The word now dropped like a stone in her gut.

Lily’s spine stiffened in her chair. She glanced at Kella, who was standing nearby pretending to sort through some files but very much eavesdropping. Her colleague's curious eyes flicked up briefly before pretending not to care.

“I have a patient in ten,” Lily said, her voice steadier than she felt.

Richie stepped in and closed the door behind him without asking. Click.

Her breath hitched.

“Please,” he said more softly this time. “Just five minutes.”

She stared at him at the man who had been nothing more than a memory until last night. A hazy, tequila-tinted blur of whispered names...