Riley had gone about her day with a smile on her face. Her staff noticed, even her patients. When they commented, she only replied back with, “Got to advertise the end results here.” Everyone laughed and shrugged it off, or so she hoped. If there was one thing she’d learned in her short time in Lake Placid, it was that nothing stayed a secret for long.

Her morning had gone by fast, one appointment bleeding over into her lunch hour, but when she made it to her office and checked her phone, she’d seen Trevor had just sent her a quick message. Nothing important, no questions, just a short note that she was on his mind while he headed to court.

There was no need to text back; she knew by now he wouldn’t answer anyway. She’d catch up with him later, knowing that his little message widened her already big smile for the day.

At the end of the day, she pulled in her garage, then walked out to the mailbox to get her mail. She was still getting used to having an outdoor mailbox, or a mailbox in general.

Once she was in the house, she put her purse and keys on the little counter in her kitchen and walked to her office, sorting the papers in her hand. Advertising…junk. Bills…into her desk drawer.

The last thing she looked at was an envelope forwarded to her dated almost two weeks ago, no return address, but postmarked New York City. Which was odd, because almost every piece of mail had a return address on it now. Her brain told her it was nothing, but her gut wasn’t listening.

She ripped it open, but it was empty. Nothing at all. Did someone forget to put their paper inside? Was it a mistake?

Or a message…that she was still reachable.

She took a deep breath, then another. Closed her eyes and repeated the breathing routine she’d perfected for months. It was helping, she knew it was. She was making a big deal out of nothing.

When she was calm enough, she was going to just toss the envelope, but instead she put it in another drawer. Next thing she did was call Trevor.

Did she want to tell him? Sure. Was she going to? No way. No reason to.

It was innocent.

Just an empty envelope forwarded to her.

It could be anything.

Only she had a bad feeling it wasn’t just anything.

“Hey, there,” Trevor said when he answered the phone.

“How was your day?” she asked. Just hearing his voice was doing wonders for her. Better than her breathing techniques, for sure.

“Uneventful. Yours?”

“The same,” she lied. “So no feuding neighbors to deal with today?”

He laughed, and she loved the sound of it. “Nope. I spent my day in court giving testimony for a domestic violence case. Some things get to me more than others and that is one of them.”

“Were there kids involved?” she asked. As any medical professional, she was trained to look for the signs.

“Unfortunately, yes, and they didn’t escape their father’s vicious ways, either.”

“He’s in jail, I hope.”

“Not now. He was. He posted bail and it just pisses me off.”

His voice had taken on another tone, a sharper one. She wished she could see him now. To see the signs of him not being so laid back and calm.

“How did he manage to get out?” she asked.

“The wife talked down the abuse. Said it was all a mistake. A misunderstanding. All the medical records and testimony that were given didn’t help. If she isn’t willing to go through with the charges—even though a few days ago she said she would—there’s nothing I can do at this point.”

“Now what?”

“Now I hope I don’t get another call from their home, but chances are I will.”

“You can’t save everyone, Trevor.”

“Nope. I don’t try anymore. I just try to do my best and follow the law to the letter. I’ve got a firm belief that good always outshines the bad, it’s just not always in a timely fashion.”

She laughed a little. “That’s a good way of putting things. A good way to look at life.”

“It’s not always good to focus on the bad. At least I try not to.”

“I should take that advice myself,” she said.

“I don’t picture you as the type of person who focuses on the bad. Or if you do, you find a way around it.”

“I like how that sounds even better.” He was good for her self-confidence right now. Better at putting her mind at ease without even knowing he needed to.

“How does this sound? What are your plans for the weekend?”

“Funny thing you asked,” she said. “Max is having a little get-together for his staff and some friends at the lake before the fireworks show. I was hoping that you’d join me. Join us. It’s not like you’re going to be a stranger to most of them there.”

“Are your parents still going to be in town?”

“They are. You’ve met my father already. Even made him laugh, I’ve heard.”

“I haven’t met your mother,” he said.

“Piece of cake. If you can get through my father, you’re golden. You aren’t afraid to come, are you?” she asked, humor in her voice. “Because we know you’re the chief.”

