by Tina Beckett
Brad’s jaw tightened further. Definitely no hair-twirling going on when she spoke to him. But there was a whole lot of guilt in her eyes.
What the hell was she playing at?
Before he could say anything further, Cade rapped his knuckles lightly on the desk, making Chloe jump. “Well, now that we’ve become a little better acquainted, I’ll let you get back to it. I have a few patients to see. I’ll talk to you later.”
With a brusque nod in Brad’s direction he headed for the elevators across from the nurses’ station.
“So?” His attention went back to Chloe.
“Can we please talk about this later?”
His brows went up. “If I knew what the hell ‘this’ was, I’d feel a whole lot better.”
“It’s nothing. I just don’t know how to …” She shook her head and looked away.
Sliding his fingers under her chin, he coaxed her gaze back to his. “You don’t know how to what?”
She licked her lips. “Flirt.”
The word was so low he wasn’t sure he’d heard it correctly. “I’m sorry, did you say flirt?”
The word set his teeth on edge. And sent his thoughts racing.
Tugging from his grip, she wrapped her arms around her waist, eyes flashing. “I know it must seem stupid to you, but it was one of the reasons …”
One of the other nurses came to the station and settled into a chair, smiling at both of them, obviously unaware of the tense undercurrents.
But at least that angry bubbling sensation inside Brad’s chest had eased. Chloe wasn’t really interested in Cade. At least, he didn’t think she was.
“When does your shift end?”
Ginny, the other nurse, spoke up. “I’ve been trying to get her to leave for the last half-hour.”
“You’re already off duty?”
“I feel funny just … leaving.”
The pause before “leaving” was telling. She didn’t want anyone to know where she was staying. Kind of hard since the address she’d given to Human Resources was his. For the second time in a week he wondered if housing Chloe was a good idea. But he was already committed to this course, and Jason was counting on him.
Tread carefully, bud. If she wanted to keep their living arrangements secret, then he’d better honor that decision.
“I have one other patient to see, and then I’m off as well.”
Chloe nodded. “I’ll see you later, then.”
“Sounds good.”
Walking away from the station, he tried to get his head screwed back on straight. But it was tough, because Chloe and Cade weren’t his only worries right now. Katrina hadn’t quite dropped out of the picture, like he’d hoped she would. She’d not only called and spoken to Chloe, she’d left an angry message on his voice mail. She’d also stopped in at the hospital and had been none too pleased—according to Ginny—to find they’d already replaced her.
It reaffirmed his decision to keep personal and business relationships in two separate compartments. Which made things with Chloe even more complicated. Because the contents of those particular compartments were oozing from minuscule cracks, mingling with each other.
Unlike Katrina, who’d begun on the business end of the spectrum and moved over to the personal, Chloe was the opposite. And if he wasn’t careful he’d mess things up not only with her but with her whole family. That was the last thing he wanted to do. He cared about the Jenkins clan. And he and Jason went even further back.
They were the one steady thing in his life. The only relationship he hadn’t somehow screwed up.
Yet.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY?”
Chloe checked Melanie Roberts’s IV drip. About six months pregnant, with pink cheeks and a glowing complexion, she seemed the picture of health. Looks could be deceiving, though, because hidden deep within her there’d been a serious problem that had needed to be fixed.
Just like Chloe.
With Melanie’s unborn baby afflicted with spina bifida, Cade had been forced to operate on her a few days ago and all had gone well, according to reports. She’d need to stay in the hospital for a few more days to make sure she didn’t go into premature labor, and then she’d have to continue on meds to keep her uterus from reacting to the trauma of surgery. Bed rest for the next couple of months. But so far so good. Although they wouldn’t know for sure until after she delivered, the baby’s prognosis for a normal life was excellent.
Melanie glanced at the IV. “Are you sure the pain medication isn’t going to hurt the baby?”
Putting her hand on the woman’s shoulder, she gave her a smile. “I’m sure your doctor is being extremely careful. Have you seen him today?”
“Dr. Coleman came in to check on me. And my regular obstetrician is supposed to come by this afternoon.”
Chloe busied herself with fluffing pillows and tucking blankets to hide the warmth in her cheeks as Cade’s name was mentioned. She’d thought Brad would burst a blood vessel when he’d seen her at the desk yesterday with the surgeon. It had been then that she’d realized that instead of charming Cade with her attempts at flirting she’d been making a fool of herself. Again. When Brad had got her to confess, his brows had drawn together. She’d thought he was going to say something more, but then Ginny had come back to the nurses’ station and conversation had fizzled before dying completely.
He’d met her after work, but instead of riding home on his motorcycle he’d put her in a cab and said he’d see her at the apartment. He hadn’t. Because as soon as she’d arrived, she’d gone straight to the guest room. Brad hadn’t knocked on the door, although she’d known he’d arrived as well. A half-hour later, though, she’d heard the front door open and close. He’d gone out and stayed out until the wee hours of the morning.
Had he been with the nurse who’d called her the other day? It was none of her business if he had. Still, a tiny bloom of hurt had come to life.
