It was a gamble, asking him for an answer now, but it was the right move. Nathan needed to commit to this, or both their time would be wasted. She met his soft blue eyes across the desk, holding steady. Nathan took a deep breath and began polishing his glasses for the third time in their brief meeting, his gazebreaking away from hers. Zoe’s heart sank. He was going to say no, and she was going to go home empty-handed, again. Worse, she’d spent a large chunk of her remaining savings on the flight and rental car. She just couldn’t afford to keep going if this didn’t work out. She’d have to go begging Carla for her job back, or switch to a different industry, neither of which were appealing options.
Zoe was tempted to keep talking, trying to sell Nathan on this collaboration. She could tell him how much her dream of being a PR professional meant to her and how it was all hanging on this. She could give him more facts and figures from her previous work to show that she could do this. She could push him again to think about his patients, even if that meant gaining more fame than he wanted.
But Zoe didn’t say any of that. She wasn’t going to beg this man. She was strong, confident, and no-nonsense, and she would sit here, patiently, until he said something.
Even if that something was that he wouldn’t work with her.
CHAPTER 7
NATHAN
Nathan hadn’t felt this lost since he’d gone to his first appointment as an actual doctor rather than just a medical student. Then, he’d had his years of medical training to guide him, but now, he was feeling his way through a completely new situation without any previous training. He had no idea how to handle his newfound fame. And although what he really wanted was to politely tell the charming and persuasive woman sitting across from him to just leave and forget all about this, he wasn’t sure that was the right move.
After all, he reallydidwant what was best for his patients. If he could make enough money through interviews or videos on social media to cover a few more staff salaries and an expansion, he couldn’t turn that down.
Instinctively, he reached for his glasses, but he stopped himself from taking them off for yet another polishing. Instead, he met Zoe’s eyes across the desk. There was the slightest worried furrow in her brow, but she still looked confident. She was experienced. She’d even worked with other doctors. They weren’t doctors Nathan wanted to emulate, but her experiencewould surely mean that she wasn’t going to be in his way around the clinic, and that she really could do what she said she could.
“If you were my patient,” he said, “I’d ask you to trust me to tell you what was best. I’d want your faith that I could help you get better — even if that meant a shot or an x-ray or a hospital stay or something else you didn’t want to do.”
Confusion drifted across Zoe’s soft brown eyes. Then her expression cleared, and she smiled that charming smile.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Nathan nodded. “I suppose I am. Sinceyou’rethe professional here, I’m going to give youmytrust that you know the way out of this situation and that you’ll guide me where I want to go.”
“I appreciate your trust.”
“Then, what do you suggest?”
“A TV show,” Zoe said. Nathan’s heart sank and his hand twitched towards his glasses, but he kept his gaze trained on her.
“A reality-TV show?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “You would be our star — a young doctor in a rural Vermont town who puts his patients’ needs first. We’ll show the audience who the ‘Hottest Doctor Alive’ really is.”
“No.” Nathan shook his head. The last thing he wanted was to be followed around by a camera crew, probably for weeks on end. He’d seen enough reality shows in his time to know that they were based on drama, scandal, and plot twists. There was very little drama in his life and no scandals at all. The last plot twist he’d experienced had been finding out that a patient he’d thought had a sprained ankle actually had a hairline fracture —which, while unfortunate for the patient, wasn’t exactly exciting TV material.
“Justno?” Zoe’s eyes narrowed. “You just said you were going to trust me to show you the way forward.”
“Yes, but not if I think you’re making a mistake. I’ll do some short videos maybe, or Facebook posts.”
Zoe ran a hand over her hair, smoothing the strands back into her bun. “Hardly anyone uses Facebook anymore.”
“Then I’ll put the posts on Instagram.” Nathan crossed his arms. “But I’m not doing a reality show.”
“Listen for a minute.” Zoe leaned forward, bracing her elbows on her legs, as though being nearer to him would convince him of her opinion. “I’m suggesting the show for a reason. The money and exposure you’d gain from doing it would be plenty to help your practice, and you can get it over with in a set amount of time — unlike social media, which you need to keep adding to constantly. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to show what your clinic and your life are like and introduce the world to the important work you do.”
Nathan took a deep breath. Maybe Zoe was right. Maybe a long format, like a show, would give him more of a chance to show the problems his clinic faced. He’d also have the opportunity to show that he was just a normal small-town doctor trying to do the best he could for his patients. There was still one major problem, though.
“I don’t think my work is interesting enough for a reality show. I don’t have a lot of drama in my life.”
“Leave that to me.” Zoe smiled. “My job is making things interesting for viewers, and you can count on me to make that happen.”
Nathan wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that, but he had just said that he’d rely on her to show him the way. “Fine. I guess I’m willing to consider the show.”
“Great.” Zoe relaxed a little. “You won’t regret it.”
Nathan wasn’t so sure about that, either.
