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I chuckled. "Sometimes, but things always work out in the end." I gave her a speculative look up and down.
"You wish." She took a few steps away. "We're not done here."
"Not by a long shot, we're not," I agreed. I gave her a salute and swaggered into Carson's office.
"Hey, boss," I said, with all the confidence of a guy who was sure I could talk my way out of anything.
Carson looked up from his computer screen and scowled.
"Sorry, did I interrupt a game of solitaire again?" I grinned.
Carson grimaced. "I never play solitaire."
My grin widened. "I heard that about you. Guys like us, amiright?" I would have winked, but now probably wasn't the time, especially with Carson suddenly turning a particular shade of pink.
"I'm starting to suspect you don't understand the gravity of the situation." He sat back in his chair. He looked like he needed to shave, which wasn't like him at all.
"Totally get it, I swear," I said. He didn't tell me to sit so I stood with my arms crossed over my burly chest. "I'm a good guy, and you want the world to see that."
His eyes narrowed. "What do you call missing that event last night, without letting anyone know?"
We both knew he meant Grace when he said 'anyone' but apparently he was prepared to listen to my side of the story. Problem was, nothing he said so far was wrong.
I shifted from foot to foot and shrugged. "I coulda called, I guess, but I was busy."
Carson looked past me and waved.
"Grace, come in. Bam was just explaining his absence last night."
"Oh, he was?" Grace stepped beside me, then slid into a chair and sat judging me. Okay, looking at me, but it felt judgy.
I should have closed the door when I stepped into the office.
"Go on, Bam," Carson said. "You had somewhere better to be?" He looked like he was about to blow his top.
Crap. I had no choice at this point but to tell the truth.
"I was at the hospital," I said. I felt like they'd stuck a fishhook in my mouth and dragged out the words.
Carson sat up straighter.
Grace's brow creased slightly with worry. Damn woman, she even looked cute doing that.
"Are you okay?" Carson asked. "The team medics should?—"
"I'm fine," I said quickly. "I was visiting." I took a breath and blew it out my nose in frustration. "Every second Tuesday I go to the kid's cancer ward and say hi. Read them stories, let them beat me at computer games. Stuff like that. I forgot about it when Grace mentioned the gala, but I wasn't gonna let the kids down. They expect me to be there, you know?"
I wished I could do more, but the smiles on their young faces made every moment I spent there worthwhile.
"Why didn't you say something when you remembered?" Grace asked. "I would have…" She looked uncertain.
"What?" I asked. "You would have been pissed off. You would have insisted I wear a stupid suit and go to that bloody gala anyway."
She flushed slightly and I knew I was right.
"Grace," Carson said softly. "You didn't know about this?"
She looked surprised. "No, I didn't have a clue."
