Page 12 of Every Little Kiss
“Why fight when all it takes is a little nudge in the right direction?” Ford said with a clarity that made him seem a decade wiser and capable of handling anything that came his way. He might look like a playboy, but Officer Jamison was a full-fledged badass who put his life on the line regularly.
He pulled a bill from his pocket and slid it in the machine.
“I already paid for it,” she explained, going silent when he pushed the button and the coil receded, freeing the cupcake.
It dropped to the bottom of the machine with a small thud. Then he stuck another bill in the coffee machine. “Decaf or regular?”
“I’m fine,” she said, pulling her arm free.
“You were trying to pry a cupcake out of a vending machine with a set of tongs. I think we passed fine.”
Liv was so far past fine that when he offered her the cupcake and one of those smiles he seemed to give out so freely, her body quivered.
Stupid body.
“Thank you,” Liv said, taking the treat.
Their fingers brushed and—wham!That quiver became a racing current of electricity that sparked.
Liv didn’t move. Heck, she could barely breathe through the tsunami of sex-starved hormones flooding her body as if the levee had finally given way.
Clearing her throat, Liv dusted off her knees and told herself to get a grip. He was just doing what heroes did—saving a damsel in distress. And while the idea of being a damsel had once appealed to her, she no longer needed anyone to save her. Liv was more than capable of saving herself.
“Like I said, medical emergency.” She opened the cupcake and took a bite, moaning when the sugary goodness melted in her mouth.
Ford’s deep brown eyes met hers and held. “Long day?”
“The longest.” She took another bite and struck absolute heaven in the form of marshmallow-cream filling. “But nothing a cupcake can’t fix.”
It was going to take a hell of a lot more than a cupcake to fix what was wrong with Ford.
He hadn’t set foot in this hospital in a long time, in any place that had to do with the accident, for that matter. Not once since making the call that took Sam’s life.
And then Paxton’s voice.
Which had beennumero unoon his list of reasons to avoid type-one searches in this area. But today it wasn’t the lingering what-ifs messing with his head. No, that honor went to the stubborn and sexy woman licking frosting off her lips. Leaving him to wonder if his attraction to her had something to do with their up-close-and-personal meeting earlier or the fact that as Sam’s widow she was off-limits.
Ford had always had a hard time with limits. The harder the limits, the less time it took to break them. But this was a line Ford didn’t want to test.
“Sorry,” Liv said as she licked the icing off her fingers. “I should have offered to share, but it was a whole-cupcake kind of emergency.”
“What kind of man would stand between a woman and her medicinal sugar fix?”
She snorted. “You’d be surprised.”
“I’m full of surprises,” he said, and she released a startled laugh. It was a great laugh, Ford decided. Raw, unexpected, and so bright his chest lightened. Damn, she was beautiful.
Add that to the playful smile she sent his way, and sparks ignited in places that had no business heating up. He didn’t understand what was causing the strange pull, and he wondered if it was a one-sided deal.
“You’re full of something,” she finally said, tossing the wrapper in the trash can next to the machine, proving that, clearly, Nurse Cupcake wasn’t buying what he was selling. “What are you doing here?”
Excellent question. One he wasn’t ready to answer. “I was dropping Mr.Gordon off—”
“Ohmigod. You were Flash Gordoned?”
“Flash Gordoned?”
“Yeah, Flash Gordon is what we call him. He’s a regular,” she said. “Used to be some kind of exotic go-go dancer in Vegas back in the sixties. He usually comes in with one of the trainees, though.” She looked him up and down. “Are you a summer trainee?”
