Page 67 of Yours to Keep

When it was just the two of us together, he wasn’t the same man he was at the hospital and this guy? I couldn’t resist him. More than that, I didn’t want to. I could keep fighting it. I knew that. No one had more willpower than me, and when I really set my mind to something, I stuck with it like white on rice, but this?

Deep down inside, I already knew that fighting would only be a waste of time. A waste I would sorely regret later when I finally decided to listen to my heart.

“Okay,” I said finally. “But if anyone finds out, I’ll deny it.”

His mouth curved. “Wow. No one has ever been ashamed of dating me before.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” I said. “This is about self-preservation, not shame.”

He chuckled, the sound vibrating in his chest under my cheek. “It’s a novelty, knowing that I’m going to be a dirty little secret, but I have to admit, it does make me want you more.”

I rolled my eyes, but my body betrayed me by relaxing further into his. “Of course, it does.”

“I’m fine with sneaking around,” he said. “It sounds exciting. This is going to be fun”

“Just to be clear,” I said, lifting myself up on one elbow so he had to look into my eyes as I said it. “At work, I don’t know you.”

His eyebrows lifted. “At all?”

“One flirty glance. One peck on the lips and I’m out.”

He made a show of considering it, rocking his head from one side to the other and chewing on the inside of his cheek. “Fine. I’ll behave.”

The glint in his eye ruined the promise completely, but instead of annoying me, it made me laugh. “Uh-huh. I don’t believe that for a second.”

“I’m serious, Bree,” he said, still sliding his hand up and down my back in slow, unhurried movements. “I’m properly motivated. I promise. I’ll be on my best behavior while we’re at work.”

The knot of tension in my chest loosened just a little. This didn’t solve the problem of what would happen when people eventually did find out, and this plan definitely wasn’t safe, but for the first time since leaving that hotel room days ago, I didn’t feel conflicted anymore.

This dangerous, hopeful feeling unfolding in my chest made the risk we were about to take worth it. Avoiding him these last few days, not speaking to him and not seeing him had grated against the core of my being. It had felt just plain wrong, but being back in his arms and talking about making it a regular thing felt right.

It felt good.

Honestly, maybe it even felt a little bit like it was meant to be.

CHAPTER 26

SULLIVAN

Afew days had gone by, and while I was technically at work, my thoughts were absolutely not. They were firmly stuck on Bree.

On the way her mouth twitched when she was trying not to smile. On the heat of her skin under my hands. On the fact that she was somewhere in this building with me at all times and I wasn’t allowed to touch her. I couldn’t look too long and I couldn’t even acknowledge her in public.

There was no dignified way to put it. It had me horny as a three-peckered billy goat.

Having her so near and so off-limits had my body staging a full-scale rebellion. My brain would be reviewing budgets or fielding an email from legal, and suddenly, I’d be imagining dragging her into an empty patient room and showing her exactly how much I missed her.

My dick was practically salivating at the thought, which was how I’d ended up in the cafeteria. I never ate down here. Ever. It was too loud and filled with too many people who had too many opinions, but I’d caught sight of her through the glass when I was walking past, wearing her scrubs with her hair pulled back, laughing with another nurse.

Suddenly, I’d needed a coffee and a pastry like my life depended on it.

So I sat there with a mug I didn’t need and a croissant I barely touched, watching her from across the room like I had zero self-respect. Frankly, right now, I didn’t have any. I wanted her so damn badly, it was all I could focus on.

She was sitting at one of the long tables, her posture relaxed as she talked to the other nurses. Every so often, she’d push her tray away and lean forward with her elbows on the table, her eyes bright as they locked on whoever she was talking to.

I knew that look now. It meant she was fully engaged in the conversation and I was desperate to have it aimed at me instead. Actually, I was just desperate. Period.

I didn’t know what it was about all this that had me feeling this way, but it was like the forced distance had turned me into a stalker. A really horny one. Bree Bennett had become something of an obsession to me, and when I got my hands on her again, I was going to make her feel every ounce of the frustration coursing through me right now.