Letty’s head snaps to Griffin. A second passes before she turns on her heel and walks out of my office without a word.
I let out a sigh when she’s gone. “If you’re assigning her as my new babysitter, can we please pick someone, anyone, else?” I pick up the folder that contains Riley’s information and quickly scan the sheet inside to get an idea why she requested the appointment.
“You don’t have a babysitter.” Griffin lowers himself into the chair and it creaks. I peer up at him from under my lashes.
Placing the folder on my desk, I inquire, “Then why areyouhere?” Griffin smooths his palm over the buttons of his suit, and I wonder what he was doing with Letty that caused them to be unbuttoned. It’s not something I’ve noticed him doing. He gives a halfhearted, lazy shrug.
I want to roll my eyes, but I refrain. One of us can be an adult. I see a fisted hand poised to knock on the door, but the hand and the young lady attached to it freezes when she looks into my office.
“Oh, I’m…” Her face flushes bright red. “I thought…” She stammers but doesn’t finish.
I stand and make quick work of meeting her near the entry. “You must be Riley, I’m Quinn.” I extend my hand, but Riley is still staring at the side of Griffin’s face. She blinks several times then focuses on me. It takes her a few seconds to return my handshake, but eventually she does, still stealing glances at Griffin.
“Come in, have a seat,” I urge her.
Riley’s eyes widen. “Am I in trouble?”
I lean in closer to her and pretend to whisper, “Apparently I am.” Riley leans back from me and swallows. “I’m kidding, just ignore him.” Her eyes flare even wider, then dart past me to land on Griffin. My attempt to lighten the mood fails miserably. Shit, with Griffin here I’ll be lucky to get Riley to talk to me at all, let alone get her to open up about why she scheduled this appointment. But it’s not like I can just kick him out either.
“Do you mind giving me just a moment?” I ask the young woman. “If you could just wait in the hall?” I direct her, so I can handle the elephant in the room.
“I can reschedule,” she suggests, her feet already moving.
“No, no. I’ll just be a minute. Please wait.” I offer her an encouraging smile. She doesn’t look reassured, but I hope she sticks around.
Once she clears the door, I move closer to Griffin and keep my voice low when I say, “You need to leave. You’re too distracting.”
Ever so slowly, he turns his head so our eyes meet. I’m much closer to him than I’d intended. “I don’t want to.”
I scoff, unprepared for his petulant response. “If you’re that worried about watching me, set up a damn camera, but I’m here to do a job, and you are getting in the way of that job.” I cross my arms over my chest. “Is this something I should take up with Director Stone?”
One side of Griffin’s lips tip up just enough that I notice the change in his features before he smooths his face back to a more placid expression. “I assure you, he already knows I’m here.”
“Griffin, that girl can barely speak when you’re in the room. How do you expect me to do my job if you’re tying my hands?” His eyes dip to my wrist, which are currently sitting over my breasts.
“You don’t look tied up to me,” he remarks lazily.
“You can’t be serious.” I drop my arms. “You can shadow me for the rest of the day.”
“I know I can.” Griffin uses the arms of the chair to push himself up, the wood makes a popping sound that he ignores. “I have something I need to take care of anyway, but I’ll be back,” he warns.
“Good, perfect.” I shoo him out the door with my hands. “And I’ll be making that appointment with the director.”
“You do that, Ms. Shaw.” Griffin smiles around the words but strolls out of my office. I poke my head around the door to find Riley shuffling her feet, looking at the ground.
“You ready?” I sound way too chipper, so I clear my throat. She shrugs in response. “Let’s try this again, have a seat,” I offer, slowly lowering myself into the seat Griffin vacated. If it breaks, I don’t want her to end up on the floor.
The young woman glances around my office as if she’s checking to make sure no one else is going to pop out. I give her a few seconds to settle. “So, what can I do for you, Riley?” She left the reason for her appointment blank, all the other questions were answered, so she must have done it on purpose.
“I have a little brother,” she admits softly, her hands gripping the bag in her lap hard enough that her knuckles are turning white.
“Okay,” I murmur, unsure where this is going.
“The pack we were with, it’s rough, not like here, and he’s still there.” Riley licks her lips. “I didn’t know who else to talk to about this, but…”
“But you want him to come here?” I surmise. She nods quickly, relieved if the long breath she lets out is any indication.
I settle back against the chair. It’s clear this girl wants my help, but I’m just not sure if I’ll be able to give it to her. “I heard Jon talking, and he said you were going to get him into a human medical program.” Riley’s words come out rushed.
