Page 24

Get a grip.

6

DANNY

My forearm throbs under the temporary bandage I’ve wrapped around it. Not as much as my dick throbs, though, as I cross the parking lot to the hospital’s ER. It’s been bitching at me for the past week – since the elevator – and now it’s happy as a fucking clam.

No. I didn’t deliberately cut myself just for an excuse to see Holly again. I can walk up a flight of steps and do that if I want. But I was thinking about her as I picked up the shards of glass off the floor behind the bar, instead of concentrating on what I was doing, and fell into the middle of the mess when someone from behind gave me an accidental nudge.

So I don’t have anyone else to blame.

It’s actually not that bad, despite the bar owner’s cold sweat over a potential lawsuit. It could probably do with a few stitches, but I’ve had worse. Normally, I wouldn’t bother anyone with it – just tape it up and leave it for a few days. But the universe just handed me a perfect excuse to bother Holly, and I take it with both hands, even if it is two in the morning.

It’s a relief to finally walk inside the hospital. The blizzard may have blown itself out days ago, but it’s still as cold as fuck.I haven’t missed the winters here, how the air stabs like icicles in my lungs. A blast of heat at the entrance doors welcomes me, and I unzip my parka with my good hand.

I follow the signs for triage, the antiseptic smell of the place enveloping me. It seems quiet to my untrained eye. It’s early hours of the morning, I suppose, but I figure the time of day doesn’t matter a whole lot in an ER.

I come to a desk, and there’s an efficient-looking black woman, mid-thirties, at a computer in a pair of scrubs. Her name tag tells me she’s Trisha. I smile at her, which is usually guaranteed to melt most women – Holly being the exception. This woman too, apparently, as she looks me up and down, obviously not impressed.

‘How can I help?’

I know instinctively that if I present my arm I’ll probably spend half the night in the chairs, so I keep my injury below the raised ledge of the desk. ‘I’d like to see Dr Vincent.’

I know she’s working tonight. She left just before me in her regular work clothes, her stethoscope hanging from her fingers.

‘And who might you be?’

‘Danny. Colton. I’m a neighbour. She’ll want to see me.’ That’s a lie. I have no idea whether she’ll see me or not, but I’m hoping she will. I hope she considers the hospital neutral ground for us. I hope she’s as desperate as I am for more than a glimpse.

‘Why don’t we let Dr Vincent be the judge of that?’ Trisha picks up a phone, her eyes firmly trained on me. ‘There’s a guy called Danny Colton, says he’s your neighbour, asking for you.’

The woman nods twice, then puts the phone back on the cradle. She tips her chin in the direction of some doors and says, ‘Go through.’

I smile at Trisha, who ignores me, but I barely register the snub as I start towards the doors. I push them as I get near enough, and they open into a large space with a centralworkstation lapped by a bunch of mostly empty gurneys parked in bays around the perimeter of the room. The lights are dim, and there’s not a lot of bustle going on here.

‘Danny?’

I turn to find Holly coming at me from a dark corridor. She’s in scrubs, her hair is pulled back in a low ponytail, and her stethoscope, which is slung around her neck now, swings a little against her tits as she strides closer.

It’s hot as fuck. She’s hot as fuck, all capable and confident.

In the elevator, she’d been in my domain, totally out of her depth. Here, the shoe is on the other foot. She’s the one in charge, she’s the boss, and my cock roars to life again. Not even her frowny face has an effect. She’s obviously annoyed at my presence, but goddamn if that’s not a turn on too.

She’s the perfect woman right now – sexy, pissed off, powerful. And I want inside those scrubs so fucking hard.

‘What do you want?’ she demands, her voice low and short, as she crosses her arms. ‘I have paperwork up to my eyeballs.’

‘Well, see…’ I lean in and lower my voice. ‘I have this dildo shoved up my ass, and I can’t seem to get it out, Doc.’

‘Danny.’

Her voice brooks no argument, and it’s like an electrical charge to my balls. I chuckle as I straighten, loving the flash of annoyance in her amber eyes.

‘I think this needs stitching.’ I drag my arm from behind my back. Some blood has seeped through the bandage.

The fact I seem to have a legitimate reason to be here does not improve her mood. ‘What did you do?’

‘Cut it on some glass.’