Chapter 11
Chapter 11
I n the morning, the sound of the shower woke Babs. Confused, she reached for her phone, intending to call for help. Who would be showering in her house? When the nightstand wasn’t where she kept it, she remembered. She wasn’t home. She was in a hotel. The man in the shower was Darren.
Babs had slept exactly three hours. She’d seen herself after so little sleep before, knew exactly how bad she would look. Was there a chance to clean herself up before Darren emerged? Or, at the very least, could she dart out the door and escape?
He opened the door and she shoved the pillow over her head, burrowing farther into the covers. He tossed her a look and must have caught the slits of her eyes peeping back at him because he smiled, the stupid handsome smile that even after three hours of sleep was enough to give her all the feels and then some.
“Hey,” he said in a voice that apparently turned somehow sexier in the wee hours of the morning, all scratchy and deep.
“’Sup,” Babs replied.
“Are you hiding in there?”
“A little.”
“Is there a reason why?”
“Because I’ve seen me in the morning and I’m positive I don’t look as good as you.”
He came forward and perched on the edge of her bed. “Bad news, sweets. I’ve been awake for a while and staring at you in kind of a stalkerish, creepy way while you slept. Trust me when I say you look ridiculously good, your hair all sleep tousled and…” He broke off abruptly and cleared his throat. “Stop talking, creepy stalker. I’m sorry I woke you, believe it or not that was me trying to be quiet. Now you know my secret, I’m really loud in the mornings.”
“Also you watch people sleep,” she added.
“See? I’m a lose-lose proposition.” He pushed the pillow off her head, leaned in and kissed her, a quick press of lips for which Babs was grateful. If the taste in her mouth was any indication, she was in no shape for anything more.
He sat up and smoothed his hand over her forehead, a ridiculously intimate gesture for their second day of knowing each other, but was Babs complaining? No she was not. “I did some recon yesterday,” he said.
“What is this recon you speak of?” she asked, but her wry amusement went unnoticed.
“Sorry, reconnaissance.”
“Ah, is that what that means,” she said, smiling.
The smile caught him off guard and he got stuck staring at her a few blinks before remembering he was in the middle of speaking. “Anyway, I verified the coffee here is beyond abysmal. I’m going to go scout something drinkable. How do you take it?”
“At this point you could probably inject it directly to my veins, but a hint of cream would be lovely, thank you.”
“I like the way you talk, pretty girl, very roundabout,” he said, smoothing his hand on her head again.
“I like the way you everything,” she said, brushing her finger on his cheek.
He inched closer. “You’re making it very difficult for me to leave you.”
“Does the fact that I’m wearing a nightshirt with a cartoon owl on it help?” she asked. Why oh why had she packed her nattiest, most comfortable old nightshirt?
“If you think talking about your sleepwear is somehow going to be a deterrent, you clearly know nothing about men.”
“I seriously need to shower,” she said, trying to press herself farther into the mattress in the hope the linens would cover her smell.
“Yes, great, shove those thoughts and images in there. Maybe my head will actually explode,” he said. Unable to resist any longer, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her neck, and now Babs was the one in danger of exploding. On the other hand, he was new, much too new to see the before, unwashed, unmade version of her. She tensed. He noticed and sat up. “Sorry.”
“Did you just end sorry with a question mark?” she asked.
“I think so, yes. I’ll try again.” He assumed a serious expression. “Sorry for kissing you when you already told me to go away.”
“I never told you to go away,” she said.
“Oh, so you do want me to stay?” he asked, leaning in again.
“I’m only three hours with the sleeping. Not enough to keep up with the likes of you, Dr. Eldridge,” she said.
“Especially not when I’m on a mission. But I do pity you because clearly you’re in dire need of good coffee. So that’s my new mission: find good coffee and return henceforth.”
“Henceforth,” she said, reaching up to pat his cheek. He turned and kissed her palm.
“It’s like you’ve been biologically programmed to appeal to me in all the ways. And make me blurt things like that,” Babs said. “It’s probably going to be worse today after so little sleep.”
“Good thing for me I like you blurty.” He stood, tossed her a wink, and exited the room. She waited to make certain he was gone before sprinting to the bathroom to try and put herself together.
