Page 5 of One Night Only

Surprise slackens her lovely mouth, which I realize I didn’t pay attention to—big oversight.

Her lips are dark pink, the upper one fashioned like a perfect bow. A drop of her milky coffee lingers right in the middle. She licks it off as I watch, transfixed.

“It’s okay,” she says, waving me off. Then she shakes her head. Her stiff shoulders droop. “No, it’s not okay. But it doesn’t mean I can’t accept your apology.”

I frown. “So, you do?”

She nods and looks down into her cup.

I drag a chair close and perch myself on it. “They said Mom’s surgery went well.” I’m being manipulative as hell, but I’ll take every advantage I can get. “She’ll need extensive physical therapy, but her knee can recover full mobility.”

The shadows in her eyes disappear instantly. “Oh, I’m so glad. Martha would hate to lose her freedom.”

“I didn’t have time to say this on the phone earlier this week,” I say jumping to fill the stretched silence. “But thank you for taking such good care of her this last year. You pumped new life into her.”

She scrubs a hand over her eyes. Thosearetears that cluster like tiny diamonds over her long lashes. “I didn’t take care of her, Dr. Cross. I just lived with her, made her feel less alone, I think. She’s the one who…” She drags a rough breath in and shakes her head again.

“Who what, Ms. Rao?” I demand. That near-violent curiosity strikes me again. I want to know what she bit off. I want to know all her secrets.

I want to take her home with me tonight.

The realization, and how impossible it is, makes me fall back against the stiff chair. I don’t know what’s happening to me, but I don’t fight it either.

For the first time in two decades, a woman has caught my interest. Every little detail I know about her keeps adding to my desire, like adding small bits of kindling to an already flaming fire.

“I learned a lot from Martha.” She looks back into her cup again. “She helped me more than I helped her. I’m very grateful for these eleven months with her.”

“May I ask why you’re leaving then?” I blurt out. “If you aren’t happy with the compensation—”

“No, you may not,” she retorts, but it doesn’t have the earlier bite to it. Her tone is wary when she says, “Can I ask you something? About Martha?”

I nod.

“After this injury, what are your plans? I know it’s not my concern, but I would like to know.”

“She’ll move in with me.”

“Martha hates New York,” she says with such vehemence that I grin.

There’s the girl I want, peeking from behind the shadows. The girl who went toe-to-toe with me on the phone about not treating Mom like an invalid.

Her shoulders squirm before she meets my gaze again. The wounded look is slowly melting away, bringing that initial interest back into her eyes. It lights her up as if she were standing under stadium lights. “Not meant as a judgment on you.”

“Don’t worry. If anything, you have earned the right to question my decisions in this matter.” I lean forward and touch the tips of my fingers to hers lightly on the table. “I’m sorry wegot off on the wrong foot, Ms. Rao. And that’s totally on me. Ask me anything.”

“Anything regarding Martha, right?” She taps my fingers, then pulls away. That quick touch goes straight to my cock. “Or are you allowed as a topic too?”

I snag my lower lip with my teeth, fighting the savage satisfaction flowing through me from showing in my face. This girl is into me.

I might not play theswipe right/leftgames like some residents I boss around at the hospital, but I know interest when I see it. Sense it with my whole body. I feel like a randy teenager, but with the wisdom of a man who’s been knocked to his knees by life a few times.

“Are you? Interested in me?” I ask, riding the high.

A flush claims her cheeks. Fuck, but she’s pretty when she blushes. Her lips tremble, and she sighs, giving in. “You’ve become a near-mythical figure in my head the way Martha and Arthur talk about you. It’s idle curiosity.”

“Ahh… so you aren’t sure of my mother’s view that I’m nearly god-like in looks, wealth, and wisdom.”

Her mouth twitches. “Something like that,” she says, all grace.

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