lowered
her back into her chair. He pulled
out of her, causing Sophie to moan and ripple internally.
When Sophie was aware of her surroundings
again, she opened her eyes and looked at Cole. She was stunned. He was back in his chair with his
tumbler of scotch clenched in one hand. He was flushed with arousal, his eyes
glittering hungrily. Sophie looked
down, and noticed the raging erection tenting his dark slacks. She belatedly realized she never even
touched his cock.
“As I said, he noticed my interest in you.”
Chapter Five
Crystal Bridges sat in her plush University
of Seattle Medical Complex office and smiled smugly at her computer screen:
TO: Crystal Bridges
FROM: Bruce Mapleton
Termination papers sent today to
Sophie Benedict. Losing another
resident will reflect poorly on Cole Armstrong. Can’t wait to mention it at the
next faculty council meeting. Drink
later?
Crystal unwound the tight bun she usually
wore and let her long hair free to spill down her back. She undid the buttons of her impeccably
neat designer power suit and breathed a deep sigh of relief. “Finally,” she thought to herself, “That
meddling Dean Armstrong will get what he deserves.” How dare he come in to this university
and start making big changes without consulting her? Everyone knew Crystal Bridges was the
most powerful person in the entire school.
In
her position as Director of Human Resources for the University of Seattle
Medical School, Crystal saw herself as the “axe.” In her mind, the Dean’s signature on
appointment and termination paperwork was a mere formality. Crystal was the person who decided who
was hired and fired. She saw
herself as having total power and control over everyone’s lives, and she
relished that power.
When Cole Armstrong emerged as the strongest
candidate for the Dean position, Crystal knew he’d be trouble. He was too sure of himself for someone
so young. Cole was full of
dangerous ideas; ideas which would lead to change. Crystal liked everything the way it was,
under her control. She tried to
block the hiring committee’s decision, but it was too difficult. Cole was smart, likeable, and
charming. He won over the committee
with ease. None of the other
candidates came close. Crystal knew
she had to play things smart. Even
though her position as HR director gave her a lot of power and influence in
making the final decision, she knew she couldn’t afford to alienate the council
members. Those department chairs
and associate deans were too important to piss off in such large numbers. In the back scratching world of
academia, you never knew when you were going to need someone’s proverbial long
fingernails.
Crystal
hated Cole Armstrong to begin with, but her inability to stop his appointment
caused her to hate him even more. She knew the only way to deal with him was to take him down from
within. She’d just have to help
everyone else at the hospital see what a mistake hiring him was. The sooner his firing could be arranged,
the better.
Luckily,
she knew just how to poison the well. Dr. Bruce Mapleton. Crystal
was aware Bruce wanted the Dean job. The man might be diminutive in stature, but there was nothing diminutive
about his ambition. Crystal knew
that Bruce was just the internal faculty member to start causing Cole Armstrong
trouble. And as the Residency
Director for Internal Medicine, he was in the perfect position to create the
most problems. The residency
program was the major reason a new Dean was hired in the first place. After five turbulent years under the
previous leadership, its national reputation was declining. If they couldn’t keep attracting top
candidates from the best medical schools, the program and university would