The first glance in the mirror showed it was worse than she thought. One half of her hair was smashed to her head while the other stood on end, as if she’d spent the night sailing a boat in a stiff wind. The kissing rash on her chin was still there and the dark circles under her eyes were beacons announcing her lack of sleep. Unable to stomach the sight of herself any longer, she turned away and jumped in the shower, scrubbing everything twice until she at least felt clean.
Makeup helped, as did drying her hair. She had only brought the bare essentials, the daily makeup routine she wore for work. What she wouldn’t give for a little highlighter and an eyelash curler right now. Desperately, she rifled her purse in search of anything extra to help and held her lucky lip gloss high in triumph. It was a small thing, but right now she could use all the help she could get. Maybe if she felt more put together she would stop saying so many stupid things. Doubtful, but a girl could dream.
She stepped out the door and ran, literally, into Darren who did some kind of acrobatic feat to avoid bowling her over. Instead of knocking her over he inadvertently mashed her into the door, and then he kissed her.
Babs dropped her purse and key and slid her arms around him, standing on her toes to try and get closer. Somewhere nearby a door opened. They turned to see Ridge standing outside his door, staring at them, eyes wide.
“I’m gonna take the stairs,” he said, pointing, and then turned and disappeared.
Darren took a step back while Babs bent to retrieve her discarded purse and key. “So I’m back,” he said.
“I’d say welcome, but I think that would be a bit redundant,” Babs said. She glanced at his empty hands. “I can’t help but note there’s no coffee in your grasp.”
“I left it downstairs, which in retrospect seems a bit prophetic. Otherwise we’d both be wearing it right now.”
“You must be clumsy because things like that don’t normally happen to me,” Babs said.
“Maybe every time we see each other after a short absence it’s going to be a meet cute,” Darren mused.
“I’m not certain how many more I could survive. Already I’ve blown a tire, lost all chance of ever being suave again, and bruised the entire front of my body.”
The elevator arrived and they stepped inside. “Did you? Are you hurt, really?” he asked, fully concerned now as he inspected her.
“Only if wounded pride causes physical pain,” she said. “I didn’t hurt you, did I? I smacked into you pretty hard.”
“Uh, no, believe me when I tell you pain was not foremost in my mind during that encounter,” he said.
The doors opened into the lobby. Ridge was there, busily trying not to make eye contact. On his left sat Ethan and Amelia, who looked fresh and no worse for her shortened night. How did she do it? True, she was six years younger than Babs, but did those years matter so much or did Amelia have access to insider stylist secrets that always had her looking gorgeous and put together?
“Where’s Maggie?” Babs asked.
“She’s not feeling great, I’m taking her a tray,” Ridge explained, still carefully avoiding eye contact.
Babs would have probed further but Ridge seemed to be done talking. He didn’t approve of workplace romances, but did it count as a workplace encounter if Darren didn’t work for him? Or maybe he was worried about Maggie. It was unlike her to stay in her room. She must be feeling pretty miserable.
Ridge disappeared and Darren handed Babs the coffee he’d purchased for her. She held it to her nose, inhaling. “It even smells better than the hotel coffee. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, smiling the make-me-stupid smile.
“Wow,” Amelia said, observing them while she ate her fruit cup.
“What?” Darren snapped. Their natural state with each other was apparently annoyance.
“I’ve never actually seen you with a woman before. It’s enlightening.”
“I’ve seen you with far too many men,” Darren returned, yanking his hand out of reach when she tried to stab him with her fork.
Jane and Blue arrived then, distracting them from arguing further, especially because Blue’s arm was in a sling.
“What happened to you?” Amelia asked.
Blue sighed expansively and motioned toward Babs. “Trust exercise fail. I climbed on a ladder and fell off. Guess who was supposed to catch me and didn’t?”
Everyone turned to survey Babs. “I’m so sorry, it was a total coworker fail. Why don’t we get the ladder back out? You can climb up and fall off again and we’ll see if it ends the same.”
“I totally would, but,” he motioned to his “injured” arm.
“You have my condolences,” Babs said to Jane, but she was smiling.
