“Possibly.”
Mike handed him a card. “I have eleven years’ experience as a police officer, including five years as a detective, plus a master’s degree in criminal science.”
“Do you handle security?” Alec asked.
What was going on? Patty wasn’t sure she liked the idea of having Alec as a client. If she were assigned to guard him, she might have a little trouble keeping her mind on her work. Anyway, why would he need guarding?
Mike was forging ahead smoothly. “We’re a small agency, but we are licensed to do bodyguard and security work. I can make a referral if you need crowd control.”
“It’s more in the nature of…” Alec glanced around. “We should talk privately.”
“I’d be happy to meet with you later,” Mike said.
“For this job, I’d need Patty.”
What? She struggled to keep her tone level. “Detectives aren’t supposed to get personally involved in cases.” To Mike, she explained, “We used to date.”
“Oh, I’m not the one who needs protecting,” Alec assured her.
Then who? But this wasn’t the time or place to go into details, she supposed.
“I’m confident we can work this out, Dr. Denny,” Mike assured him. “Give me a call and we’ll set up an appointment. The three of us.”
Alec tucked the card in his pocket. “I’d be glad to. But I have a PhD, not an MD. Whenever someone calls me doctor, I’m always afraid they’re going to keel over and expect me to save their life.”
“Patty and I are both trained in CPR. We’ll handle the lifesaving part,” Mike replied drily.
Patty wished she knew more about what was going on. Why would Alec be hiring a guard for someone else? If there was a threat against the lab, surely the hospital would call on its own security staff.
All the same, she was glad for an excuse to see him again, in a professional setting. In this small town, they could hardly avoid running into each other, and she’d like to reestablish their relationship on a platonic basic. That way, maybe she’d stop fantasizing about ruffling his hair and slipping her arms around his chest. And tilting her mouth up to his, and… Now cut that out!
People were beginning to line up at the buffet. The delicious scents of roast beef and salmon wafted over, reminding Patty that she’d missed lunch.
“If we’re done here, I’ll catch you later,” she told Alec and Bailey.
“It’s great to see you again.” The nurse gave Patty a hug. “I hope Nora won’t mind me breaking the news about my pregnancy at her wedding. I’m not trying to be the center of attention. She already knows, and when I saw you, I just had to tell you.”
“I’m sure Nora won’t mind.” In Patty’s opinion, the bride’s state of euphoria should obliterate any such petty concerns.
She and Mike joined the line. “Good work,” he murmured. “You brought in a client.”
“He’s my old boyfriend,” Patty retorted. “You can’t expect me to guard his body. Or…whoever.”
“If he likes our work, the whole medical center will hear about it.” Mike stepped aside to let a guest with a plate of food pass through the line. His path brought him into a collision course with a tall, red-haired woman Patty recognized from the bridal shower. “Sorry,” he murmured.
“No problem.” Despite the polite words, she sounded irritated.
As she moved away, Mike turned to Patty. “Who’s the Amazon?”
The redhead swung toward him with a fierce expression. “That’s a rude way to refer to me.”
“My apologies,” Mike said swiftly. “Actually, I like tall women.”
Her lips tightened and she marched off without another word. He ducked his head and waited a moment before asking, “Is she gone?”
“Disappearing into the crowd,” Patty confirmed.
“Okay, now, who’s the ticked-off Amazon?”
“That’s Paige Brennan, the bride’s obstetrician,” Patty said. If Mike had any interest in the lady doc, he’d apparently blown his chances, but that wasn’t her concern. “Do you suppose it’s okay to take both the roast beef and the salmon?”
“You’re the maid of honor. You can do anything you like.”
“Yeah,” she replied happily. “That’s right. We’re sitting at the head table, too. Does that mean we get extra champagne?”
“It means you have to make a toast,” Mike said.
Uh-oh. “I do?” She wished she’d had some warning. What on earth would she to say?