He laughed. “I’ll be there. Just give me the time. I’m not officially working, but I’m on call for the entire weekend, so I may have to leave; otherwise I would pick you up.”

“So I guess no spending the night at my place?” She was already looking forward to another night with him.

“What would you say if I asked you to stay at my place for the night? If I’m called away from the party, I sure would like to come back and know you’re there waiting for me.”

“I think that is very doable. I’d like to see your place. Do I need to bring a spare toothbrush?” she laughed, enjoying the flirty little banter they always lapsed into.

“I’ve got a spare that you can use, or have. But I’m guessing it won’t be up to your standards.”

“No worries. I’ve got it covered,” she said. “What are your plans tonight?” she asked. She wasn’t ready to hang up the phone right yet.

“I’m going to finish up some paperwork, then grab a little food and go home and catch the rest of the baseball game. How about you?”

“I didn’t know you were still at work. Sorry to bother you.”

“You’ve been bothering me for weeks, Dr. Hamilton. Don’t think anything of it.”

She didn’t take offense to his statement, not when there was a lot of laughter and a hint of heat to it. “I’ll probably exercise, then eat a salad and do some research.”

“So what type of workout do you do to get a body like that?”

She’d never been asked that before. Most guys just commented on her body, but never asked how she got it. Not that it mattered, but she always felt they thought she looked the way she did because of her father or brother. That she’d paid for the body she had.

“I forgot to show you the basement of my house. I’ve got a little gym down there. Treadmill, weights, yoga mats. I’ve got it all. I do it all. No reason to get in a routine.”

“You’ll have to show it to me sometime.”

“I don’t think my weight setup is going to be enough for you. If I haven’t said it before, I like whatever you do to get your body too. So keep it up.”

He laughed, a loud booming sound. “Maybe we can work out together sometime and you can see exactly what I do. I’ve got my own setup at the house. Probably not as pretty as yours, but it gets the job done.”

“Gives me something to look forward to this weekend,” she said.

“Is that the only thing you’re looking forward to?”

“I’d like to see the color of your bedroom,” she said, teasing. “I mean, you made such a big production over wanting to see the color of mine. What did you think of it?” she asked.

“It was nice,” he said quickly.

“What color was it, Trevor?” There was silence on the other end.

 

***

 

The color of her room? What the hell. How was he supposed to know? He was too busy trying to undress her, then taste her, and finally dislodge her luscious mouth from his anatomy.

He tried to think back to all the colors she had in her hand that one day. Gray…that was downstairs, so chances are she wouldn’t put it upstairs too. Blue…her kitchen was a shade of blue, so maybe it was best to eliminate that as well. “It was green.”

She laughed softly. “What shade of green?”

“I’m a guy. Green is green, regardless of the shade.”

“I’ll let you off the hook then. You got lucky with your guess.”

“Luck had nothing to do with it,” he argued. Good reasoning and logical thinking won the day for him this time. He heard her moving around right now. Cabinets opening and closing and a chopping noise. He’d prove to her he was good. “Chopping your salad right now?”

“You’ve got good hearing,” she said, laughing. “I am. I’m starving. I didn’t have much time for lunch.”

“Do you have any truffles left? You could have had a few of them.”

“I have almost all of them left. My life isn’t stressful enough for them to be gone by now, and I only eat chocolate when I’m stressed.”

“Then I’ll let you go and eat dinner.”

“I should let you finish up your paperwork so you can go home and do the same. But the funny thing is, I’m having a hard time hanging up the phone right now.”

“Why is that?” he asked and found himself smiling. He felt like he was in high school again, sitting on the phone with his latest crush just listening to the silence, but not willing to hang up.

“Beats the hell out of me. What do your detective skills think?”

“What I think is I’m growing on you.”

“I think you’re right once again. But this time I will let you go so you can get home and watch your game.”

He hung up the phone a minute later and sat back. She was growing on him, too. Enough that he’d noticed a change in her over the call.

Her voice started out a little forced. At least her tone. Like she wasn’t as happy as she was trying to be. But after a few minutes it changed and it was almost like he could picture her relaxing.

Since she admitted to not eating any chocolate, it couldn’t have had anything to do with work. The question was, what happened between the time she left in the morning to when she called him?