“I still don’t get the trust exercise thing,” Darren said. “Why do that in the middle of the night? Why not in the middle of the day?”
“Ridge is really big on our team functioning as a family. He wants all of us to have warm fuzzies all the time,” Blue said and Ethan choked on his cereal.
“Really? I’ve never gotten that sense from him,” Darren said.
“Oh, for certain. He’s a big teddy bear. And so affectionate. I’m sure you’ve noticed he’s a hugger,” Blue continued.
“No, in fact he’s always seemed a little uncomfortable with hugging,” Darren said.
“No, he’s holding back so he doesn’t make you uncomfortable. Ours is a very touchy-feely work environment. A job well done always earns a hug from Ridge. With Christmas looming, we’ll probably get double hugs. You should definitely keep the family hugs coming. More of them, probably,” Blue said.
“I’m not certain I believe you,” Darren said, eyes narrowed on Blue.
“That’s because you’re smart,” Babs said.
“But I still don’t get,” Darren began.
“What are the non-workers going to do today?” Ethan interrupted.
“I’m working remotely,” Jane said, tapping her laptop.
“I’m going shopping,” Amelia said with a defiant glare at her brother.
“Can I come?” he surprised her by asking.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. As you pointed out, it’s Christmas, and I still need a few things.”
“I suppose,” she said slowly.
“Don’t sound so enthusiastic,” he said.
“I don’t want you to ruin shopping for me,” she said.
“How could I ruin shopping? You are such a drama queen.”
“You leave me nothing to do when you answer your own questions.” She put up her hand and began ticking off her fingers. “Do not comment on what I buy or how much I spend. Do not talk about my job. Do not refer to Ethan as anything but my husband. Follow those three rules, and you may come shopping with me.”
“Follow those three rules and you may come shopping with me,” he echoed.
She added another finger. “Stop copying me.”
“With all those things off the table, I fail to see how this day will be any fun,” he said before turning to Babs. “Can I get you anything while I’m out?”
“Nothing comes to mind, but thank you,” Babs replied.
“What about you, Babe, you need anything?” Amelia asked Ethan.
“See if the gun shop has that new silencer I’ve been eyeing,” Ethan urged.
“Why would an accountant need a silencer?” Darren asked.
“Haven’t you ever heard of cooking the books?” Ethan asked.
“That’s not what that means,” Darren said.
“It’s a hobby, some holdover nostalgia from my military days,” Ethan said. He stood and kissed Amelia. “Have a good day, sweet. Talk to you later.”
“He has a bad habit of disappearing,” Darren noted. “Very ghostlike. Kind of creepy, actually.”
“Enough,” Amelia said.
“What? Shopping hasn’t even started yet,” Darren complained.
“If that’s what it takes to make you stop talking, let’s start now,” Amelia said. She stood and gathered her trash.
“I guess that’s my cue,” Darren said. He faced Babs again. Blue, Jane, and Amelia were all watching them and making no secret of the fact. He reached under the table and squeezed her knee. “I’ll see you.”
“What, no kiss? Lame,” Blue said.
“You’re a barrel of fun, Blue,” Darren said dryly.
“He is, though,” Jane agreed. Standing, she kissed Blue goodbye, gathered her computer, and disappeared. Amelia left the same way, Darren following behind.
“What are the chances both of them will come back alive tonight?” Blue asked.
“Not any odds I’d ever bet on,” Babs said, her eyes following the retreating duo. How could two people so nice seemingly not get along?
“He’s better than I thought he would be,” Blue admitted.
“You mean based on Maggie’s less-than-glowing description?”
“Right. It’s weird, isn’t it? I’ve never heard Maggie speak badly about anyone, so I was expecting an ogre, but he seems nice and reasonable, at least until it comes to his sisters.”
“Family,” Babs agreed, winding her finger around her ear. Ridge poked his head in.
“You two waiting on an engraved invitation?” he asked.
“Work family,” Blue said, winding his finger around his ear.
“Maybe he needs one of those hugs you mentioned,” Babs said.
“Good idea. Let me quick put on my Kevlar,” Blue said.
Laughing, they walked side by side to the conference room.