“I’ll give you a pointer,” her boss offered. “No jokes about the wedding night.”
“They already had the wedding night. Hence, the obstetrician,” she pointed out, and moved forward to grab a plate.
Wedding nights. What an archaic custom, Patty thought, except for very religious people. Or shy ones. Or couples who’d never made it beyond heavy groping in the backseat of a car….
She’d better quit thinking that way, and fast. Or else figure out how to explain to Mike why she turned down whatever work Alec intended to offer.
Chapter Six
He should have talked to Patty before mentioning the job to her boss, Alec mused as he watched her joking with the other people at the head table. He hadn’t meant to put her in an awkward position.
On the other hand, she might have refused, and then where would he be? All things considered, Alec was glad for Mike Aaron’s obvious interest in landing a new client.
Patty certainly had changed in the past decade. She moved with more confidence, and despite her less-than-feminine attire, she exuded a natural sexuality. He tried not to think about watching her get dressed out in the parking lot, the way her blouse had emphasized her full breasts, the way he’d felt an intense longing to get closer to this new, more sophisticated Patty.
In the old days, they’d fooled around plenty. He’d made it to first base and beyond, but never… Now why was a mature, divorced man with a four-year-old child using high-school terms like “first base”? Or even considering undressing a woman who might be working for him?
Patty had a point. If he intended to hire her to run security, he couldn’t allow either of them to get distracted.
As he sat at a table with a group of fellow hospital staff, Alec replayed his earlier conversation with his ex-wife. The threat had felt serious at the time, but perhaps he was overreacting.
“You better keep a close eye on our little girl, Alec Denny, because she’s likely to disappear when you least expect it.” No, he wasn’t letting his fears get the best of him. That had been a direct threat.
“I’ll take her to Argentina if you force me.” With that declaration, she’d upped the stakes, because she could take advantage of a possible conflict in international child custody laws. If Sabrina married this boyfriend and stayed in Argentina, a court there might claim jurisdiction.
The expense would be staggering, and months or years might pass while he fought to get his daughter back. It was unimaginable to be separated from Fiona. Worse, he had no faith in Sabrina’s ability to provide a safe, loving home.
Alec tensed, the adrenaline surging. Maybe he should leave now, drive home and check on Fiona. Or at least call his mother to be sure nothing had gone wrong.
Oh, for Pete’s sake, you talked to Sabrina only a few hours ago. She hadn’t had time to put a plan in motion, assuming that she ever would.
How ironic that Alec spent his life helping other couples have children, and now he risked losing his own. But how many people, when they married, thought about what kind of parent their partner would make? Or how they might act in a custody battle? Even if anyone tried to warn him about Sabrina, he doubted he’d have listened.
“I wish I could have the baby at Safe Harbor, but my sister insists on me using a doctor in L.A.,” Bailey was telling their tablemates. “She’s going to be my birthing coach, so that should be fun.”
“What about your brother-in-law?” Mark Rayburn asked. “Surely he’ll be involved in the pregnancy,
too.”
“Boone’s a funny guy.” It was the first note of uncertainty Alec had heard from the nurse. “He doesn’t show much excitement, considering how lucky he is to be having a baby that’s genetically his own. It’s probably because they’ve had a few ups and downs recently with their investment company. Men tend to have one-track minds, don’t they?”
“I’m sure he’ll warm up,” said pediatrician Samantha Forrest, who was married to Mark. “How are you feeling? Carrying a baby for another woman must be quite a challenge.”
Bailey patted her abdomen. “I’m glad I can repay Phyllis for all she’s done. She’s twelve years older than me and acted more like a mother than our real mom. Plus, she and Boone have already doubled my savings through investments. I should be able to start my courses to become a nurse practitioner as soon as I recover from the birth.”
“Good for you!” Mark broke off as, at the head table, someone rang a bell for attention.
The best man stood and raised his glass. “I’d like to say a few words about my brother.”
