I need to get myself together, and then I need to do this already.
I’ll put my big girl panties on. So what if he turns me down? I can take it. It isn’t a big deal.
Only, it is because I want him to say yes. I really want him to agree.
The thing is, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him. Not since seeing him again.
I have never been one to back down from a challenge, and Flint, whether he knows it yet or not, is now a challenge.
I glance down at myself. I’m in my usual work suit. My favorite one with the little jacket. The skirt comes to around mid-thigh, and yet it’s professional. A good balance of sexy and sophisticated, and I wore it today with this in mind, so best I get my ass in there.
I check the time on my watch. I’m on lunch break and only have forty minutes before I need to be back at the hospital.
I take one last look in the mirror. My makeup is light. Just mascara and a touch of concealer. I don’t want him thinking I went full glam to come over here, because that would be mortifying. But at the last second, I reach into my bag and pull out my pink-tinted lip gloss, which I swipe across my bottom lip. My hair is up in a ponytail, and I have pearl earrings in my ears.
I look cute, even though I’m not trying too hard.
I rub my lips together and get out of the car before I can change my mind again.
The lobby of Draig Security is cool, with marble floors and a reception desk staffed by a woman who smiles at me the second I walk in. There’s a security guard near the doors, and another one by the elevators, and a low hum of activity I can feel in my bones. People are moving about. Phones ring in the background. Somebody is on a radio in a back room.
I walk up to the desk and try to look like I belong.
“Hi,” I say. “I’m here to see Flint, please.”
The receptionist taps something into her computer. “Do you have an appointment?”
“No. Sorry. I was hoping I could just have a quick word with him. I’m from Draig Hospital.”
Perhaps if they think I’m here on official business I’ll have more of a chance.
She gives me a polite once-over. “May I have your name?”
“Carla Price.”
She types something else, then picks up the phone and murmurs into it. I catch the word hospital and my name, and then she hangs up and gives me a smile.
“Take the elevator to the third floor. His PA will meet you.”
“Thank you.”
I walk to the elevator and head up to the third floor into utter chaos. People are moving fast, all of them in fatigues, leather uniforms, or suits. Phones are ringing on every desk. Someone shouts from down a hallway.
A woman with dark hair waves me over to her desk.
I go over there.
“Hi, I’m Jess. You must be Carla?” She smiles as I arrive. It’s a little tight.
“Yes, hi.”
To the side of us, there are easily a dozen people clustered around a large screen, talking over each other.
“I’m afraid Flint isn’t here at the moment,” Jess says. “Would you like to wait? He’s due to arrive within the next half an hour. Is it serious?”
Crap!
I need to leave before then if I hope to make it back to work on time.
