“She’s my personal assistant,” Lorenzo said, barely registering the man.
“Winnie Smith,” she said, shaking his hand. She recognized his name from Lorenzo’s schedule next week. “Nice to meet you.”
“Same here! Great to see you, Lorenzo. We have that conference call coming up, don’t we?”
Lorenzo glanced at Winnie, and she gave a slight nod. “Correct,” he said.
“Excellent! Well, have a great night, and safe travels back East.”
“Nice to meet you,” Winnie said, then turned back to Lorenzo. “See? Told you. The cartoon was great. Now order a drink.”
“No, I will not. Winnie, I want to be clear. I did not appreciate your addition to my presentation.”
“Yes, that comes through loud and clear. Sorry. It will never happen again, even though you’re missing a chance to connect with people.”
“I don’t need to connect with people,” he growled. “It’s not part of my job. My job is to save lives in situations where most physicians would fail, and I do that quite well.” His eyes were shooting spiky icicles.
“Yes, you’re the second coming. I’m well aware, since you remind me every two hours.” She took a sip of her drink.
“Sir, what can I get you?” the bartender asked Lorenzo.
“San Pellegrino, no ice,” he growled.
“Please and thank you,” Winnie said to the bartender. “He’s mad at me, not you.”
The guy winked and got Lorenzo his water.
“Here’s the thing, Lorenzo,” Winnie said, keeping her voice quiet. “You’re right. Your reputation is unimpeachable. But you don’t fool me. You’re a good guy. You just don’t want anyone to know that.”
He rolled his eyes. “What makes you think I’m a good guy, Winnie? And also, why would that matter as long as I do my job well?”
“Because you’re more than your job.” She kept her voice low, matching his. “You’re a good guy because you look after your family. Granted, it’s by writing checks, but maybe that’s your love language.”
“What in God’s name is a love language? Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
“You tipped the bartender fifty percent last night. You left the hotel cleaning crew a hundred dollars yesterday and today. You kicked that wrinkled old doctor’s ass in that DEI presentation and then made sure everyone in that room listened to the other doctors. You think that went unnoticed?”
He grunted. Finished his San Pellegrino, which was mostly ice.
“And you were very nice when I saw Mitchell the other day,” she added.
“Who’s Mitchell?”
“Oh, save it. You know full well who he is. You love your siblings, even if you don’t feel a hundred percent comfortable around them, and you take good care of your family. I’d venture to say that you even love children, even if they terrify you. I mean, your expression in some of those photos is nothing short of dumbstruck with love.”
“I have never been dumbstruck by anything, and children do not terrify me. You should probably make that cocktail your last.”
“It’s my first.”
“Did you have anything to eat today?”
“Yes. Eggs Benedict for breakfast, a hot dog, then a huge ice cream sundae at Ghirardelli’s.”
“You’ll be dead of a heart attack by fifty if you keep that up.”
“At least I’ll die happy and well fed.”
He almost smiled, just a shifting of the muscles of his face, a glint in his blue eyes, and she felt it in her stomach, a warm, curling squeeze.
