Page 22 of Save Me

Maybe they had no drama, but he doubted Andie and the bartender shared the passion and chemistry he had with her. This afternoon was proof their connection was still as potent as it ever was.

“You gonna nut up and sweep her off her feet this time?”

Trey did have a way with words. “Yes.”

“Thought so when you showed up. Don’t fuck it up this time.”

Eric was tempted to laugh. “I had no idea you were so invested in Andie’s happiness.”

That had to be it. He and Trey weren’t close.

“She’s a good kid,” Trey said philosophically. “This town doesn’t do happy-ever-after for real very often. I’d like to see one happen for her. It’s not like she wasn’t preparing for one. The only missing ingredient was you coming back here.”

Eric frowned. “What do you mean she was preparing?”

“You do know what Andie got her degree in right?”

Eric shrugged. “Hotel management or something? She was applying to a couple of different programs when I left. I never found out where she ended up.”

Trey was genuinely amused now—a rare grin lighting his face. “She’s a PA. Or she will be once she lands a job.”

“A personal assistant?” Did people get degrees for that? He’d always thought it was something people fell into, but maybe an Associate degree in business would help.

The other man shook his head. “Nope. The other kind. A physician’s assistant. Just like in the TV show about the concierge doctor. I think she was getting ready to work for you—once you got off your sorry ass and came back for her that is.”

Eric’s head snapped up. It felt as if someone had just hit him with a brick. Then he exhaled in a whoosh. “That is literally the best news I have ever heard!”

Andie had chosen a career that would enable her to work at his side. And he needed a PA at this very moment!

Was it a simple coincidence? Had Andie liked the idea of helping a doctor in the field or was it as Trey described? Had she devoted two years of her life to a field of study in the hopes of someday working close to him?

It took rigorous study to become a PA. Holding down a full-time job on top of that must have taken discipline and strength of will.

I can’t let her lose it.

A drug charge, even the suspicion of association with illegal drugs, would complicate all her future job prospects.All of her work would be flushed down the drain. They had to find out who planted those drugs in her locker and permanently clear her from this cloud of suspicion.

“Can I help you monitor the cameras?” he asked, feeling pressed to do something.

“I am on the live feed. Mike took the backlog of the normal security feeds to the company apartment. He’s hoping someone slipped up in the past.”

“Must be like a needle in a haystack.”

Trey humphed. “Worse. It’s a needle in a stack of sweaty writhing bodies, some of whom bring their own needles in with them. Catching an actual deal going down is going to be hard when the cameras have captured plenty of recreational drug use over time. It’s the kind of normal shit that happens in clubs. Viva Las Vegas and all that shit.”

“So I just sit and wait?”

Trey shrugged. “You want me to comp you some drinks?”

“Hell, no.”

Calen would have let a drink or two pass. It was a club after all. But staying away from the poker tables required vigilance. Eric couldn’t afford to deliberately weaken his will-power.

“Then I guess you sit and wait,” Trey said, giving him the side-eye.

Trying to hide his frustration, he sat on the couch, taking out his laptop. He pulled out the financial prospectus for his new company, but couldn’t focus on it.

It would be too late to go see Andie after he was done here and he didn’t have her new number. He’d given her his before he left the police station, but had been too flustered to ask for hers. Dammit, that had been stupid.

“Could you stop doing that?”

“Doing what?” he asked, belatedly realizing he was tapping the keyboard rather loudly. “Oh, sorry.”

Trey smirked and reached over to the desk phone. “I’m calling Suzie. She’s a nurse who does the weekend shift here. Once she gets here, you can go.”

He sighed in relief. “Thanks, Trey,” he said, his whole body relaxing.

For the next half-hour he counted the minutes until the nurse came to relieve him. Then he was out the door like he’d been shot out of a cannon.

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