Chapter 16 #2
The door opens, and Ridge fills the frame. He looks too good for someone who slept on a sofa for half the night. He must have gone back home after leaving my apartment because he’s in another suit. This one is dark gray and looks just as good on him.
“Dr. Keller.” He nods at me, then at Carla. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“Good afternoon, Commander Ridge.” Carla brightens. “You haven’t interrupted at all. We were just finishing up.”
“Please call me Ridge.”
“Oh. Ridge. Right.” She gives him a smile. “Come on in. I’ll get out of your way. Dr. Keller, I’ll be right at my desk if you need anything.”
“Thanks.” I straighten in my chair. “Hi, Commander.”
He steps inside my office, heading to the table in the corner. He nods at me.
I note that Carla is looking at me quizzically. I frown in her direction.
She gives a tiny shake of her head, looking at Ridge for a second before leaving.
“How did it go at my apartment?” I ask Ridge as he puts his bag down.
He turns to face me. “You now have a bolt and a chain on the front door. The sliding door has a security bar, making it almost impossible to pop off the tracks. We’ve installed glass-break sensors in all of the rooms, as well as motion sensors in the hallway, and a panic button next to your bed and another by the front door.
There are twenty-five cameras going up this afternoon.
Your front desk is being staffed around the clock going forward, courtesy of the Council.
There are various other changes I won’t bore you with.
” He clears his throat. “Your apartment will get done today. Some of the other changes by the end of business tomorrow.”
“Wow! That’s great. Thank you. Did your team pull the footage from last night?” I ask. “Did they find anything?”
He shakes his head. “They pulled the footage, but they didn’t find anything. There are too many gaps. Whoever it was knew what they were doing.”
“Oh.” I feel disheartened, and my shoulders slump. “That’s a pity.”
“There was one footprint in the flowerbed near the emergency stairs. The only way around the corner camera is to cut through that bed. It might be nothing, of course. People walk through gardens all the time. We took a cast of the print anyway. We may be able to get a shoe make and size.”
“That’s not much, but at least it’s something.” I shrug.
He gives me a small nod, then stands there looking at me for a beat. I look at the bridge of his nose because it feels like a safe spot.
He looks like he wants to say something, then sits instead. He starts unpacking his bag.
I can’t get myself to stop looking at him like an idiot.
“Right.” I push my chair back and stand. I make a small show of picking up a folder I don’t need, glancing at my watch. “I have to go and check on a patient.”
“All good,” he mutters, his eyes glued to his screen. He already looks deep in concentration.
It’s not fair.
I do not look at him as I leave.
The corridor is mercifully empty. I close my office door behind me, blow out a breath, and turn toward the hallway that leads to the hospital.
Carla looks up from her computer. She’s frowning.
“Everything okay?” she asks.
“Yep. Fine.” I nod, aiming for casual. “I’m just going to check on a patient.”
Carla’s frown deepens a little.
“I thought you already did your rounds and that you had loads of admin to get through this afternoon. You said this morning that you were going to be chained to your desk. You may have even asked me to chain you if need be.”
I smile. “You’re right, I did. I felt like I needed some air, and I just want to look in on her quickly.”
“Again? You were just there.”
“Some bloodwork came back,” I say, already moving past her toward the corridor. “I wanted to check on something. I’ll be right back.”
“Do I need to get out my whip and chain?”
I laugh. “I swear I won’t be long,” I call over my shoulder. “Or you can come and look for me.”
“Your dress arrived earlier,” Carla shouts after me.
I whip back. “What dress?”
She squeezes her eyes shut and then opens them. “That’s it! I’m going to tackle both your inbox and your calendar going forward. I’ll get Jimmy to make it so that I have real-time access and that everything I put into your calendar shows up on your side, too.”
“Oh my gosh!” I make a pained noise. “It’s that charity thing, isn’t it? The one that brings in millions to my department each year. The one I’m speaking at. It can’t be, Carla. That’s only in a few weeks.”
“You’ve been saying that for weeks, Dr. Keller. It’s tomorrow night. Your dress arrived earlier and—”
I close my eyes and make another pained noise. “Nooooo. Not right now. I have too much going on.”
“You will be absolutely fine.”
“I haven’t even written anything down. I don’t have a speech.”
“You love what you do. I’ve never met anyone more passionate. Speak from the heart.”
“I’m not sure about that. I might freeze… What then?” I shake my head.
“I’ll put something together for you. You can tweak it and make it your own.”
“That would be amazing.”
“Go and see your patient, then get your ass back here so that you can get through your admin work. That’ll leave you plenty of time to practice your speech this evening.”
“Okay.” I nod. I hate this part of what I do, but it is one of those things.
“Oh, and you need to try on that dress. If it’s a total disaster, you’ll still have time to get something off the rack. I picked this one out for you, and I think it’s absolutely perfect.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” I wave a hand.
“You really are worrying me a little. Is there anything going on? Anything I should know about?”
“Nope, it’s all good.” I wish it were true. “Just a little stressed with everything that’s happening.”
“Alright, then,”
I head down the hallway before she can interrogate me some more.
Carla knows something is up. I really hope she doesn’t put two and two together. Ridge and I had sex once.
It’s done.
It isn’t going to happen again.
If Carla finds out, she’s going to be incredibly irritating about it. I might never hear the end of it. It’s why I didn’t tell her in the first place. It was totally out of character. Just like my behavior from last night was out of character as well.
Nope, not happening again. None of it is.