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soon as possible.”
    “I’m sorry about this.” He felt like an ass, but the waitress appeared to take his credit card and a second brought a light wrap that James helped Lauren into. “I can use the GPS in the car.”
    “Pfft. GPS. I grew up in Plano. I know exactly where the Fillmore is….” She hesitated, as though taken aback by a thought. “Unless I would be intruding.”
    “Not at all. I just don’t know how long it will take and it’s a patient. I need to find out what’s going on.”
    “Then I’ll go with you and I’ll wait. We can find breakfast somewhere.”
    He didn’t know what to say to that. He definitely didn’t want to say goodnight, but without a better idea of what had gone down with Matt, he didn’t want to leave her hanging either.
    “Tell you what, Marine. You owe me the rest of the night, but I am assuming you’re the kind of man who’ll let me choose how we spend it.”
    “Absolutely, ma’am.” His eyes crinkled at the crisp notes her voice adopted.
    “Then I want to spend it helping this patient of yours, and I expect you to accommodate me.” The combination of glitz, glamour, and gritty reality gave him his first true glimpse of the kind of woman she was, not just the woman she played in one of her movies. Combining the tough, no nonsense demand with the artless, charming dinner companion and he found it easy to nod.
    He really didn’t want the night to end.
    He signed the credit card slip and added a generous tip to the waitress’ gratuity. Lauren’s hand rested in the crook of his arm as they ascended the red velvet steps and exited into the cool September evening.
    At the valet stand, he hesitated. She’d driven herself, but she plucked his valet ticket from his fingers. “You can bring me back or I can get a cab…just remember, you’ll have me at your mercy and I’m relying on you.”
    The grin fighting past his concern won out and he nodded slowly. “You are in good hands and I will do everything in my power to live up to your trust.”
    Her luminescent blue eyes warmed his soul. “I have every faith in you.”
    He barely noticed the valet taking the slip or returning with his car. Taking care to settle her in the SUV, he slipped the young lady a twenty for bringing the vehicle so fast and paused for a heartbeat to fight the urge to fist pump.
    Lauren sat in his car.
    She wanted to spend time with him.
    What an amazing woman.
    “Seatbelt on?” He firmed his grip on self-control and slid into the driver’s seat.
    The drive to the Fillmore took less than the fifteen minutes she’d advised, but her expert directions didn’t allow for a single wrong turn. Three black and white Plano police chargers were angled in the mostly empty parking lot, red and blue lights flashing. He spotted Damon first, talking to one police officer, and searched the stray pools of light for a sign of Matt. The younger man sat on a curb next to his car.
    His dented-hood, headlight-smashed car.
    “I’ll be right back.” James gave her knee a quick squeeze and slid out, pulling his Mike’s Place ID out of his wallet.
    “Sorry, Doc.” Damon abandoned the police officer to meet him with a hard handshake. “We just came out for a couple of burgers and beers. It was going fine and then it just wasn’t.”
    “What happened, exactly?”
    “You’re the doctor?” The officer followed a pace behind Damon, the nameplate pinned to his blue uniform reading Atkins.
    “Psychologist.” James held out his credentials. “Mr. McCall is one of my patients. What is he being charged with?”
    “At the moment, nothing. It’s his own car that he damaged and no one is hurt. He settled down some when we got here, but we weren’t comfortable letting him drive.” The officer looked over the identification briefly before handing it back. He palmed a standard issue flashlight and shone it at the car.
    “A brawl started inside, he wasn’t a part of it, but apparently they plowed into him. He put