“No, I don’t. I’m sorry that wasn’t very nice of me to say those things.” She held out her hand towards him. “Forgive me?”
He took her hand and gave it a brief shake. “There’s nothing to forgive.”
“Thank you.”
An awkward silence fell around them. She knew she was to blame for it and so she needed to fix it. She still wanted to know if he only became a doctor because of his father.
“Can I ask you another question?”
“Sure.”
“Do you regret becoming a doctor?”
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, giving it the sexy, just-out-of-bed look. “No, I love it. “
“Really? It sounded like it wasn’t your first choice in vocation and you were forced into being a doctor.”
“Well yes, my father always pushed for me to go into medicine. I was reluctant, at first, because of what people would think and expect of me. But after my first year in med school, I was shocked to find I really enjoyed it. There’s a definite rush to know your knowledge can save so many lives.” He shook his head ruefully. “Sometimes I wish I didn’t love it as much as I do, though. Feels like my father got the last word. Again.”
Lisa couldn’t imagine what it would’ve been like to have that sort of expectation on her shoulders. Her parents were middle-class citizens, who worked hard for their kids and were rewarded when they all got into university and completed their courses. Her two brothers were on their way to making a name for themselves in the property development market and she was now a nurse.
Her parents’ expectations had been for her and her brothers to try their best and whatever the outcome or whatever career path they chose to follow, they would always have their parents unconditional love and support.
Did Noah have that with his father? Or was his father’s love conditional on him being a doctor and, eventually, a surgeon?
“I’m sure he doesn’t think that way.”
“Of course he does, my dad wants me to be a surgeon, but I like the excitement and buzz of the ER. I’m still in his bad books for not doing a surgical residency. But he’ll get over it.” He shrugged. “I’m his only son; eventually he’ll realize I’m right.”
They both laughed, and Lisa looked at Noah with new eyes. Perhaps he really wasn’t a bad guy after all.
“Seeing as we’re sharing our deep, dark secrets, can I ask you something else?”
Her stomach leapt up her throat before quickly falling again. For some reason his request set her nerve endings on high alert.
“Umm sure.”
Noah leaned a little closer to her, invading her personal space. “Well…” His voice dropped an octave lower, and the sexy tone feathered down her spine, melting her resolve to remain impartial to him even further. “I was going to ask why a beautiful girl like you doesn’t have a date on Valentine’s Day.”
Chapter Three
Lisa swiveled so that she could look directly at Noah. The movement brought her almost nose-to-nose with him.
Her mouth dried. She’d always noticed what green eyes he had. Up close, they almost glowed, even in the dull elevator lighting. His nose was straight and patrician, and his lips were full and only inches from hers. She had always thought he was handsome, but this close, he was really breathtaking.
And she had to be dreaming to think he would be interested in her: a newly graduated nurse from a middle-class family, when he no doubt had his pick of the daughters of society’s finest all clamoring to date him.
Lisa turned her gaze back to the scratched metal doors. He’d called her beautiful too. Had he seen the freckles covering her nose? The nose she’d broken courtesy of another field hockey injury. It was after that she finally gave away the sport. She’d spent more time injured than playing.
“Are you okay, Lisa?”
“What?” She gave herself a mental shake. “Sorry! Yes, I’m fine, and no, I don’t have a date because I’m not seeing anyone.”
Oh God, that was the last thing she wanted him to know. “Well what about you,” she asked in a desperate measure to get the conversation off of her single status. “Why don’t you have date? I’m sure you’ve got a parade of women knocking on your door, wanting to go out with you?”
His face screwed up in a grimace, as if the very thought of dating someone on Valentine’s Day was worse than getting puked all over by a drunk.
“I take it you’re not a fan of the Hallmark holiday?”
“I don’t mind Valentine’s Day, but let’s just say it was easier to say yes to a night shift than having to sit through my mother’s infamous ‘Valentine’s Day Speed-Dating Extravaganza’ at the sailing club.”
Lisa burst out laughing; she couldn’t help it. “Speed-Dating Extravaganza? Are you kidding me?”
He gave a small shrug of his shoulders. “It’s for charity. I love my mum but this year, I just couldn’t tolerate sitting for two hours while girls fought over wanting to date a doctor and other, really nice suitable guys, sat shooting daggers at me.”
Lisa clucked her tongue, faux-sympathetically. “Oh, poor Noah! It’s tough being the handsome doctor everyone dreams about m—.”
A sudden jolt to the elevator car had her swallowing the rest of her words and grabbing onto Noah’s strong forearm. The muscles beneath her hand shuddered and tensed. For a few minutes, she’d forgotten how difficult being cooped up in here was for him.
“Oh God, I wish they’d hurry up,” he muttered beside her.
Lisa checked her watch and saw that they’d been stuck for only half an hour. She certainly wasn’t going to let Noah know that. It would be the last thing he’d want to hear.
“I’m sure it won’t be long.” She needed to keep him talking. Talking kept him distracted. “So tell me, how many speed-dating events have you been to, and have there been any great romances to come out of any of them?”
