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As I navigated the clumps of guests who laughed and talked, I noticed a single figure standing off to my right in my peripheral vision. He stood out because he wasn’t talking. He wasn’tvisiting with other business owners or even sitting and quietly scrolling on his phone. He simply stood there, hands in his khaki pockets and dark eyes fastened on Ruth and me as we made our way through the ballroom. As soon as I raked my eyes over him, he turned away and walked toward the exits.

Discomfited, I tugged Ruth closer to me and pulled us around the back of a large grouping of older guests to get out of his line of sight. I wasn’t sure what he’d been looking at, but I’d make damn sure he didn’t do it again without a direct confrontation from me. It was possible he had been just as enamored with Ruth as I was—she was impossible to miss. I glanced down at her, and her silver-blue eyes arced up and over, taking in the chandeliers above and the guests with silent watchfulness.

He had definitely been ogling her. Ruth looked like someone from a storybook. With her gentle curls framing her features, and her gauzy dress fluttering around her legs, she looked like Wendy from Peter Pan, dreamy and wide-eyed in silent fascination. And truth be told, I wished I could steal her away to Neverland and keep her all to myself. I didn’t know what fairytale land Ruth had dropped from, or where she’d been my entire lonely adult life, but I knew that I couldn’t let her go now that I had her. The stars themselves had written our match, and I wasn’t going to deny the cosmos.

We approached Laura at her table, and as soon as she saw us, her features lit up with interest. As she stood, I said, “Hey, Laura. This is Dr. Ruth Coldwell, and Ruth, this is Dr. Reynolds.She’s the one receiving the award tonight.”

“Hi Dr. Reynolds,” Ruth said and took the hand that Laura had held out to her. “It’s lovely to meet you. Cal told me all about what you did for your center.”

“Well,” Laura smiled, bopping a look to me briefly before looking at Ruth again. “I can’t deny, he’s spoken of little else but you recently, too. It’s wonderful to finally meet you.”

“Oh,” Ruth said, and that pink on her neck crept up to her cheeks.

“This is my husband, Jacob.” Laura motioned to a tall, hefty man who looked more like a linebacker than the systems analyst I actually knew him to be.

His glasses looked far too small on his meaty face, but his smile was soft and genuine as he waved. “Nice to see you, Callum. Hi, Ruth.”

“Glad you could both make it,” Laura said, and for the first time, I detected a hint of breathless anxiety in her voice. Laura didn’t like public speaking or even large events. She often joked that she’d had four kids so she’d have an excuse to stay home from social situations like this one.

“We got here first,” Michael pointed out with a drawl. He was seated at the same table, and Annie next to him. Neither of them had dates, I noticed, but they looked content enough with half-eaten breadsticks on their plates and drinks from the bar in front of them.

“I’m very impressed,” I said deadpan.

Annie stood, and her glittering, red dress matched herpersonality to a fault. She held out a hand to Ruth. “Hi, I’m Annie. You must be the matchmaker turned date, right?”

“I guess I am.” Ruth’s voice went rubber on rubber squeaky.

“Amazing.” Annie shook her head. “You’re way too pretty for him.” She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Did he blackmail you?”

Ruth laughed nervously. “Uh, not… technically.”

“Hey now,” I cautioned.

But Michael cackled as he shook Ruth’s hand as well. “I’m Michael. Blink twice if you need help, Ruth. We’ll save you from Dr. Suave.”

“You’re both fired,” I said.

They laughed, and Ruth chuckled along with them. “And here, I thought Cal was the charming type who wins over his co-workers.”

“I am the charming type,” I muttered, putting a hand on the small of her back and leading her to a chair at our round table. “I’m also the pushover type, and these two take advantage. Incessantly.”

Annie flashed a pair of straight, white teeth before sitting down again with Michael. “It’s true. We’re terrible to him.”

“There was this one time we made a big deal out of our necks cramping—” Michael started.

“—and wewhinedabout it for days because we could tell it was getting on Cal’s nerves,” Annie joined in.

“Here we go,” I grumbled under my breath.

“And we honestly just thought we were teasing him,”Michael continued, his features animated and voice hovering over laughter. “But Cal is such a softie, he bought us all heated neck pillows—”

“—with certificates for chiro appointments,” Annie finished. She gave me a cheeky grin. “Sucha good pushover.”

Ruth laughed softly, and her gaze swung from Annie and Michael to me. Her gray eyes softened a touch as she took in my chagrined expression. “I have also found him to be exceptionally kind. I wouldn’t say he’s a pushover, though.” Her eyes twinkled at that, and I knew she was thinking about our exchanges in the bedroom. And the car. And hopefully, anywhere else she would let me.

“True,” Laura chimed in, refilling her water glass. Around us, the other attendees were finding their seats, and the chatter fell to a low hum. “He’s not actually a pushover. He stands up for his patients.”

“Okay, yes,” Annie acceded. “We’re teasing. He’s pretty great all around.”