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and hot, and held it out to him.
“Coffee, as promised,” she said.
It smelled rich and delicious. He was willing to bet any amount of money that this coffee had definitely not emerged out of any of the vending machines located on the first floor. Or any of the other institute floors for that matter.
Tempted, he took a sip and savored the outstanding brew for a moment. “Where did you get this?”
Ramona gestured toward the machine. “I brought my own coffeemaker to work.” The machine, which first ground whole beans and then brewed the results, was sitting on a file cabinet that, when the last occupant worked out of this office, had housed countless piles of books and papers. “This way, I don’t have to drop everything to go find Starbucks.”
That sounded incredibly dedicated.
“I’m sure that when he hired you, my brother didn’t intend for you to be chained to your desk for hours at a time.”
Ramona didn’t respond to his statement. Instead, she seemed to be watching him intently as he paused to take another sip.
“So,” she asked, her voice a tad lower and more melodic, “is it the way you like it?”
Jarred, Paul blinked and stared at her. He must have heard wrong. “Excuse me?”
“The coffee.” She nodded at the container he held in his hand. “Is it the way you like it?”
“Oh.” For a minute, he thought she was asking him if he—
Unconsciously shaking his head, Paul banished the thought that had popped unwittingly into his head.
“You didn’t like it?” Ramona asked, trying to make sense out of the way he was reacting.
She looked disappointed. Was she that sensitive? Or was this all an act for some reason he couldn’t quite fathom yet?
“No. I mean yes, I did. And no, that wasn’t why I was shaking my head.” It felt as if his thoughts were all scrambled and it was only partially due to his waking up so abruptly. “I’m just trying to get the last of the cobwebs out of my brain.”
She smiled and indicated the container with her eyes. “If you finish the coffee, I think the cobwebs will self-destruct on their own. Oh.” She said the words as if she suddenly remembered something. Before he could ask if she had, she answered his question. “I brought pastries.” She flashed a grin and a little ray of sunshine entered the room. It was becoming a given. “In case you wanted something sweet to go along with your coffee.”
The sweet thing that he found himself wanting to go along with his coffee hadn’t come from any oven, but because he was hungry, he forced his thoughts to zero in on the practical.
Ramona was taking the box she’d brought out of the double drawer where she’d put it. Placing it on her desk, she took off the lid and pushed the box closer toward Paul. He took one small muffin and sat down in the chair facing her desk.
She took a seat, as well. “I’m guessing this sort of thing happens to you on a regular basis. Spending the night here,” she added when Armstrong looked at her quizzically.
She was right, but he had no idea where she’d gotten her conclusion from. He doubted that very many people here took note of the fact that sometimes his hours threaded themselves well into the night if the situation called for it.
“What makes you say that?” he wanted to know.
“Your clothes. You changed,” she pointed out when he looked down at what he was wearing. “You keep a change of clothing in your office or locker or whatever. That means you’ve slept in your office.”
He saw no harm in admitting to her that she’d deduced correctly. “It’s happened a few times,” he acknowledged.
Armstrong seemed almost modest. She prided herself on being able to spot a phony. Could he actually be the genuine article?
“You must be very dedicated,” she observed with what she felt was just the right touch of awe.
He didn’t know if he’d call it dedicated. He did feel a sense of responsibility toward the people who came to his father’s institute.
“The people who come here looking for help are desperate,” he told her without any fanfare. “We’re their last hope. You tend to feel responsible for them as well as to them. If I’m only available to them on a strict schedule or when it’s convenient for me, then I have no business working in medicine. Punching a time clock is for people who work on an assembly line. I’m in a different line of work,” he concluded quietly.
She studied him for a moment. “You do extraordinary things here, Paul. You help people conceive babies. Some would say that’s God’s line of work.” She smiled warmly, keeping her tone nonjudgmental. “I guess what I’m wondering is if you sometimes feel, well, godlike.” Her eyes raised to his and pressed innocently. “Well, do you?”
The whole idea was completely absurd.
“Never once,” he informed her firmly. Finishing the pastry, he wiped his fingers on the napkin she’d supplied and finished the last of his coffee, dusted off a crumb from his jacket and then looked at her. “Are you ready to take that tour of the institute now?”
She was on her feet immediately, closing the lid on the pastry box and abandoning her own coffee. She raised her face to his and told him, “I was born ready.”
Paul had no idea why he felt she wasn’t really referring to the tour, but was, instead, putting him on some kind of notice.
But he did.
A warmth, joining forces with anticipation, washed over him. He banked it down, but his pulse continued marking time at a heightened beat that only seemed to increase the closer he walked beside Ramona.
Chapter Seven
The tour through the institute lasted close to an hour. Because he was pressed for time, Paul moved quickly throughout the modern three-story building. Ramona kept pace with him and peppered him with questions every step of the way. Endless, probing questions.
If he didn’t know any better, Paul would have said that it felt as if he was under interrogation. He’d never encountered anyone who was so incredibly and relentlessly curious about the place in which she found herself employed.
He took her to see the various meeting rooms and then on to the boardroom. When they arrived, Ramona walked in before he could move on.
“My God, this is huge,” she breathed, looking around in awe. It felt as if her voice was echoing in the cavernous room.
It made him think of Alice when she first took stock of Wonderland. Ramona even had the long blond hair.
Where had that thought even come from? He shouldn’t be evaluating her looks—just her skills.
Ramona took it all in, moving around slowly. The room was wood paneled and had floor-to-ceiling windows. It was a sunny day and there were prisms of light bouncing off the walls and the very large, elegant oak conference table.
Paul watched, mesmerized despite himself, as Ramona spun around full circle beside the windows before turning to look at him.
“I think my apartment is smaller than this. Why do you need such a large conference room?” Before he could answer her, she made her own guess. “Is it to dwarf the egos that might be here?”
Being caught off guard by this woman was beginning to be an unfortunate habit. “What?”
“A room this large makes a person feel small,” she explained. “That might be handy in getting people to do what you want them to.”
“I have nothing to do with the size of this room,” he told her. “That was my father’s design.”
His