Her shoulders weren’t the only thing that were loose. So was her tongue.
Annie leaned in, conspiratorially. “Who was he? I didn’t know we had a doctor from Scotland here. I thought the closest we had was the guy who’s really from Vancouver but does that bad British accent.”
Finally something she could jostle the girl with. “He’s not from the foundation. He lives in my building. He’s a bodyguard.”
Yep, those youthful eyes bore the stamp of pure shock. “You did a blue-collar guy?”
She had and it had been glorious. “I did. I’m getting back in the dating world, though I don’t guess getting trapped in an elevator counts as a date.”
“It sure seems to have ended like one,” Annie said. “Are you seeing him again? You know you don’t have to, right? It’s perfectly acceptable for you to have your fun and move on to greener pastures.”
“I’ve got a date tomorrow but not with him,” she admitted. Lawyer Larry texted her this morning and asked if he could call. They’d had a nice chat and lawyer number one of a hundred professionals Cathy was likely to parade in front of her seemed pretty nice. “I’m having lunch with a lawyer. I think that’s what I’ll do. I’ll take the alliterative approach to getting back out there. Lunch with lawyers. Dinner with doctors.”
Boning with bodyguards. Boffing with bodyguards. Bedtime with bodyguards.
Bodyguard. Bad boy. Except that bad boy had been awfully good.
Damn that man was in her head, but she wasn’t giving in.
“That sounds good,” Annie said with a smile. “Definitely stick to doctors and lawyers. They’re the only ones who truly understand the kind of hours we put in. Unless you’re looking for a good time. Then I can introduce you to some guys from the university who know what they’re doing.”
“I scarcely think Dr. Walsh needs to meet your friends, Annie,” Carter said from the doorway. She hadn’t heard him come in. “If you’re done with Dr. Walsh’s reports, why don’t you go and help in the lab. Dr. Holder had some patients coming in for baseline MRIs.”
Annie’s eyes rolled but she was all smiles when she turned around. “Sure thing.” She started for the door and then turned when she was behind Carter’s back and gave Becca the call me sign along with a far more juvenile gesture that let her know Annie was willing to hook her up.
With college boys.
Did Annie know any men with ridiculously broad shoulders and eyes as blue as any ocean? Did she know any guy rough enough to send a thrill along her spine and tender enough to make her stupid heart soften up?
She needed to work on her reputation if all anyone was going to send her way was either professionals looking for companionship or college boys who wanted to get laid.
“I apologize for her familiarity,” Carter said with a long-suffering sigh. “I go through this with them in their training classes.”
“She was being friendly,” Becca replied. “You should go easier on the interns. There might be a couple we want to keep, after all.”
“Certainly not Annie. She’s not serious about her work. She’ll find a husband, some meathead with a good paycheck, and settle down. I’ve seen it happen time and time again.”
“I hardly think medical school is the place to find a husband and never work again,” she shot back. Normally she would let it go, but there was something under her skin today. “She’s worked hard and we should value that.”
If her little show of temper bothered him, he didn’t let her know. He simply laid out an envelope that had her name typed on the front of it. “I think you’ll like Tucker. He’s very respectful, and from what I can see, he knows his stuff. He’s assigned to Dr. Huisman right now, but I’ll snatch him up for you if I can. This came by courier.”
“On a Saturday?” She worked most Saturdays, but one of the things she liked about it was how she didn’t have to deal with administrative stuff. She didn’t get mail on weekends.
“I suppose whoever sent it knows you don’t take a lot of time off work,” he replied. “It was a bike messenger. Not the usual. He didn’t have me sign for it or anything.”
That was unusual to say the least. In her world there was always paperwork. Sometimes she expected the vending machines to need a signature to deliver a can of soda. She looked down at the plain white envelope in her hand. It wasn’t thick. Her name had been typed neatly on the front and there was nothing else distinguishing about it.
“Is there something wrong?” Carter asked. “I was about to run some errands. I’ll be back around six and we can head out together. If you like we can talk about your calendar for the next month. I’d like to get that on the books so the interns don’t make excuses about not having the schedule in time.”
She glanced up at the clock. She was supposed to be at River’s in a few hours. She was surprised to discover she wasn’t even thinking of canceling. It was what she usually did when it came to social events. She would say yes with all the good intentions in the world, and then the day would come and she would find some excuse to not put herself out there.
She wasn’t even thinking about it today. Today she was eager for some lasagna. It had been a long time since she’d had a home-cooked meal, and her stomach growled at the thought. “I’m heading out early. I have a party to go to.”
A single brow arched. “Party?”
Yep, she was working on her reputation. “Yes, I go to parties.” At least she did now. “I have one tonight, so I’ll see you on Monday.”
“You’re taking Sunday off?” The poor man looked like the world had shifted on him.
“I have a lunch date. I told you about it.”
“I would assume it won’t last all day.”
“Only if I’m lucky,” she replied pointedly.
His face flushed and for a moment he seemed to not understand. Then he backed away and she could see the shock in his eyes before he buried it under the veneer of professionalism. “Well, I suppose I’ll see you Monday then. You…have fun this weekend.”
Carter left without a backward glance. He was such a prissy man, much like a lot of the academic types. He was more focused on the job than the people they were trying to help. She’d known a lot of Carters. Somehow he’d latched on to her when she’d come to work at the foundation, and he’d been helpful at first. It had been nice to have someone who lived in the same building and was willing to show her around, but over time she’d gotten to realize he was pretty much a misogynist asshole. If her newfound sexual freedom made him put her in the same basket as the Annies of the world, she would happily go and bring a bottle of wine.
She should bring a bottle of wine to River’s. She shouldn’t show up empty handed.
That thought made her glance down at the envelope again. She should head out and stop somewhere along the way to grab a bottle. Red went with Italian, right? She might ask someone.
As she thought about the dinner, she opened the envelope and drew out the single sheet of paper.
If you want to know where the money went, meet me at Casa Loma where the Duchess overlooks the troops. 2 p.m. Next Friday.
What the hell did that mean? She stared at the note. It wasn’t signed and there was no Dear Rebecca. Just those words printed on plain white paper.
The money. Fuck. There was over a million dollars missing and she’d been praying it was nothing more than an accounting error. Now it looked like not only was it not some kind of mistake, but something sinister.
Had she lost that file? Had it fallen out of her tote bag?
Or had someone taken it?
She grabbed the note and shoved it into her purse, the one nothing ever fell out of. It was time to go and talk to the security guards, to see if they had any video footage of whoever had sent the note.