by Anne, Melody
“We all have scars,” he told her. He could think of at least four on him right off the bat. The worst was when he’d fallen off the roof nearly giving his mother a heart attack and ending up in a leg cast for six weeks, which he’d thought was pretty awesome since he’d been smothered in attention.
He might be a plastic surgeon, but the beauty of his job was there was nothing he wasn’t capable of fixing. That didn’t mean everything needed to be fixed, though. As he looked at Patsy he realized again there wasn’t a single thing about her he’d change. Not one.
“Mine’s in a place that sucks,” she told him with defiance.
“So what?” he said. He was utterly confused where this conversation was going.
“I don’t get naked with people,” she huffed. “I know you think this is going somewhere. I’ll admit I find you attractive, but I’m not going to sleep with you, so you need to move on.”
Her arms folded across her chest in a protective gesture. He couldn’t stand not to touch her anymore. He reached out, and she flinched slightly as he cupped her cheek. She tried pulling away from him, but his fingers tightened. She was pulling away from him because she was afraid he’d find her ugly. That was unacceptable.
“You’re stunning, Patsy. And something you might want to think about is the fact that looks aren’t all that matter. There’s so much more to you than a beautiful face and body. Your eyes shine with your thoughts, and the sound of your voice is enough to bring any man to his knees. I’ve wanted you from the moment I set eyes on you, and that feeling has only grown. If you honestly think I’d be turned off by a scar or ten scars, you should get to know me because I think I’m worth knowing, and I would never see anything wrong with someone I care about,” he told her.
He was a little horrified at his honesty, but he didn’t want to take the words back. He wasn’t so foolish as to think he was in love with this woman after only knowing her for a few weeks, but he’d definitely say he couldn’t get her off his mind—he had to know her better.
He had no doubt she was just as fascinated by him. What did the two of them have to lose in getting to know each other, possibly learning how to trust another person? Yes, Kyle trusted his family implicitly, but he’d never trusted a woman. He’d only seen them as having one purpose. Maybe he would’ve seen Patsy that way too had they fallen into bed together on that first day.
But since he’d been forced to chase her, he’d been watching her the entire time. If she disappeared from his life, he’d miss her, he’d hunt her down. He wasn’t in any way ready to stop whatever it was that was happening between the two of them. And the longer this dance went on, the less it frightened him.
“You’re making it really difficult for me to keep my distance from you,” she admitted, and his euphoria soared within him.
Eeyore earned his name as he’d lost interest in the conversation and was napping right beside them, his head on his paws. Kyle was sure an earthquake could hit and the dog wouldn’t stir.
He couldn’t stand not to touch Patsy for a second longer, not when she was looking so vulnerable and lost. They were in the middle of a running trail where anyone could pass by, and he still didn’t care.
Kyle normally kept public displays of affection to a minimum, preferring to not even kiss a woman in public, let alone touch her, but he didn’t care around Patsy. He couldn’t stand not having her in his arms any longer.
She let out a surprised gasp but didn’t fight him as he sat down and pulled her legs over his, straddling her across his lap. She panted in his arms as he drew his lips closer to hers.
“This should’ve happened long ago,” he told her.
With no more warning he closed the distance between them, gripped the back of her head, and locked his mouth with hers. She gasped at the zap of electricity between them, opening her lips for him to slide his tongue inside.
Heat exploded through him, and there was no hiding the evidence of how turned on he was as he pulled her more tightly against him, her legs straddled across his thighs. She felt exactly how he’d expected in his arms.
The heat was something he hadn’t expected, though. He was on fire. As her tongue tentatively tangled with his, he knew he was on the verge of losing complete control. He never lost control—but with this woman he could fall to his knees if he wasn’t careful.
She was everything he hadn’t known he was looking for, and he felt as if he’d perish if she pushed him away. He was vaguely aware of where they were and of how heated their kiss was getting.
His hands traveled up and down her smooth back as she grew more comfortable with the kiss, her fingers sliding up his arms until they were tangled in his hair, her tongue growing greedier as their mouths crashed together in a symphony of pleasure.
He needed more. He wanted more. He had to have more!
He was losing control as he pulled her tightly to him. His hand shot down the curve of her ass, and he gripped her tight while pushing upward, rubbing his arousal against her hot core. It would be so easy to rip their clothes away and sink into pure heaven.
He began sliding his fingers into the top of her elastic waistband when they heard voices. His head was in a fog; it took several long seconds before he knew their little haven was about to be intruded upon. With an agonized moan, he pulled back and nearly came undone when Patsy whimpered her disapproval.
“We’re about to have company,” he told her.
Her glazed eyes looked at him, lust and satisfaction residing in their expressive depths. She trembled on his lap, and he thought again about dragging her into the bushes.
But as soon as he had the thought, two runners passed them, whistling before going by. They were alone again. He thought about resuming where they’d left off, but as he turned back to Patsy he saw a different awareness flash into her eyes.
