The hair is mine.
The ladies love it.
“You really look like a fucking Viking now,” I muse, lifting my legs up onto the bed and reclining back. If I’m going to be here a while, I might as well make myself comfortable.
Cage gives me a smirk. “You’re just jealous of my manliness.”
I laugh at that and then wince. “Shut the fuck up.”
A few seconds later, the curtain pulls back and my heart stutters. Not from fear or anxiety, but from . . . attraction—pure, unadulterated attraction.
The woman standing at the foot of the bed staring at me has the most gorgeous brown eyes I’ve ever seen. They’re dark and intense, standing out against her pale skin.
She’s completely feminine without being overtly so. Her short hair gives her an edge I find alluring . . . I literally can’t take my eyes off her.
“Mr. . . . uh, Erickson,” she questions, eyes flitting from my brother to the chart and then up to me.
That’s when the creamy skin of her cheeks turns a light shade of pink.
Clearing her throat, she immediately looks back down at the paper. “I . . . I’m . . .” She stumbles over her words for a brief second before she straightens her spine and clears her throat, obviously gaining full composure before looking back up at me. “I’m Frankie.”
Her voice is a bit raspy and low for someone as small as she is. The majority of the population seems small in comparison to Cage, or even to me, but she’s maybe a smidge over five feet and couldn’t weigh more than a buck-twenty-five soaking wet.
“I’m Cage,” my brother says, rising from his seat to shake her hand. “This is my brother Gunnar.”
Apparently, I’ve forgotten my good manners and have been reduced to a heap of blood and bones, just staring at her, because Cage walks over and gives my leg a nudge.
“Uh, let me get you a gown. I’ll be right back.”
When she turns on her heel and pushes through the curtain, it flutters behind her in her haste. I look up at Cage, obviously appearing just as confused as I feel because he huffs out an incredulous laugh and runs a hand through his hair. “For fuck’s sake,” he mutters.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
But it’s obviously not nothing because he continues to smirk, shaking his head.
“Did I say something?”
Barking out another laugh, he turns to me. “No, dipshit. You didn’t say anything. Actually, I was wondering if perhaps the injury is worse than I thought and we should have your head examined.” He leans over the bed, putting himself right in my line of sight. “What’s my name? What day is it? How many fingers am I holding up?”
He flips me off and I swat it down.
“Here.” Frankie is back with a hospital gown that she tosses into my lap. “Put that on and let’s get a good look at what we’re dealing with.”
Glancing down to the gown I realize, for the first time, I’m not wearing a shirt.
So, that’s why she blushed. Mentally I give myself a fist bump. I’ve worked damn hard on this eight pack I tote around and I’m not ashamed of it or any other part of my body, for that matter. And this chick has elicited more of a visceral reaction out of me than any girl has in a long time, if ever, so I’m glad to know I have an effect on her as well.
Smirking down at the flimsy piece of fabric, I pick it up and set it at the end of the bed as I pull myself into a sitting position and toss my legs off the edge, bringing my body closer to hers and getting my first up-close encounter with Frankie.
Her scent is a bit sterile, like this hospital, but there’s also a hint of something citrusy under all of that. I’d love to go in for a closer inspection . . . right behind her ear, where her pulse point is—heart beating wildly, pumping blood to the surface—and inhale.
“Let’s just get to work,” I tell her with a wink, hoping my dick stays put and doesn’t make this even more uncomfortable than it already is . . . for her, of course.
“Lie back,” she snaps, her eyes darting up to mine. A new no-nonsense air floats around her, walls of steel firmly in place, as her gaze turns cold and aloof. “This is probably going to hurt.”
Have I mentioned I’m a perfectionist? When I get something—or someone—in my sights, I can’t stop until I reach the top.
Ace the test.
Make the grade.
Get the degree.
Graduate with honors.
Win all the rounds.
Be the best.
And in this case, get the girl.
** END SNEAK PEEK **
Beef Cake is Available Now!
Also by M.E. Carter
The Hart Series
Change of Hart
Hart to Heart
Matters of the Hart
The Texas Mutiny Series
Juked
Groupie
Goalie
Megged
Deflected
The #MyNewLife Series
Getting a Grip (Getting a Grip Duet, Part 1)
Balance Check (Getting a Grip Duet, Part 2)
Pride & Joie
Amazing Grayson
The Getting a Grip Duet: Complete Box Set (Includes Little Miss Perfect)
The Charitable Endeavors Series (co-authored with Andrea Johnston)
Switch Stance
Ear Candy
Model Behavior
Cipher Office Series through Smartypants Romance
Weight Expectations
Cutie and the Beast
Kissmas Eve
Other Books by Smartypants Romance
Green Valley Chronicles
The Donner Bakery Series
Baking Me Crazy by Karla Sorensen (#1)
Stud Muffin by Jiffy Kate (#2)
No Whisk, No Reward by Ellie Kay (#3)
Beef Cake by Jiffy Kate (#4)
Batter of Wits by Karla Sorensen (#5)
The Green Valley Library Series
Love in Due Time by L.B. Dunbar (#1)
Crime and Periodicals by Nora Everly (#2)
Prose Before Bros by Cathy Yardley (#3)
Shelf Awareness by Katie Ashley (#4)
Carpentry and Cocktails by Nora Everly (#5)
Love in Deed by L.B. Dunbar (#6)
Scorned Women’s Society Series
My Bare Lady by Piper Sheldon (#1)
The Treble with Men by Piper Sheldon (#2)
Park Ranger Series
Happy Trail by Daisy Prescott (#1)
Stranger Ranger by Daisy Prescott (#2)
The Leffersbee Series
Been There Done That by Hope Ellis (#1)
The Higher Learning Series
Upsy Daisy by Chelsie Edwards (#1)
Seduction in the City
Cipher Security Series
Code of Conduct by April White (#1)
Code of Honor by April White (#2)
Cipher Office Series
Weight Expectations by M.E. Carter (#1)
Sticking to the Script by Stella Weaver (#2)
Cutie and the Beast by M.E. Carter (#3)
Cutie and the Beast: A Roommates to Lovers Single Dad Romance (Cipher Office Book 3) Page 28