“I don’t want to talk about speed dating or anything else,” he muttered as he started tapping his foot again.
Damn she’d been doing so well at keeping his mind off being stuck in the elevator. If he didn’t want to talk, she would have to think of some other way to distract him. “Do you want to thumb wrestle?”
His foot stopped moving. “I’m sorry? What did you say?”
She chuckled, she’d gotten his mind off his fear, perhaps only for a moment but she’d done it. “I said, do you want to thumb wrestle?”
“Why would I want to do that?”
“Well you don’t want to talk and I don’t want to sit here in silence, so what do you say,” she turned and rose up so that she was kneeling, her hand held out in a half-closed fist with her thumb sticking up in the air. It looked liked he wasn’t going to accept her offer. “Or maybe you’re too scared to thumb wrestle because you know I’m going to whip your butt.”
She got the exact response she wanted. He turned and linked his fingers with her. Her nerve endings sizzled and she was almost sure she could hear them popping, like the fizzing of soda when it was poured into a glass.
“So, how does this work,” he asked, his voice shook slightly; letting her know he still wasn’t comfortable with the situation. “Best of three rounds?”
“Sure. We start on three, two, one. Go!” Lisa twisted her thumb around trying to get into a position so she could squish Noah’s thumb. He moved his thumb quickly out of the way. The tussled for a few moments, she almost had him too. She started laughing when his thumb squashed hers.
“Victory!” He shouted. “Ready for round two?” He finished off with a wink.
Lisa couldn’t believe the guy sitting on the ground next to her was the same guy who, just last week, was annoying her to the point of frustration. Perhaps she’d misjudged him. Perhaps his over-confidence was all a show he put on because people expected it of him due to who his father was.
She wondered what would happen when they were finally freed from their tin can prison. Would he treat her any differently? She knew she woul
d. Being in close confines with Noah, she’d seen him with new eyes and all her pre-conceived ideas and biases towards him had changed. How did he feel about her? Would he even be interested in getting to know her better like she wanted to get to know him better? She wasn’t the daughter of a society doyenne. She was a first-year nurse who was more comfortable at the recreation center than the sailing club.
“Don’t tell me I scared you into submission with only one round?”
Noah’s question pulled her out of her internal thoughts.
She gave herself a mental shake to get her head back in the game. She’d beaten her brothers in thumb wrestling; she could beat Noah.
“No way, get ready to go down. I gave you that one cause I felt sorry for you.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes it is. Now are you ready?”
A glint entered Noah’s eyes and Lisa wondered what he was about to do next.
“Sure am,” he replied. With one tug of their co-joined hands she fell forward against him. The momentum was enough to push Noah down from his sitting position so that his back was on the floor and she was lying over him.
Lisa hoped the maintenance crew didn’t get the elevator working anytime soon.
Chapter Four
Lisa knew she should get up. Well, the sensible part of her knew that. But the romantic part of her—the part that yearned for someone to sweep her off her feet—encouraged her to stay right where she was.
“Noah?” She whispered his name. Their hands were still clasped together, pressed in between their bodies. His heartbeat was pounding rhythmically under her fingers.
He reached up with his free hand and cupped the back of her head. “How about we do this instead?”
With the gentlest of touches, he lowered her head until their lips touched. She was unprepared for the red-hot energy that ripped through her. It was like her lips had touched a live wire. She freed her hand from in between their bodies and cupped the sides of his face, opening her mouth so that their tongues could dance a sensual dance.
The longer they kissed the more apparent it became that Noah was enjoying it just as much as she was. His body was coming to life and she could feel him hardening and lengthening against her belly.
Lisa had never felt anything like this before. They shouldn’t be doing this. The maintenance crew could be finalizing their repairs, and the elevator could start up any minute now and this brief, out of time, interlude would be all over.
But she didn’t want to think about that. All she wanted was to feel more of Noah’s warm skin under her fingertips. She moved her hands from his face and travelled down his sides. His hands were doing the same; they’d roamed from her head to her waist and his fingers slipped under the edge of her top.
She needed to breathe so she pulled her mouth away from his, laying her cheek against his. Her breath was coming in short gasps and his matched. The tendrils of her hair lifted with each puff of air coming from Noah. This time she knew his shortness of breath wasn’t from his claustrophobia.
“I don’t think we should be doing this,” she whispered against his cheek. His spicy, musky scent was enveloping her, and she needed to taste more of him.
“This is the best idea I’ve had since the elevator stopped,” he moved his lips in a sensuous line down her neck. She angled her head to give him better access, moaning when he nipped her soft flesh. “I only got into the damn thing because I knew you were in it. I always take the stairs.”
He got into the elevator because of her? That didn’t make sense.
“You take the stairs because of your issues with confined spaces?” She struggled to get the words out as his lips continued to create havoc on her senses. Soon she wouldn’t even be able to recite her own name.
“Yes,” he sighed against the sensitive hollow where her neck met the top of her shoulder.
“Then why did you do it?”
“To spend time with you.”