The groom stared at the ceiling. “Uh-oh. Here we go.”
“I promise not to mention what a holy terror you were as a child.”
“You just did.”
“Oops.”
Alec grinned. He didn’t know these men very well, but there was something endearing about their obvious rapport.
“All joking aside, it’s hard to believe that only three months ago, Leo was best man at my wedding.” Tony, who as hospital attorney had been helping Alec review construction contracts, beamed at the pretty woman sitting beside him. “My wife and I never expected to have another wedding in the family so soon, or to be welcoming a nephew.”
When he paused, a ripple ran through the room. “Are you telling us it’s a boy?” Samantha called.
“Oh, did I let something slip?” Tony teased.
Cheers rang out. The bride and groom, who’d obviously authorized this leak, smiled at each other and clasped hands on the table.
“I understand they’re planning to name him Socrates, is that right?” the best man went on.
“Einstein,” Leo corrected, while Nora poked him in the side.
Alec chuckled. How easily and naturally this family interacted. He tried to remember the toasts at his own wedding, but they’d long since faded. His best man had been a fellow PhD candidate with whom he hadn’t spoken since graduation.
“To a wonderful couple that I’m proud to call my family. To Leo and Nora!” Tony took a swallow of champagne, and everyone else followed suit, although it appeared Nora was drinking water, as was Bailey.
At the head table, Mike gave Patty a meaningful look. Alec could have sworn she mouthed the words, Do I have to? At his nod, she got to her feet and raised her glass. The room fell silent again.
“I better warn you guys that there are police officers present, including the groom, so if you’ve had more than a few glasses of this stuff, you better sleep it off before driving home,” she announced, and pretended to sit down. “Oh, I’m not finished?” She straightened. “Sorry about that.”
“Give ’em heck, Patty!” called a fellow with short hair and a trim mustache. Most likely one of the officers, Alec mused, and wondered what it had been like for Patty, serving with a bunch of macho men. She’d always liked guy stuff, so she’d probably loved every minute of it.
“The first time I met Nora, I pegged her the wrong way because she’s a lot prettier and blonder than I am,” Patty said. “And Leo had a bad track record with the ladies…. Oh, I’m not supposed to mention that. Well, she set me straight in the nicest way. I wish I could figure out how she does that. My goal in life is to be as a gracious as Nora, but still whip Leo’s butt at pool. Which I can do with one hand tied behind my back—if anybody’s interested, I’m giving two-to-one odds for the next match. I’m renting his old house with the pool table.”
“I’m in!” yelled the mustachioed guest, waving a five-dollar bill.
“Yo, George, don’t think you can back out of it, either,” Patty said.
Leo laughed and slipped an arm around his wife’s waist. “I look forward to teaching you a lesson. Again.”
“Here’s to the best partner a former cop ever had, and to his wonderful new partner in life. To Nora and Leo!” Patty declared.
There were cheers and champagne all around. Conversations hummed pleasantly. Alec was glad he’d come, and not only for professional reasons. He genuinely liked his new coworkers and their friends.
All the same, as Nora made the first cut in the cake, Alec hoped the reception would wind up quickly. He’d like to discuss the security issue with Patty privately.
While the caterer took over the task of cutting and plating the cake, a deejay invited everyone onto the dance floor. Alec asked Bailey to join him, and soon they were gyrating in a crowd of merrymakers.
Glancing over, he noted that Patty’s style of dancing involved bumping hips with her partner—Mike apparently didn’t dance, so she’d chosen George—while occasionally pumping her fists and shouting with glee. The energy level in the room swelled, and if her earlier dustup had left any soreness, she gave no sign.
“She was always such a whirlwind,” Bailey said when she and Alec retreated to their table, leaving Patty tearing up the floor with another fellow. “In high school, even the snobby girls were in awe. She wasn’t afraid of anyone or anything.”
“I doubt she worried about the snobby girls,” Alec mused. “She made up her own rules. It was great.”