She forced her attention back to her patient. “Did you ask Dr. Coleman about your medication?”
“He said it was fine, that the baby shouldn’t be affected. It’s just that …” she twisted the blankets “… it’s just been such a shock. I took the prenatal vitamins just like I was told to. Weren’t they supposed to prevent this?”
“Sometimes these things happen, no matter what you do.”
Like her impending divorce? If she’d tried harder, done more of what she knew Travis liked in bed, could she have prevented him from getting it elsewhere?
That had been the problem. She had tried. But being coerced to perform had meant she had never been given the chance to try new things of her own free will. To give to him spontaneously from a heart full of love. Instead, his overtures had been more like a boss issuing orders: No, not there … here. Harder. Keep going. There had been no cuddling, no slow build-up of passion. It had been all or nothing with Travis. And even when she’d given it her all, she’d gotten little or nothing in return.
She shook herself out of the memories as she finished up with the patient and went back into the hallway. She was free of that now. Free of treating sex like a duty that she dreaded. Which was why she’d been shocked at the tingling she’d felt sitting behind Brad on the bike. You’d think she’d never respond to another man again. Especially not this soon.
Maybe it was just her hormones urging her to procreate. But she’d never felt the need to have kids with Travis. And he’d never pressed that issue either. Another thing to be glad of.
But she did want children eventually, which meant, unless she wanted to embark on that particular journey alone, she’d have to wade into the dating pool again, the sooner the better.
Only this time she wasn’t committing until she was sure she wasn’t going to wind right back up where she’d been for the last six years. She wanted someone she shared common ground with. Maybe even someone in the medical field.
Brad’s image came to mind, and she pushed it back down. No. He
wasn’t a better choice than Travis had been. He skipped from woman to woman without a care in the world. Only where Travis had merely broken her pride, if she was honest with herself, Brad could break something much deeper.
No, she needed someone steady and even-tempered. Someone who wasn’t cocky or arrogant. Someone who didn’t spin out on his motorcycle and nearly kill himself.
Someone … She wrinkled her nose when the word “boring” twirled around in her skull, dancing out of reach every time she tried to grab it and kick it to the curb.
Cade wasn’t boring. But he also wasn’t someone she could see herself being seriously interested in. It had been fun to try to kid around with him, at least until Brad had made her feel like an idiot.
Why did he even care?
The elevator doors swished open and the man himself exited. Her legs tensed, ready to pivot and hurry away in the other direction. Then their eyes met and it was too late. He made his way over to her.
“How’s your day going?”
“Pretty well. I just finished checking on Melanie Roberts. She asked whether the pain meds could affect the baby.”
“Did you ask Dr. Coleman about it?”
Strange, the way he always referred to the surgeon by his last name. Almost as if he didn’t like the man. “I haven’t seen him today. But if I do, I will.” She bit her lip. “Would you mind talking to her in the meantime? I think it would put her mind at ease.”
“Sure.” He glanced at the nurses’ desk and then back at her.
“Did you stay in last night?”
She decided to play dumb, as if she hadn’t noticed he’d stayed out half the night. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Did you eat dinner?”
Jerking her eyes away from his, she lifted her chin. “I did. I went out.”
She had technically gone round the corner to grab a burger, but she knew her words could be easily misconstrued. Knew she’d phrased them that way on purpose. But something about the way he’d left her alone had stung, and she was desperate for him not to find out how much. He hadn’t been home, so there’s no way he’d know she’d eaten by herself. Just like she had in the later stages of her marriage.
“Oh?” His fingers scrubbed the side of his jaw. “Have a good time?”
“I did.” She decided to do a little probing of her own. “How about you? Do anything interesting?”
“Not really. Took a ride. Saw the city lights.”
Sure he had. She noticed he didn’t mention whether he’d taken that ride alone or not. “I’m sure they were pretty.” She could only hope the sarcastic edge she’d given her words had been lost on him.
“They were. I’d have invited you to come along, but I know my bike makes you nervous. Didn’t think I should push my luck by asking you to do it again.”
Was that why he’d sent her home in a cab? He thought she was chicken? She was, but not for the reasons he thought.
“I think you might be surprised.”
One of his brows went up. The left one. Why had Chloe never noticed those permanent little lines above it that came from repeating the gesture over the years?
“So you’ve decided you like motorcycles now?”
Definitely not. But she’d felt safe tucked up against his back. Among other things. But that was something she was never going to admit.
“Let’s just say it was tolerable.”
“Just what every man wants to hear.”
The smile that had started to form on her lips slunk away. No, it probably wasn’t what men wanted to hear. Even if it was true.
She had to remind herself that Brad wasn’t Travis. “Sorry.”
“I think you’d like it better if we weren’t in traffic. Riding down an open highway is like nothing in this world.” He reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear, the way he’d done when she’d been a teenager—after he’d tugged it playfully, that was. Heat swept over her. Her body hadn’t forgotten the sensation, even if her mind had. His fingers scraped deliciously across her cheek as they withdrew, only to pause before retracing their steps.
