Read Online Bound by Suggestion by L.L. Bartlett - Free Book Online Page A

raise that kind of cash.”
    “Do you have a solution?” Ever efficient, Mona didn’t suffer small talk easily.
    Flipping the catches on his briefcase, Richard withdrew the bank draft he’d obtained earlier that morning.
    Mona stared at it for a moment, then exhaled. “A million dollars.”
    “I’d like it to be anonymous.”
    The draft fell from her grasp, as though the weight of all those zeros made it too heavy to hold. “But why? We could name the center after you.”
    “No.”
    “Perhaps your parents—or grandparents, then?”
    Richard thought about it. “But then people would know where the money came from.” He shook his head. “No. But I wouldn’t mind attending a ribbon cutting, or whatever kind of ceremony the board decides to hold.”
    “That’s a given.” She leaned back into her plush leather chair. “I have to tell you, this gift could go a long way toward assuring you’re named head of the capital campaign.”
    He frowned. “I thought about the timing, which is another reason I want it kept quiet. I’m not trying to buy the job. I’d simply like to see our diagnostic imaging upgraded as soon as possible. This seemed the best solution.”
    She nodded. “Would it ease your conscience to know I consider you the best candidate for the job?”
    “Thank you.”
    “It isn’t unprecedented that a new board member has risen to the top in such a short time. When I brought Barbara Ames in two years ago, she was named head of the Founders Society Program Committee seven months later. I’m not adverse to reminding the board of that, either.”
    “What about Wes Timberly?”
    “He’s running scared, as you could no doubt tell. The truth is, he isn’t good with people. He has the worst bedside manner I’ve ever seen, and he doesn’t do much better with contributors. Over the last two years we’ve lost ground in fundraising. That is, until you came aboard.”
    She rocked back in her chair for a moment. “Will you be at the board meeting this afternoon?”
    He nodded.
    “I guarantee Wes will be in rare form. When you see what you’d have to contend with, the job may not seem so attractive.”
    “Are you trying to scare me off?” he asked.
    Mona’s smile was winsome. “When I started this job, I was a brunette,” she said, running a hand through her wintry mane. “And without the help of a dye bottle.” Her expression sobered. “I love this job. I’ve done it well, and I can spot talent when I see it. You’ll be perfect as campaign chair. I know you wouldn’t disappoint me.”
    “But I haven’t even been offered the position.”
    Mona actually winked at him. “Yet.”
     
    Grace glared at me under wispy lashes. Krista’s bathroom break was taking a lot longer than it should, leaving me with a seething clump of hostility that was more than I cared to endure. I leaned back in my chair and glanced at the clock. Forty-five minutes to go.
    “I wish Dr. Marsh would come back,” Grace growled. “I don’t like being alone with you.”
    “Her experiment isn’t too successful,” I said.
    “Maybe we should just quit.”
    “Or we could figure out why it isn’t working.”
    “Why? It’s not like we’re friends,” Grace snapped. “Like we could ever be friends.”
    She’s a sick kid, I reminded myself, holding onto my temper, and forced myself to breathe evenly.
    “Why do you call Krista Dr. Marsh?”
    “She won’t let me call her by her first name. Says it isn’t good to get too friendly with her clients.”
    Krista hadn’t felt that way about Paula Devlin. Did she feel she needed to maintain authority over the obviously immature young woman?
    “Dr. Marsh hates me,” Grace whispered.
    Paranoid, too.
    “I don’t have any friends,” Grace admitted.
    “You don’t make it easy,” I muttered. Déjà vu . How many times had Richard said that to me?
    “Oh yeah? How many friends do you have?”
    “My brother . . . and his wife. Sometimes I have lunch with a guy I knew