She was horrified. She scrambled from his lap, and he let her. She was definitely on shaky knees as she stood, but his weren’t much steadier.
Eeyore looked up with bored eyes as if deciding if he wanted to rise at all.
“Come on, Eeyore, it’s time to go home,” Patsy said in a trembling voice.
“We can talk more at my place,” he offered.
She looked at him with horror.
“Um . . . no. I think that’s as much talking as I can handle for the night,” she told him.
He smiled at her. Though his body was on fire, he didn’t regret a single moment of the night. It had been perfect. He definitely needed a cold shower, but that was worth the kiss.
Patsy had a fire raging inside of her, and she needed the right man to set it free to burn as wildly as it wanted to. He was more than willing to step up to the job.
“I . . . um . . . I better get back. I’ll see you at work . . . later,” she said, her words halting in her muddled brain.
“I’ll walk with you,” he told her.
“I’m good on my own. Finish your run,” she said.
“Not a chance, Patsy,” he told her.
She huffed, but she didn’t argue as they slowly made their way back to the apartment building. He didn’t want their time together to end. But even if they went their separate ways tonight, he knew they were just beginning.
That would be how he got through the night. That would be how he could be patient. She’d be his . . . and it wouldn’t be that much longer.
Chapter Fourteen
The tap, tap, tapping wouldn’t leave her dream. Patsy twisted in her bed, but still the knocking persisted. Finally, her eyes opened and she looked over at her clock and groaned. It was four AM, and she hadn’t gotten to sleep until at least two.
Her roommate was gone, and she had no other choice but to get up when she finally figured out the knocking wasn’t in her dream but at her front door. Who in the world would be so rude as to knock on her door in the middle of the night?
She should’ve checked, but fury was making her reckless. She threw open the door, not caring that she was in a short nighty and her hair was all over the place. She blinked several times when she realized it was Kyle, looking far too good for the middle of the night.
He didn’t say a word as he took his time looking at her from the souls of her feet to the top of her hair and back down again. Her eyes narrowed even more.
“What in the world do you need at this hour?” she asked, hating how her body warmed at his approving gaze.
“I want you,” he told her in a low voice that had her stomach trembling, her nipples tightening, and her body turning molten hot. She opened her mouth like a fish out of water, but no words escaped.
He smiled slow and easy, and she was tempted to grab the front of his shirt and drag him inside her place. This man was far too dangerous to be living so close to her. She might be able to resist him at the hospital, just barely, but if he kept showing up at her apartment in the middle of the night she was a goner.
“As much as I want to pursue the invitation in your eyes, that has to come later,” he told her, making her even more confused. “We’ve been called into the hospital.”
“What?” She couldn’t keep up with him. She hadn’t gotten much sleep, she excused in her own head.
“There’s a patient, and I’ve been called in. You want to learn, right?” he asked.
“Yes, yes, of course,” she said, coming fully awake. This was about her job. Her job mattered to her.
“All right. As delicious as you look as you are, you might want to put on more clothes,” he told her when she didn’t move.
Patsy didn’t say anything, just turned and walked away from him, leaving her door open as she moved to her bedroom. It took a few more seconds to clear her head before she grabbed her scrubs and went to the bathroom and threw her hair on top of her head, took a one-minute shower, then dressed. She was back in the living room in under ten minutes.
Kyle didn’t say anything as he walked out of the apartment beside her, waited while she locked it up, then placed his hand on the small of her back as they quickly moved down the staircase.
Being next to him was confusing Patsy in a way she didn’t remember feeling before. It seemed everything about this man caused unwanted emotions to filter through her. She hated it, yet strove for it at the same time. It was completely odd for her, someone who’d always had it so together.
Kyle led her to his car and the moment they were locked inside she thought it might have been wiser to take a cab. His scent was intoxicating, and the more she was around this man, the more she realized she was going to do something she’d regret.
She tried to move as close to the door as possible, and he turned and looked at her with a wink and a smile as if he could read her mind. She stared back at him, defiance in her eyes.
But her frustration drained at the raw desire in his expression. She couldn’t remember a man ever looking at her like that before. Yes, men hit on her, and yes, she’d flirted before. But this couldn’t be called harmless flirting.
This was raw and so intensely real she couldn’t explain it. Why was she fighting it? Maybe because she was a fool, or maybe she’d remember all the reasons later. But either way, she wouldn’t be so dang confused anymore.
It wasn’t a long drive to the hospital, but she was a total mess by the time they arrived. Neither of them had spoken the entire time. The second she stepped into those sterile walls, she cast aside her worries. There was a patient and they always came first.
As if Kyle felt the same about the hospital as she did, his demeanor changed as well. He was professional as he told her to scrub up and meet him in the OR. Patsy went into the changing room and suited up then met Kyle in the scrub room where they stood side by side, taking their time cleaning up for the surgery.
This was mechanical. It calmed her. This was exactly what she needed, even if she was right next to the man who’d rocked her world only a few short hours before.
