“Harper.” Cole sat up too, reaching for me. “Are you mad at me? Because I don’t want you to risk your job for me?”
“No, I’m not mad.” I looked at him, really looked at him in the dim light filtering through his bedroom window. “I’m not mad at you, anyway. I need some time to think about how I can do my job without sacrificing you in the process. I can’t do that. I won’t do that.”
Cole watched me for another moment, then nodded and got up. He pulled on a pair of cotton lounge pants and walked with me back to the kitchen, where he picked up my scattered clothing, item by item, and I pulled each piece back on. My blouse. My skirt. My bra.
Everything except my panties, which Cole had managed to confiscate.
“I reiterate that you don’t have to go,” he said, leaning against the door frame, arms crossed over his bare chest. “I can make you a hell of a protein shake. I got some chicken in the fridge. I could throw together some pasta.”
I chuckled, buttoning the last button on my blouse. “I thank you for the hospitality. And by hospitality, I mean that vibranium dick. I don’t know where you’ve been hiding thatparticular asset, but I’m about to take out an insurance policy on it.”
“You’re silly.” He pushed off the door frame and pulled me into his arms. “Come back when you can stay longer.”
“Don’t play with me, Cole.”
He kissed me then, slow and sweet, in a way that said he really didn’t want me to leave. His hands cupped my ass, pulling me close enough to feel him hardening again.
“Wait until you find out I’m really not playing with you, Harper,” he said against my lips. “Text me when you get home.”
I drove home through streets as empty as my thoughts were crowded, possibilities and strategies stacking up in my head. By the time I swung into my parking spot, I realized what I’d decided already, somewhere between Cole’s place and mine.
Ridgeway Medical Center was going to set Cole up as the fall guy. That was beyond my control. So was whatever Rice, Webb, or Legal decided to do with him.
But I could make sure Cole was ready for that meeting. And not just ready—incredibly, painfully over-prepared.
I headed inside, dropped my bag by the door, and went straight for my laptop, setting it on the kitchen counter. I made a pot of coffee, changed into a pair of sweats, then perched at the counter and opened a blank document. My fingers hovered over the keys for a second, then I started typing.
There was something I could do.
Chapter Twelve
COLE
An email from Dr. Webb hit my inbox at 05:08.
Marcus Webb:
IMPORTANT: Please come by my office this afternoon, re: the upcoming Hart meeting.
I stared at the timestamp, picturing him hunched over his keyboard at too damn early in the morning, either buried in administrative work or wrestling with insomnia. Neither scenario suggested good news awaited me.
Harper had left my place a few hours before that, her taillights disappearing down my street while I stood in the doorway watching. I’d spent the rest of the night replaying every moment with her instead of sleeping, wondering if I’d read too much into her lingering kiss goodnight or the way she’d hesitated before leaving.
I knocked on Dr. Webb’s door after I’d finished my day. His gruff, “Come in,” sounded even more weathered than usual. He looked up when I settled into the chair across from his desk.
“Cole. Thanks for coming in.”
“You said it was important,” I replied, implying that I didn’t really have a choice.
“Indeed, it is.” He set the tablet down, folded his hands on top of it, the way people do when they’re about to say something you’re not going to like. “I wanted to touch base about Tuesday’s meeting. Make sure you’re ready.”
I shrugged, like there was nothing to it. “What’s to be ready for?”
“This meeting is critical. The Hart family has considerable influence with the Board, and we need to handle this delicately.”
I caught the worddelicately. Honestly, all I saw was the same old boardroom politics, just with fancier names and a little more glass in the conference room. Webb wanted us walking on eggshells; I wasn’t sure why we couldn’t just walk in, confident that we were in the right.
Still, I got it. The Hart family had pull, and if we blew it, we’d feel it.
