If the goal was for everyone to be in uniform attire that wasn’t a distraction for any reason, then Lara had failed. Or maybe I had. Because I could still track down every dip and curve of her body beneath the supposedly ill-fitting clothes. The bland blue-gray color even set off the vibrant shade of her hair and the pink in her cheeks—a pink that deepened the longer I looked.
Maybe it was the smoothie. Had to be. But she was the doctor; she’d know whether something was wrong.
“You can add your stuff,” I said, and stepped behind her so I could change.
“Where are you going to keep our IDs?”
“With us,” I grunted, moving as quick as I could, but hiding a hard-on underneath too-thin clothes wasn’t an easy feat.
“How?” she asked as I came up behind her, setting my clothes on the top shelf where she couldn’t reach.
Lara spun around, her eyes wide when they landed on my chest.
“Give them to me. I’ll show you,” I rumbled, my voice dropping lower.
She extended her hand, her license and two credit cards in her palm.
Taking them, I lined their edges up with my own and then bent down with my back to the wall of shelves like I was going to tie my shoe.
Tipping forward onto the ball of my foot, I grabbed the heel of my work boot and turned it to the side, revealing a hidden compartment. I looked up at Lara, my gaze conveying everything I needed her to know—and her blank expression told me she received the message.After tucking all forms of our identification into the carved-out slot, I slid the heel back in place.
“Wow,” she said when I straightened. “What other gadgets do you have hiding in your clothes?”
We both froze. The catch of her breath marked the tear of lust as it arrowed into my chest. What she’d said ...what we both heard.It was a mistake. A misspeak. But she didn’t correct it.
I waited, seconds peeling away like rings of a centuries-old oak, yet she didn’t try to correct herself—to overexplain. Just like at the diner, we found ourselves shoved together in a way that neither of us wanted to untangle.
But we had to.I had to.
“We should go.” I held out my arm, channeling all my energy into stopping a certaingadgetfrom turning to stone.
“Wonderful.” Old Brielle was back, and it appeared she’d found a roll of paper towels from somewhere in the bowels of the building to clean up the smoothie. “I can take you to your ride. Would you like a water for the drive? It’ll only be about fifteen minutes.”
Shit ...Maybe Callum’s drone could’ve found the retreat in short order.
“No, thank you,” Lara answered this time, my caution clearly affecting her decision.
“Okay. Then if I could just have your key ...” She trailed off as I set the key ring on the desk. “Great. This way, please.”
We followed her outside, her heels rocking on the uneven dirt path that led around the side of the building.
“Hold on one second,” I called before we reached the corner. Brielle and Lara both stopped and looked at me, confused. “I just want to make sure I locked my truck.”
Brielle nodded but looked impatient.
I jogged over to my truck, my feet kicking up dirt as I checked the driver’s-side door. I let the handle land with a thud so everyone heard the confirmation.
“All good,” I said, returning with another apology. “Sorry about that.”
Without comment, Brielle directed us around to the back of the building, where I noted the second egress point. Two exits, as I’d expected for a building this size. One out front and one out back. Why we were brought around the building rather than straight through was an inconsistency I filed away for further consideration.
Behind the building, an early 2000s Jeep Wrangler was parked on the other side of a small thatch of trees, the engine running at a low hum. Mud caked the tires and wheel wells, and the windshield had only a patch where the wipers had cleared the grime.
The driver’s-side door swung open.
“Lara, Calder. This is Matthew.” Again, Brielle’s display hand swung out to introduce the large man striding toward us.
He wasn’t wearing scrubs, instead sporting boots, jeans, and a black polo underneath a black jacket. I had a feeling he was around Creighton’s age, but with his bald head and intensely serious face, he appeared older.
