Page 59 of Ripple Effect

“I didn’t mean to startle you, Libs.” Cal’s deep voice sends ripples of awareness through me.

Relief flows through me. “Hey. I thought I’d have to wait. Didn’t you say they’d have to call you?”

He smirks and it makes me want to push him against a wall to lay my brand on him here where no one has ever seen it before. He holds out his left hand. The glint of gold beckons to me like nothing else other than the love in his eyes. “They did. From the gate. Let’s get you a badge, and then I’ll give you the tour.”

I take his hand. “Sounds wonderful.”

Cal tugs me toward him and brushes his lips against mine. “That’s you. This will be fun.” He turns and holds me close to his side, and we walk as one unit to the front desk. “Karl, this is my wife, Libby. She needs a visitor pass for today, but I know the Admiral has requested a long-term pass for her.”

“I received the request from Yarborough this morning, Cal. You know that takes seventy-two hours.”

“Not a problem. Libby, this is Karl. He handles all access into and out of the facility.”

I hold out a hand. “A pleasure, Karl.”

He smiles. “You as well, ma’am. Here’s your badge for today. As long as you’re escorted, you’re fine to go anywhere in the building except…”

Cal cuts him off. “I’ll give her the full rundown; there’s no need to go through everything.”

“You got it, Cal.” With a jaunty smile, Karl turns back to his computer.

Cal slips the red visitor badge over my head. “Remember what we talked about?”

“Yep.” I lift my new accessory. “This doesn’t come off until you take it off me.”

Behind us, Karl coughs hard. Cal just shakes his head. “Then, let’s go.” Cal takes my hand to lead me to a bank of elevators. There’s no up or down button, only a badge reader. He uses his own badge and taps it. “When you have your permanent visitor pass, you’ll be able to do this,” he tells me.

Okay, I knew Cal was into some high-tech toys, but this is ridiculous. But there’s a nagging thought riding through my head. “Cal? You work for an admiral? I thought you weren’t in the military anymore.”

“He’s retired, Libs. Still doesn’t mean the man didn’t earn his rank.”

“Right. Got it. So, will I meet him?” As the elevator is climbing, so are the numbers—five, six. We get off at seven, though I note there’s aR, likely leading to the roof.

Cal waits for me to step off the elevator before saying, “Where do you think we’re going to first? To say the man is still torqued with me for not receiving an invitation to our wedding is an understatement.”

“Oh, my goodness! You can’t drop that kind of news of me and expect me to handle this! I need days—mainly to kick your ass.”

Cal grins. “Libs, don’t worry. I told him it was mainly a family affair.”

I’m going to pass out right in the elevator lobby. “We had close to two hundred people there,” I retort.

“And if you think back to your nonna’s funeral, it was mostly family. Come on.” He tugs on my arm as I dig in my heels. “I promise, it’s going to be fine.”

“That’s what Josh said after we snuck out of the house for a Hootie concert,” I mutter. “I was grounded for six months.”

Cal bursts into laughter as we walk into an enormous office. The man behind the desk has close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair and is dressed in a suit that must have been tailored for his broad shoulders. “And of course, he’s every woman’s dream of what their men will age like,” I say to myself.

Or so I think.

The man bellows out a laugh and comes around his desk. “Rick Yarborough, US Navy retired.” He holds out his hand. “It’s an absolute pleasure to finally get to meet you.”

Now that he’s standing near me, I kind of want to curtsey. Instead, I take his hand in a firm grip. “A pleasure, Admiral.”

He wings a brow in Cal’s direction, who just shrugs. “Libby—may I call you Libby?”

“Of course,” I stammer. “Did I do something wrong?”Already, is what I want to add to that sentence.

“Now, why would you think that?