Dating Dr Notorious (26 page)

“My company was harassed by numerous phone calls from the press wanting details. We also heard from some of our business clients who thought poorly of me dating someone like Dr. Logan. Regina refused to go out with me again,” Ben said sadly.

“Anything else happen after your date?” Stephanie prompted.

“Not then, but I’ve recently been asked to resign as CEO of my company. It was a unanimous vote among the board members so I really don’t have a choice in the matter. Since I’m still the primary stockholder, I’m letting them put me somewhere else within the company. Apparently, my ongoing relationship with Regina has made some people nervous about my judgment.”

Ben leaned on the table between Stephanie and him, looking at her deeply. “All my life people have told me I was a nice guy. Now I’m tired of being nice if it means I can’t have Regina in my life.”

Ben heard murmurs and gasps throughout the audience, and then thunderous applause.

“Looks like the audience agrees with you.” Stephanie reached out and put a hand over Ben’s. “I hate to show you the next picture, but you said you wanted the whole truth out, right?”

Ben nodded tightly and clenched his jaw. He lifted his chin so the camera could get a good angle on him. He made himself think of all the blocks between Regina and him and hoped he looked sufficiently upset.

Then they cut to commercial.

*** *** ***

In her office lobby, Regina was pacing in front of the TV.

Ben was telling everything. What did he hope to accomplish? Didn’t he know Stephanie would twist everything he said?

“Look at her. I can’t believe she’s touching him! That split-tongue snake has her hand on Ben’s, and he’s letting her do it. I’ll kill her. I’ll kill him. I’ll kill both of them.”

Regina paced and swore. The patient who had been waiting got up quietly and slid out the door. Regina saw him leave, but it barely registered in her brain.

After the patient left, Anna and the other staff came out to see what had made their boss mad enough to swear.

“Wow, look at the guy. He’s cute. Is that your boyfriend, Dr. Logan?”

Regina just looked in disbelief at her intern, who was young enough to be Ben’s daughter. The girl was drooling over him. Great, she thought, now her worst fears were confirmed. Ben could draw women of all ages like flies to honey. She’d probably never feel secure with him again.

“Yes. I’ve been dating Ben, but the situation may change after today.” Regina said as the show went to commercial. “You can’t date a dead man.”

She crossed her arms and waited for the show to return.

*** *** ***

When they came back from commercial, Stephanie briefly reiterated what had happened so far, and then she put her hand on Ben’s again.

“Ready?” Stephanie asked, oozing sympathy.

Ben nodded and tried to look upset again. Behind him was the picture of him kissing Regina while she was wearing her brunette disguise. Having it blown up to fit the giant white screen behind them emphasized certain aspects of the physical connection that eluded view in the smaller version, such as the way his knee was aggressively between her legs as he ground his pelvis against her hips.

Suddenly, Ben didn’t have to work so hard at looking pained about the picture. He knew he was a dead man because Regina was going to kill him over this alone. His knee had been against her crotch before the kiss ended.

“Who’s this you’re kissing so passionately?” Stephanie asked, hoping the cameraman was getting a good shot of Ben’s regretful face.

“It was a mistake,” Ben said softly. “I didn’t know anyone would be taking that picture.”

“Who is the woman?” Stephanie asked softly, looking sympathetic when Ben’s gaze dropped to his hands.

“The woman in the picture is a substitute for the woman I really wanted. I’m not even into brunettes.” Ben looked at Stephanie, and she saw the truth of his words on his face.

“Ben, has Dr. Logan seen this picture?” Stephanie looked sad for him.

“Yes. Regina saw the picture. So did her friends. One of them threatened to neuter me.”

A couple audience members laughed, but not many. No one liked or tolerated blatant infidelity well. Ben had felt the tone of the audience shift the minute the picture had been shown. Several of the women in the audience would probably have helped Alexa do the deed.

Ben sighed and acted like he couldn’t stand looking at the picture. “I would never intentionally hurt Regina. Lately, I’ve just been so frustrated. I want her in my life. Shit, I want to marry her. Sorry—I just get so upset about this.”

Stephanie laughed, unconcerned with one small blip. It could be easily cut, but it was likely the networks wouldn’t even care. This interview was gold, absolute gold.