Nope. She pushed that train of thought right out of her head as soon as she had it.
“Are you ready to shine?” Kyle asked as he held up his hands.
“Or fail. You might have picked the wrong person,” she warned him.
He smiled at her, his expression full of confidence. This was why he was such a sought after surgeon. This was why he could go anywhere he wanted. He knew what to do, and he knew he was the best at it.
“I don’t ever choose wrong,” he said. She had no doubt there was a double meaning to his words. A shudder wracked through her as she followed him into the operating room.
She was either going to shine today or fall on her ass. And Patsy didn’t like to fail, so option two wasn’t acceptable. She’d show them what she had. A confident smile filled her expression.
She was where she loved to be, and she was with the person she wanted to be with, whether she admitted it or not.
Chapter Fifteen
Kyle might be putting on a hell of a face but that kiss with Patsy had done things to him he hadn’t known could be done. She was so damn beautiful, but there was so much more to her than that.
She’d intrigued him from the moment he’d met her in the park, and his desire for her had only grown over time. The two of them were heading toward an inevitable conclusion, and for once in his life Kyle didn’t want to run from it.
As he waited by the table, he took a moment to study the way she walked with confidence, the way her eyes took in everything about their patient. She was going to make a hell of a doctor, and that was only one part of her. The longer this went on, the more he was going to lose himself in her. Kyle didn’t realize he was so completely absorbed in her until his scrub nurse’s words came through his muddied brain.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
Kyle shook the cobwebs from his brain. This was no place to get lost. He had to be one hundred percent on his game in this room. It was unacceptable to be anything other than that. In this room he didn’t matter—only his patient did.
No everything wasn’t okay. But he assured himself he’d make it that way soon. He’d get over his utter absorption with the woman once he bedded her. He knew once would never be enough, but at least his hormones would be tamed enough to think of other things besides her twenty-four/seven.
Or so he hoped.
“I’m good. Let’s get started,” Kyle told the nurse who nodded but seemed a bit unsure. Kyle really needed to pull it together before the staff started talking.
Patsy moved across from him and looked eager, her own turbulent thoughts cast aside as she also became a professional.
“Where do you want me?” she asked.
He took a calming breath at her choice of words. His body wasn’t in the best of shape right now and that was dangerous. He had to push thoughts of exactly where he wanted her from his head.
“Right where you are,” he told her. “Let’s begin.”
Two hours into the surgery Kyle’s desire was certainly tamed as his admiration for Patsy increased. He hadn’t performed a surgery with her yet, and that was a shame. She was talented, with an eye for detail, and a demeanor that made other staff members give her their respect and admiration.
Her hands were steady, and her voice was calm. She didn’t have too much pride to ask questions, but she had the knowledge and skill to not need to do it too often. She was going to excel at her job the longer she did it, and he was proud to be one of her teachers, proud to have her across an operating table from him.
When all that was left were some final stitches, Kyle stepped back from the table. “Are you okay to finish, Dr. Lander?”
She didn’t look away from their patient as her steady hand inserted another stitch. “Yes, thank you,” she said. Her lips turned up.
Only an attending surgeon confident in his resident would leave them on their
own, even at this stage in the procedure. They both knew that, and she was proud of herself. He was glad to be a part of helping her grow.
“Good. I’ll talk to you when you’re finished,” he said as he moved away, taking off his gloves and gown as he left the room.
Kyle showered and changed then did his paperwork quickly before heading to the lobby to wait for her. He knew Patsy would try to sneak away and talk to him later. It was nearly noon and both of them had been up for close to two days straight with minimal rest. But they were going to the same place, and he hoped the same bed.
Just as he’d thought, he saw her walking toward the exit doors, glancing behind her as if she carried a victory of getting away from him. He smiled from his place near a large column. He waited until she was exiting the door to step beside her.
“Ready to go home?” he asked.
She whipped around to see him, her eyes wide, her luscious lips parted. Damn she was a beautiful woman, especially with flushed cheeks and sleepy eyes.
“I wasn’t expecting a ride home,” she told him. He could see the wheels turning in her head to see how she could get out of getting back into a vehicle with him. He wasn’t having it.
“Of course I’ll take you home. I brought you here,” he told her.
Just as he had when they’d left the apartment, he placed his hand on her back and led her to his car. He felt a slight shudder pass through her, and his body, which had calmed during surgery, instantly hardened again. He wanted this woman, and knowing she wanted him too made him even hungrier.
They began the drive home, both of them tired, but not in a sleepy kind of way. Sleep wouldn’t come easy to either of them with the way their bodies stirred. It was because of both the surgery and their desire. They’d had a successful procedure, now they needed to have a romp in his bed, and then they’d both sleep like babies. Scratch that, babies didn’t sleep at all. They’d sleep like exhausted puppies.
They were pulling into the apartment complex when her stomach let out a loud growl that had him laughing and her cheeks flushing. He now had an excuse to get her into his place.
