He studied the photo and returned it. “Follow me, please.”
Since my territory was within the city, I was used to the protocol of high-rise buildings, providing identification and sometimes filling out paperwork—a much different process from the nurses who worked in the suburbs and just had to ring someone’s doorbell.
I assumed he was going to lead me to the bank of elevators to the left, but we walked right by them and down a short hallway, a single elevator sitting at the end.
He hit the button next to it, and as the door slid open, he moved to the side to let me in. “I’ll see you when you come down, Ms. Wren.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
The door closed, and I pulled out my phone to check the patient’s file, something I still hadn’t done. But as the elevator climbed, my service got worse—a common theme in elevators in this city. Since theapp wouldn’t open, I returned my phone to the pocket of my scrubs and focused on the monitor, the digital screen showing each floor that I passed. There were only two buttons on the control panel: “L” and “PH.” So I had no idea what floor the penthouse was on, but I figured I had to be getting close.
I was right. Within a few seconds, the door slid open.
But I didn’t step out.
Because a man was standing only inches away on the opposite side, a distance that caught me off guard, his stare moving right through me, especially as I took in his face.
His handsomeness.
Features that were shockingly familiar.
“Ms. Wren, I’m glad you’re here.” His tone was a little frantic. “Follow me—”
“Gavin?”
He was mid-turn and halted at the sound of his name. “Yes.” His eyes narrowed, closing in around the deepest blue irises. Eyes just as stunning as his son’s, proving Gavin’s smile wasn’t the only thing Ben had inherited. “Do I know you?”
I could tell he was raking through his memory, trying to answer that question on his own.
“No. I know you. Well, I don’t reallyknowyou, know you. But I know you through Maya, your brother’s girlfriend. It’s ... oh God, a long story.”
What the hell am I saying?
Do I sound like some NFL groupie who thinks I know him because I follow him online?
That worry quickly faded as the realization of why I was here hit me hard. Dr. Kaplan was a pediatrician. If I had been called to Gavin’s house, that meant ...
“What’s wrong with Ben? Is he okay?”
He pointed over his shoulder. “He’s in the living room. Come with me.”
Once I stepped out and saw that I was in Gavin’s foyer, the location of the elevator at the end of the private hallway suddenly made sense. I followed behind him as he led me deeper into the condo, doing everything I could to keep my eyes on his back.
But I was failing.
Miserably.
My stare focused on one thing and one thing only.
His ass in those gray sweatpants.
Holy mother, it was perfection.
“I’m not sure how much Dr. Kaplan told you,” Gavin said, my gaze rising as he peered at me over his shoulder, “but I tried taking Ben to the ER, and he wouldn’t have it. I tried to get it out, and he wouldn’t let me touch it. Tonight has been fucking hell.”
Get it out?
Now I wished I’d prepped myself and dug into Ben’s file in the Uber.