And Regina Logan was going to owe her.

“It seems to me you are sincerely regretful about your lapse in judgment. In her work, I’m sure Dr. Logan counsels couples through such things. Maybe she will forgive you and take you back. Let’s see what the audience thinks. What about it Falls Church? Does Mr. Kaiser deserve a second chance?”

The audience stood and clapped until Ben thought his eardrums would burst.

Then the show cut to commercial yet again.

*** *** ***

Regina swore viciously. Her office staff went scurrying back to their stations, behind the safety of the counters and files.

She knew they all believed the story. They’d brought her the papers.

They probably figured she was going to explode. They were right, just for a different reason.

She continued to pace, clenching and un-clenching her fists. She stomped back and forth talking to the TV.

“I can’t believe what you just said, Ben. You lying piece of shit, lying—ughh. There are no words for you. What are you doing? You’re messing up your life. Stop it!” She pointed a trembling finger to the TV. “Stop talking to that horrible woman.”

She saw Stephanie sympathetically touch his hand again and lost it.

“Get your fucking hands off him!” she yelled at the woman through the TV screen.

When Stephanie patted Ben’s hand again, Regina screamed.

*** *** ***

“So, Ben, we’ve got about three minutes left. Is there any special message you want to send to Dr Logan?”
Please have three minutes worth
, Stephanie prayed, crossing her fingers under the interview table.

“Yes. Actually, there is. Where’s the camera?” Ben turned in the direction Stephanie pointed. “Thanks.”

He scooted forward in his seat. “Regina, I hope you’re watching today. You know I’ve loved you since the first moment I saw you. I want to grow old with you. I’m sorry about the thing with the brunette. I swear you’re all I want in this world.”

Ben reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a ring box, which he opened and held out in front of him as he talked into the camera. In it was a giant solitaire. He heard the audience whispering and going nuts.

“Last time I asked you to marry me, I messed up the proposal. Look, this time I have a ring and everything. I know you were looking for a nice guy, and I know I’m probably just as notorious now as you are. But if I’m with you I can be a nice guy again. Marry me, Regina Logan. I love you.”

The camera cut back to a wide view of both Ben and Stephanie as the audience broke out into applause and screams.

Ben got a standing ovation.

Stephanie reached over and shook Ben’s hand as they signed off.

*** *** ***

Regina sat in the floor of her waiting area alternately sobbing and laughing.

Ann brought her a box of tissues and bottle of water. She squatted in the floor beside Regina to rub her employer’s back as she sobbed.

“He’s lost his mind, Ann. Ben lost his job because of me and now he’s told everything. The press will descend on him like a pack of vultures on a dead carcass,” Regina exclaimed.

“I don’t know, Dr. Logan. Mr. Kaiser looks pretty tough. If it wasn’t for the brunette thing, seems like he’d be the perfect man,” Ann said. “Are you going to forgive him?”

“Probably—Ben doesn’t really like brunettes,” Regina said, sniffing back tears, reluctant to blow Ben’s story wide open even with Ann. She still didn’t know who the information leak was in her office.

“Then you probably ought to say yes to his marriage proposal.” Ann stood. “You okay?”

Regina nodded. “I think I need to go home before the press shows up here. Close up for the day. You all don’t need to deal with this either. You’ll need to reschedule all the appointments tomorrow.”

Ann patted Regina’s shoulder and stood.

Regina pulled her knees up to her chest, laid her head down on them, and wept some more.

There was no going back now, she knew. The show was recorded. Tomorrow it might even be shown nationally.

Regina closed her eyes in anguish. “Ben,” she whispered, “you have no idea what you just brought down on your head.”

Early the next morning, cameras and local news people lined up on the street outside the main office building of Winslow-Kaiser Builders. Cameras flashed as Ben climbed from his car, which he had deliberately parked on the street instead of in the parking garage.

Ben laughed bitterly at himself and the attention he’d brought to himself and the company, hoping what he was doing worked.

Several press people called his name, and he brought his focus to the nearest microphone shoved in his face.