He didn’t give her an opportunity to question him anymore. He rolled her under him and it was her turn to sigh in pleasure at being enveloped by him. With a quick movement, he yanked his shirt off. Lisa moaned when she saw how ripped he was. She’d seen him leave work in his jogging gear before (his butt had always looked so sexy in his running shorts) and wondered what he would look like without his clothes on.
Now she knew.
Lisa ran her fingers over his hard, muscled torso. His skin was hot and smooth and he only had a light sprinkling of hair on his chest. She reached the waistband of his pants and traced the edge, then slowly ran her finger down his long length. He groaned under her touch.
She’d never felt so bold or forward in any of the relationships she’d had before. Whether it was because they were stuck, she didn’t know. All she knew was that the thought of having sex with Noah in a grungy old elevator was becoming the top thing on today’s to-do list. Which was absolutely crazy considering at the beginning of the shift she hadn’t even really liked him, or did she? Had she disliked him only because she was attracted to him and hadn’t wanted to be like the other nurses falling all over themselves to get his attention?
It didn’t matter; for once in her life she was going to go with the moment and not think about the consequences.
Empowered by her thoughts, she moved her hands back to his chest and gave him a little push, so she could sit up and pull her top off. Good thing she’d decided to wear her new lingerie set this morning. Normally she went practical under her scrubs, but today, being Valentine’s Day, she’d wanted to feel a little sexy. Maybe Cupid had struck her with a mini-arrow today. Or maybe Cupid was still pulling the strings and her and Noah being caught in the elevator was all part of his master plan.
“You are so beautiful,” Noah murmured, as his hands reached out and cupped her breasts. His finger followed the scalloped edging of the lace cup, and her nipple peaked beneath his gentle exploration. His finger continued following the lacy path until his hand disappeared behind her back. With a quick, flick her bra was undone. Lisa slipped the straps off and let the satin and lace confection fall from her fingertips to the floor.
Noah gathered her up in his arms as his lips took possession of hers again. Hunger evident in every movement of his lips over hers, he lowered her down once more. Excitement filled Lisa and pooled at the juncture between her thighs. She wanted his fingers and his mouth on her, bringing a release that she knew would be out of this world.
Noah trailed his lips from hers to her jawline, before kissing a path down her neck until he reached her breasts. He placed a soft kiss on each one before taking a nipple into his mouth.
Lisa couldn’t hold back the moan that had been building inside of her since he’d first touched her. Her hands went to the back of his head, holding him there. With his free hand, he slipped questing fingers beneath her scrub pants and found her matching lace panties.
Noah stopped lavishing attention on her breast and lifted his gaze to hers. Desire had turned his bright green eyes dark and mysterious. “Do you always wear lingerie under your scrubs?”
She laughed and shook her head. “Today was the first time.”
“Then today is my lucky day.”
He shifted to her left breast, sucking her into his mouth as his fingers slipped beneath the lace trim of her panties. Lisa lifted her hips, eager for his touch, groaning with a mixture of pleasure and relief as his fingers slipped between her warm, wet folds.
As his fingers stroked her, his tongue laved her nipple. Her desire swelled and grew with every stroke of his fingers and tongue. Lisa knew she was going to orgasm at any second, but she wanted him inside of her first. She wanted to feel him totally possess her in a way only a man could do.
Her hands went to his pants, scrabbling to free his hot, hard length. She had almost succeeded when Noah increased the pace of his stroking fingers, and all thoughts of getting his pants off disintegrated as she flew apart under him.
“Noah!” she called out as her body throbbed
with release. If his fingers could work that kind of magic, she couldn’t wait to find out what his cock could do. “I want you inside of me.” She sighed against his lips as he placed a soft kiss on hers.
“I do too, but… I don’t have any protection with me.”
His words surprised her. She thought for sure Noah would be prepared for anything. But even though they couldn’t fully make love, she could definitely give him a good time too. It seemed only fair.
“Oh well, I guess I’d better think of something else then,” she teased as she gripped his length through his pants.
“I’m all for equal opportunities.” Noah’s hands went to loosen the tie on his scrub pants. Her hands joined his and together they loosened his pants, but the angle was awkward with him on top of her. Lisa turned her shoulders and gave him a shove so she was once again lying on top of him. He smiled up at her and her heart skipped a beat.
Her hand went to the elastic waistband. She slowly pulled the soft material down, grazing the back of her hand against his hard length.
“Hi there, we’ve fixed the issue and we’ll have the elevator moving again in a couple of minutes.”
The voice boomed loudly in their quiet little chamber, and Lisa jumped. Her eyes flew to Noah’s.
“Shit,” she said as she scrambled back and reached for her bra. “Oh my God, what if they hadn’t given us a warning? I could’ve been going down on you and the doors could’ve opened!” If that had happened, she would have probably never lived it down. She would always be known as that girl who was caught giving Dr. Collins head when they were stuck in an elevator. No one would respect her as a nurse, and every time she got into an elevator some other jerk would probably make a crack about wanting it to get stuck. Or worse.
To her annoyance, Noah chuckled as he casually re-tied his pants. “Now that’s a sight I would love to see. But I’m not so sure about the maintenance crew.”
Lovers Unmasked: The Complete Series Page 56