He took one step into the hallway but stopped. He didn’t glance back but his body language indicated he was torn between going or staying. She hoped he’d turn around and come back.
“Don’t leave.” He still didn’t move, as if he were waiting for a reply.
“I won’t,” she answered.
That’s when he slowly looked her way and his gaze found hers. “I’ll see you tomorrow. And Joy?”
Her heart hammered at that intense look.
“What?”
“Be here.”
It was an order. Pure and simple. She nodded. “I promise, Moon.”
He closed the door when he left. Her shoulders sagged as she released the tight grip on the bedding. It slipped away from her breasts. She glanced down and her fingers trembled a little as she traced the bite pattern he’d left there. The skin wasn’t broken but he’d definitely left another mark. It was sensitive but didn’t hurt.
“Damn,” she whispered.
She was madly in love with someone who might not be able to forgive her for the past. Just because he’d gone to bed with her after he’d become lucid didn’t mean he wanted a future with her. She wasn’t that naïve. Sometimes sex was only sex. The saving grace was that he wanted to see her again. It might be to tell her to go to hell but she’d have to wait until he came back to find out.
The sticky feeling between her thighs became more apparent. A shower was in order and food wouldn’t hurt either. She had a feeling that it was going to be a very long night. No way would she stop worrying about their next conversation until they had it.
She wrapped the blanket around her body when she stood, not sure if Moon had thought to lock the front door. The last thing she wanted was to walk down the hallway butt naked and run into Security, checking on her well-being.
No one stopped her as she fled the short distance to the master bedroom and locked the door. The blanket dropped at her feet and she headed toward the bathroom, debating whether to take a long bath instead.
A slight buzz sounded and she paused, glancing around. It came from her purse, where it rested on the nightstand. She changed direction and slid her fingers into the outside pocket, glancing at her phone as she checked the caller ID.
“Great. Just what I need.” She slid her thumb over the screen and jerked it to her ear. “Hello, Eric.” Her boss had left six messages already and he was probably pissed that she’d taken off without giving him notice despite the calm tone he’d used. He was pretty mellow but he did have a business to run. “I’m so sorry I haven’t returned your calls. I told you an emergency came up and I haven’t had any free time.” She remembered his last voicemail. “Things are a little better but I still need a few days.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” He hesitated. “We, um, have a serious problem.”
Dread hit. Was he going to fire her? It was a possibility. As much as she hoped things would work out with Moon, being fired was not an option. She didn’t want that on her work record.
“Someone broke into our offices a little while ago.”
That was the last thing she’d expected to hear. “Was anyone hurt?”
“No. It’s Susan’s birthday and we threw her a party at the burger joint down the street. Our entire wing was closed so no one was there when it happened.”
She cringed. The receptionist was a sweetheart. She made a mental note to call a florist as soon as they hung up to send a gift basket. She had the woman’s address stored in her phone.
“That’s horrible. Did they steal the computers?” There was a television in reception too but nothing else came to mind that a thief might target. “How did they get past hospital security or down the elevator without being caught?”
“They didn’t steal any electronics.”
“Let me guess. A junkie thought we store drugs up there?”
Eric hesitated again. “I need you to come down here immediately.”
“I can’t.”
His voice lowered. “You need to come in, Joy. Whoever they were, they broke into our file cabinets. We’re all going through them to see what is missing or has been tampered with but you’re the only one who can check your files. You could tell if any are missing or if anyone messed with them.”
“We keep session notes in there.”
“Exactly. Personal, confidential, very private information.”
“You think they were going for the files? Maybe they believed that’s where the drugs were stored. Someone high on drugs might have thought the cabinets were locked because they held narcotics.”
“I have three clients who have stalkers. One of them has a sexual addiction that could put his job at risk.” His voice lowered even more until she had to strain to hear him. “A few are having extramarital affairs. We’re liable if any sensitive information has been breached and we don’t warn them. What if it was someone’s stalker? What if they were looking for information to use to blackmail someone? Do you get where I’m going?”