“Mr. Kaiser, is it true you’ve been asked to resign as CEO of your family company because of your relationship to Dr. Regina Logan?” a woman questioned, shoving a microphone further into Ben’s face.

“That’s old news. Didn’t you watch the interview on TV yesterday?” Ben asked in reply, frowning.

“Sorry. I meant to ask, are you staying on in the company?” she amended quickly.

Ben gave the woman a small, tight smile. “Yes. Papers are being drawn up. When the deal is settled, the company will do a press release about the details.”

“Do you really want to marry Dr. Logan?” a tall man nearby asked, notepad in hand.

Ben stopped and waited while the man’s photographer took a picture of his smiling face. “Yes. I want to marry Regina. I’m carrying the ring around with me in case she shows up. Now you’ll have to excuse me. I have to go to work and sign my resignation papers.”

Ben looked around and glared at all of them, mentally questioning their nosy characters and choice of profession as he walked into the building. He didn’t have to fake his frown at all.

Alfred parked his racing green Jaguar on the street just behind Ben’s BMW. He and Daniel rode to work together today on purpose, feeling it was best for them to be seen together. They wanted to look like they were conspiring on the issue.

They heard reporters calling their names before they even got out of the car and turned to each other across the seat. Both of them swore and laughed.

“I don’t know how Dr. Logan deals with this all the time,” Daniel said, frowning. “This is freaking annoying to say the least.”

“Buck up, Daniel. Consider it your fifteen minutes of fame,” Alfred said, smacking Daniel on the shoulder.

Alfred climbed from the car and said loudly. “Winslow-Kaiser Builders plans to do a press release tomorrow. Today there is just a lot of business to take care of. Excuse us, please.”

“Will you confirm Mr. Kaiser has been asked to resign?” the woman reporter asked, tilting the microphone toward Alfred.

“The action was unfortunate, but Ben understands why we are making the request. I can assure you the steps being taken will not harm Ben or the company long term. Now excuse me,” Alfred pushed through the crowd and walked into the building as the cameras clicked and flashed.

Daniel paused, looked at the cameras and news people with open disgust. He had great admiration for Ben loving Dr. Logan enough to be willing to take this on for her sake. He gritted his teeth and glared at them all with genuine contempt.

“Ben is like a brother to me. Whatever happens, he will always be family. Business decisions are just that, they’re business. None of this is going to stop us all from getting together for Christmas,” Daniel said, fighting not to yell.

“Why take so drastic an action then to restructure the company?” the man with the notepad asked.

“People change. Ben has changed. His priorities seem to be different now.” Daniel gripped his briefcase and moved forward. “Excuse me.”

“You mean his main priority has changed to marrying Dr. Logan?” the man asked, hoping for some criticism, something that would make a good headline.

Daniel openly glared at the man who had asked the question.

“I wish to God Ben would marry the woman,” Daniel said fervently, “How much worse could that possibly be? I’m sure she’s not as bad as people think. Even if she were, Ben’s not much better these days. Now I really have to go.”

Daniel pushed through the crowd and saw Alfred standing inside the door waiting impatiently.

Alfred grabbed his arm and steered Daniel down the hall to the elevator, hoping the press wouldn’t catch Daniel smiling.

Alfred looked back one last time to see what they were doing. “Well, it wasn’t fun, but it was effective,” Alfred said.

Daniel said nothing further, just smiled at the floor. He was running what he said back through his mind, hoping he hadn’t said anything to upset Dr. Logan.

The press scribbled furiously and then rushed off.

*** *** ***

That evening Alexa and Lauren had to park down the street and walk back to Regina’s building. Then they had to fight their way through the crowd milling outside the lobby doors waiting for Regina to finally emerge.

When they walked into the lobby, Marvin smiled in greeting.

“Hey, Marvin,” Alexa said, beaming. “Looks like you’re going to have a busy evening. Regina’s crazy fan club is in session tonight.”

“Going to get real busy when Mr. Kaiser shows up,” Marvin laughed. “Haven’t seen you around much lately? You got a new man or something?”

Alexa held out her engagement ring for Marvin to admire. “Casey’s a Marine,” she cooed.

“Nice. Not just a new man, but a
real
man,” Marvin agreed, approving.