“I felt like this complete dorky outsider until I met her. After that, I was still dorky, but not such an outsider.” With scarcely a pause, Bailey added, “Why’d you two break up?”
She asked the question so artlessly that Alec responded without thinking. “She brought out my rebellious side and it scared me. I’m not sure if I was trying to sabotage myself, but I got drunk the night before the SATs. It wasn’t her fault, it was mine. I realized I had to break it off because as long as I hung around her, I wasn’t sure what I might do next. I wanted my career, yet I had this crazy streak, too.”
“You broke up with her because you messed up one time?” Bailey demanded skeptically.
“There were other scrapes, too.” While he recalled them fondly, Alec had to admit he’d taken inexcusable risks. “One night we went skateboarding on campus, which was against the rules. The next day, we found out some other kids had spray-painted the gym that night and broken a couple of windows. If anyone had seen us, we might have taken the blame and been expelled. At the moment, we were just glad for our narrow escape, but later I saw how close I’d come to throwing away my future.”
The nurse sipped a cup of decaf. Around them, the table was empty, but a scattering of purses indicated their seatmates planned to return. “Patty said your parents made you drop her.”
“My first SAT scores were well below where they needed to be. My folks said if I didn’t land a scholarship, I’d have to borrow the difference between the total cost and what they’d saved for me. That would have meant tens of thousands of dollars in loans.” That conversation had been Alec’s first encounter with hard financial reality. He’d also had to confront the possibility that, if he didn’t bring up his scores, he might not be accepted to his first choice college.
“So your parents didn’t force you to break up?”
“I exaggerated,” he admitted. “I told her they refused to pay any of my tuition if I kept seeing her. I should have told the truth, that it was my decision, but I was too immature. Besides, I liked her so much, I was afraid I’d cave in and change my mind.”
“You guys seemed so grown-up, being two years older than me,” Bailey said. “It’s hard to remember that you were only seventeen.”
“I’d always been such a well-behaved, obedient kid, and being around Patty brought me this rush of freedom. Breaking the rules was exciting. I had to outgrow that stage, and I couldn’t do it with her.” He still felt guilty about lying, b
ut he didn’t see the point of coming clean now. “You won’t tell her, will you?”
“Of course not. That’s between you and her.” Kicking off her shoes, Bailey stretched her stockinged feet on a chair. “Feel free to go dance with someone else. I’m exhausted.”
Dance with someone else. Who else but…?
On the floor, guests had formed a circle around Patty and her latest partner. To a hard-driving beat, she was dancing with boundless energy, laughing and making cracks that set her audience to chuckling. What if Alec dived in there, tapped the other guy and took his place? What fun to cut loose and howl the way they used to.
In front of all these new colleagues, including the hospital administrator? I haven’t changed as much as I thought.
Alec could hardly expect them to take him seriously as a perfectionist in his labs and with his staff if they had an image stuck in their minds of him jumping around and screaming like a madman. Perhaps he was exaggerating the risk to his reputation, but then, he also represented Dr. Tartikoff.
It would have been fun, though.
The music ended amid a smattering of applause. “Well, folks, I’d love to stay, but I have it on good authority that the bride and groom are about to depart,” announced the deejay. “For all you singles, there’ll be the ritual tossing of the bouquet to determine who gets married next, so hurry out to the front steps to try your luck.”
Bailey grabbed her purse. “Might as well give it a shot. Not that I’m even remotely looking for love right now, but you never know. Come on, Alec, you’re single, too.”
“And happy to stay that way.” He could hardly refuse to accompany his date, though, so he went with her.
Outside, where a number of guests had assembled to observe, Alec descended the steps and took a position to one side, well out of danger of catching anything beyond a few dubious glances. Then Patty came out beside Mike.
“Feel free,” she told her boss. “I am not doing this.”
“You’re the maid of honor. It’s legally required,” he replied.
Falling for the Nanny Page 6