I bit my lip. What to do? I answered the call. “Hi, Lace.”

“I’m sorry to bother you this late,” she said, “but I had a breakthrough, and Rock wants us all to meet back at the office.”

“I’m at dinner. With Roy.”

“I hate to interrupt your dinner, but this is big. Really big. Roy needs to come too.”

“Can’t you tell me over the phone?”

Crap. Did I really just say that to my boss who was paying me quadruple what I’d been making before?

“Sorry,” I said. “We’ll be there.”

Back at the office after nine p.m., still dressed in my uncomfortable work clothes. Rock and Lacey were both in jeans, but Reid, of course, still sported his tailored suit. He probably hadn’t gone home yet.

“Thanks for coming,” Lacey said.

“Thanks for dragging us away from a nice dinner,” Roy said sarcastically.

Rock went rigid. “Hey.”

“I don’t mean any disrespect to any of you,” Roy said, “but I’m starving. All I had was some bread and a few calamari.”

“We can order in,” Lacey suggested. “Rock and I have already eaten.”

Roy suppressed an eyeroll. Don’t ask me how I knew. I just knew.

Lacey turned to me. “Can you order us some food?”

This time I suppressed an eyeroll. I understood the importance of what was going on, but I had just been at dinner. And now I was supposed to order food for the group? At nine o’clock at night?

Still, I said, “Sure. What do you want?”

“Anything,” she said. “Whatever sounds good to the rest of you. I’m not hungry.”

“Pizza?” I suggested.

“Works for me,” Reid said.

“Me too,” from Roy.

I ordered the food quickly.

“Now,” Roy said. “You’re going to tell Charlie and me why you interrupted our dinner.”

34

Roy

Reid regarded me, his eyes wide.

“That’s right,” I said to him. “Charlie and I were having dinner together.”

I purposefully didn’t say we were on a “dinner date.” I wasn’t sure how Charlie would react to that, and I didn’t want to rock the boat any more than I already had. I’d let her inside my head a little, and though it was uncomfortable, I felt pretty good about it.

But I didn’t want to scare her. Not now. Not when I needed her.

Not when I loved her.

I had to take it slow and easy with Charlie Waters.

Hell, I had to take it slow and easy with myself. I was a fucked up mess, and Charlie deserved a hell of a lot better than a fucked up mess.

Reid didn’t reply.

“Anyone have anything to say about that?” I asked.

Four heads, including Charlie’s, moved side to side.

“Good. What’s up?”

“We were eating dinner, and Lace remembered something on that signature page.”