He murmured, “I’ll have to take you some time.”
“Take me?” Chloe swallowed, her insides tightening in response to his touch.
“On my bike.”
Her face went red hot. Oh, Lord. Why was she suddenly ascribing all kinds of motives to his words?
Because she could still remember what it was like to have her arms around his waist, hear his low, gruff voice piped directly in her ear, feel the vibrations from the engine rumbling through her entire body …
Yeah, she’d be up for that again, despite all her lectures to herself to the contrary. “I’d like that.”
“Would you?” Was it her imagination or had his eyes darkened? “How about one day this weekend?”
“I work Saturday, but I’m off on Sunday.” She couldn’t believe she was actually considering going. A thought hit her. “You weren’t thinking of going home to Connecticut, were you?” That was the last place she wanted to be right now.
“No. I was thinking about heading upstate and spending the day.”
“At your parents’ house?” The last she’d heard, they’d moved away to somewhere in New York State. The relationship between him and his parents had always been strained, to say the least, but maybe that had changed over the years.
His hand dropped back to his side. “No.”
That one word told her the way nothing else could that she’d been wrong. Brad’s feelings towards them hadn’t changed. Although from what Jason had told her about them, she couldn’t blame him.
“So what’s upstate, then?”
“Nothing. It’s just not the city.” He paused for a minute. “It feels good to get away sometimes.”
That was surprising as well. Not that he needed to get away but that he wanted her to go with him. She was sure he had plenty of women clamoring for the chance to be his traveling companion. Yet he’d chosen her.
She gave an internal eye roll. This was getting ridiculous.
First you think he’s saying he wants to have sex with you on his bike—which is probably physically impossible. Then you delude yourself into thinking he wants to spend time with you in a romantic setting. Grow up, Chloe!
He was only offering to take her because he had to. He felt responsible for her, the way he had as a teenager when he’d made sure she’d got home safely. Just what she wanted. To be a burden.
She sighed. “You don’t have to take care of me, you know. I’ve lived a lot of years on my own.”
“And you shouldn’t have. Travis should have …” His voice trailed away. “Let’s just say I want to show you what you’ve been missing.”
Her mind took off running in another dangerous direction. What she’d been missing?
As if realizing how his words had come across, he clarified, “I was talking about New York.”
“Oh.” She seemed to deflate all at once. Of course he’d been talking about the state itself. What else would he have been talking about? Sex? Again?
She needed to realize once and for all that Brad didn’t see her that way. And it was unlikely that would ever change.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“I WANT YOU to be careful around Dr. Coleman.”
Reclining on a blanket in the park, half-asleep in the warmth of the sun, Chloe wasn’t sure she’d heard Brad correctly. She half sat up, resting her weight on her elbows. “I beg your pardon?”
“You talked about learning how to … flirt.” It seemed like he’d had to push that word out between clenched teeth. “He’s not the man to try that with.”
A quick flutter of something went through her, similar to the one she’d felt on the trip over. Brad had been right. Riding through the countryside on his motorcycle had been nothing like riding in city traffic. It had been exhilarating.
“And why is that?”
He lifted his wineglass to his lips and observed her for a second. “I don’t want to s
ee you get hurt again. And I think he’s capable of doing just that.”
Chloe disagreed, but didn’t say anything. “So who would be a safer choice? You?”
“No.”
The abrupt word took her aback. “Really? Why not?” The words were out before she could stop them. Did she really want to know the answer?
“I don’t flirt.”
Wow. “Ever?”
“Not the harmless stuff you’re talking about. When I’m interested in a woman, she knows it. And she knows exactly where I want it to lead.”
A shiver went over her as she pictured those mirrors in his room. She assumed he wasn’t talking about marriage.
What would it be like to have a man like Brad put the moves on her? The closest she’d ever gotten had been at her wedding. And she’d just about convinced herself that those events had been fabricated by an overactive imagination. “So you can’t be friendly with a woman unless you plan on sleeping with her?”
“‘Can’t’ is not the word I’d choose.” Brad set his empty wineglass next to the box of food. “Let’s just say I’m not interested in wasting time playing games.”
Playing games? Stung, she snapped, “Forget I said anything. I think I’ll take my chances with Cade.”
He dragged a hand through his hair. “Dammit, Chloe. Haven’t you heard a thing I’ve said?”
“Yes. I heard you say you don’t flirt, so I’m back to where I started.”
His eyes narrowed. “You want to play games? Fine. Tell me what you have in mind.”
In all honesty, she wanted to know why she wasn’t worth his time. Did she want to wind up in bed with him—which was what he’d implied would happen if he showed his interest? No. But just for once she wanted to know what it would be like to have someone as dangerous as Brad pursue her with the intention of capturing her.
She shrugged. “I just don’t want to make a fool out of myself, that’s all.”
“With Coleman?”
“With anyone.”
“Okay, you’ve got a captive audience. So give it your best shot.”
“Right now?”