Page 46 of Every Rose

Getting into the thing involved hiking up her skirt. And climbing. “Why do you have a truck?”

“Comes in handy for hauling things. Also, I do a lot of backcountry skiing and hiking. The 4X4 gets me places nothing else will.”

At least the interior was clean.

They didn’t talk much on the way to her place. She directed him and when they arrived she felt a jump of nerves. The entire evening had been heading in a certain direction, but did she really want to go there?

She glanced over at him. He looked gorgeous, a little mysterious, and she thought how very tired she was of her own rules and of being so careful all the time. So, this would probably end up messy, neither of them had time to devote to anything long term. It would be a hook-up, probably. Was she okay with that?

She watched his capable surgeon’s hands on the wheel and her body ached for him.

Yes, she was okay with that.

When he pulled into one of the guest parking spots behind her building, leaving the engine idling, she turned to him. “Do you want to come up?”

“About as much as I want the blood to keep pumping around my body.”

She smiled. “Are you going to tell anyone?”

He seemed to consider her question. “Probably only Sarah. She should take care of making sure every person at the wedding knows we went home together. And I’m a personal friend of Fred Armisen. I’m sure I could get him to do an episode ofPortlandiaabout us.” His eyes twinkled as he teased her.

As if. She nodded briskly. “Okay, then. Come on.” She pushed open her door and jumped down. He turned off the truck engine and followed her. She almost dropped her key fob in her haste. Now that she’d decided she was going to sleep with mouthwatering Matt she felt jumpy.

She never got involved with people she worked with for good reason. What if he fell in love with her or turned out to be a crazy stalker or something?

Stop it!She headed for the elevator, feeling him behind her as hot as his kisses earlier. Inside the elevator he pulled her to him as though he couldn’t wait. He was less subtle than he’d been at the wedding, more like a man who has definite plans and a very good idea how to accomplish them.

She smiled to herself. She liked a man who knew what he was doing around a woman’s body. One of her greatest shocks in medical school had been discovering how many doctors had no clue.

They walked in and she flipped on a light. Matt came behind her and eased off her coat, kissed the back of her neck, sending shivers of desire rippling down her skin.

“Would you like some wine?”

“I would,” he said.

“Come in and make yourself comfortable.”

He walked into her main room and toured around, touching things. He was a very tactile person, she’d noticed it before. He was a toucher.

“Nice place,” he said.

“Thanks.”

“This is an interesting piece.” The pottery vase was blue and shaped like a woman’s torso, but slightly off, so you had to look twice. Rose wasn’t entirely sure the look was intentional. “Thanks. My mother made it.”

He ran his fingertips over the curving lines of the piece in a way that made her imagine the feel of those hands on her own skin. “Your mother’s an artist?”

“Oh, she’d love to hear you say that. Mostly she thinks of herself as a potter. Her works can be hit or miss, but I love that one.”

She walked into the kitchen and opened her wine fridge, grabbed the first bottle her hand touched, and turned to find Matt right behind her. He held up the rose. “We should put this in water.”

“Right.” She put the wine down on the granite countertop and opened the glass-fronted cupboard where she kept wineglasses. On the top shelf sat a glass bud vase. When she would have reached for it, he said, “I got it,” and took the vase down. He ran some water and then plopped the single rosebud into the vase.

Then he reached over, cupped her head and pulled her toward him, kissing her deeply.

When they came up for air, she said, “The wine?”

“I’m not that thirsty.” He kissed her again and she felt her blood start to heat. “What I’d really like is to see the rest of your apartment.”

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