gotten into me lately,” Lauren said, unconcerned, “but I’m hopeful for the first time in years. Jim got me all churned up at Alexa’s party.”

“And so it begins,” announced Alexa, saluting Lauren with her glass of mineral water.

“Is Jim still avoiding you?” Regina asked, searching Lauren’s face for signs of distress.

“Yes.” Lauren thought of her latest plan and struggled not to feel ashamed of herself. “I made Jim feel guilty about avoiding me and convinced him to help me with a charity auction so I could see him again.”

Alexa and Regina looked at her with pity.

“It’s an online auction, and no one else will be helping but him.” Lauren took a large gulp of her drink, and then choked.

“You planning to seduce Jim among the auction piles?” Alexa looked at Lauren with new eyes. “Well, you score a ten for originality.”

“Is it that obvious?” Lauren asked, shocked.

“Only to us, honey.” Regina patted her hand. “Alexa is teasing.”

“No, I’m freaking envious Lauren got a hicky out of Jim,” Alexa said, leaning over to hug Lauren. “He was such a gentleman when I went out with him. I couldn’t bring myself to touch him. I prefer men who are a little less reticent and a little more unrestrained.”

With her, Jim had been unrestrained, Lauren thought. She remembered his hungry mouth on her neck, recalled him pressing his erection into her, and sniffing the perfume between her breasts. The memories caused the same shiver they always did to overtake her.

“You don’t think Jim’s very experienced?” Lauren was amazed at the comment coming from Alexa, but happy to hear it.

“Well, I don’t mean he’s a virgin, but he’s certainly not a womanizer. His goodnight kiss was not practiced. He was nervous and hesitant the whole time we were together,” Alexa said.

Lauren put her hand on Alexa’s arm. “Thank you. It’s a little weird you dated him, but I needed to hear my instincts validated. I kept thinking it was just me, that I was too eager for Jim to be a good guy. He wasn’t very practiced with me either, but he was—more unrestrained, as you put it.”

“Good. Sensitive is fine for friendships,” Alexa said. “In bed, you want someone who wants you full out, no holds barred.”

“Better a devil than an angel sometimes,” Regina said, lifting her refill, knowing it was her last for the evening. She was not going to be tipsy if Ben showed up later to discuss the picture.

“Speaking of the devil,” Alexa said, her eyes darting to the door.

“Jim?” Lauren asked, her eyes searching and landing on Ben.

“I would have said
angel
, honey,” Alexa teased, when she saw Lauren was disappointed.

Ben saw them and walked directly to the table. He took a chair from another table and pulled it close to Regina.

“Alexa. Lauren.” Ben nodded to them. “Hi,” he said, his gaze meeting Regina’s.

“Hi” she said back, curious now about why Ben had tracked her down here.

“I came to see if you would come home with me. I have something I need to talk to you about. I didn’t want to wait.” Ben saw worry in her face for him, for them. “The pictures aren’t going to matter so much anymore. That’s what I want to talk to you about.”

Regina opened her mouth, and then closed it again. Whatever Ben wanted to say, it was a discussion best conducted in private.

“Okay,” Regina said simply. Ben put his hand on hers.

Alexa and Lauren exchanged glances. “You two go on,” Alexa said, waving away Regina as she was trying to dig for cash in her purse. “We’ll get your tab tonight.”

Lauren watched them walk to the door. No one paid much attention at Eddy’s, but she found herself scanning for cell phones and cameras anyway.

“What do you think that was about?” she asked Alexa when Ben and Regina were out the door.

“I don’t know,” Alexa said. “Must have been pretty important for Ben to come find her.”

*** *** ***

Later, safely hidden away in his condo, Ben was trying to get Regina to listen to reason and logic about the change in his work situation.

“How could they ask you to resign as CEO?” Regina paced in front of Ben’s couch.

“Calm down and come here so I can hold you. It’s actually not as bad as it sounds.” Ben patted the seat beside him.

“How can I be calm? You’re losing your job because of me.” Regina still wore her doctor’s coat and her work clothes. She grabbed the lapel pin that said Dr. Logan. “This is why you’re losing your job.”

“Fine. So maybe you can take care of me. I’ll be your house husband and stand in front of you when the press is around.” Ben meant it as a joke, but Regina looked horrified at the thought.

“You’ll hate me in a month,” she told him.

“Regina, I’m joking. I’m not losing my job. Alfred and Daniel are going to become the joint CEOs. I’m going to become a Management Consultant. It’s just a title change,” Ben explained.

“
Oh my god, that’s even worse.
They’re completely restructuring the company because of your relationship to me.”

Regina swore as she gathered up her purse, fished out her keys. “You’ve got to stop them, Ben. Nothing’s been done yet. There’s still time to fix this. You wouldn’t let me give up my job, and I’m not going to let you give up yours. Fix this, Benjamin. Don’t let them force you out.”

“Regina, listen—it’s not that bad. I swear I’m okay with this change.” Ben ran a hand through his hair as she continued to shake her head in denial.

He thought Regina would be happy to have a solution. Instead, she was completely coming undone. She was taking the news worse than he had this morning before he had understood the reasons.

Ben started to stop Regina as she headed to the door, but she held up a hand.

“No! Stay away from me. I don’t want you to do this, Ben. I never meant for you to give up anything up for me. Not your job, not your life, and certainly not the company you built. It’s not right. It just isn’t. I’m going to go home, and you’re going to think of some way to undo this tomorrow.”

“Regina, you need to calm down so you can see this differently!” Ben’s words bounced off the slamming door.

Maybe he didn’t handle it well, but what else could he have said to lead into the fact he was resigning as CEO? He’d forgotten about Regina’s fire and how hotly it could burn about things other than her work. She was upset, and Ben had no clue how to pacify her. He needed some way to convince Regina this wasn’t the disaster she imagined it was for him.

He picked up the phone. “Casey? This is Ben. Is Alexa home yet? Great. Can I come over for a bit? I need some help again from Alexa. I have a situation with Regina and she’s not talking to me right now. Okay. See you soon.”

Ben went to the bedroom and retrieved his shoes while he dialed another number.

“Lauren? Yes, this is Ben. Look, Regina and I had a bit of a fight tonight. Will you call and check on her, make sure she got home okay? I’ll tell you about it later. It’s nothing, just a misunderstanding, but she left really upset. She’s not talking to me right now and I’m worried about her. Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Ben saw himself in the mirror as he got a jacket out of his closet. The man looking back at him was vital and alive. He was so different since he met Regina. Sometimes he didn’t even recognize himself.

He smiled at his reflection. Images were powerful. What you thought about yourself was always in competition with what others thought about you. Friends and family took your word about who you said you were. People who didn’t know you could be made to believe just about anything.

Ben thought about the people he knew who were supposed to be notorious.
Alexa. Jim. Regina.
None of them were what the public thought. They were just good people with good reasons to behave as they did.

Ben decided he didn’t mind becoming one of them if it meant he got to keep Regina.

*** *** ***

Casey met Ben at the door. They walked back to a sitting area just off the kitchen.