Page 28 of Ice
His eyebrows shot up.
“Wow… you don’t pull any punches, do you?”
I heard the bathroom door open, and Ice stepped out, leaning against the wall across the room.
“Doc, thanks for everything. I shouldn’t keep you, though. If you’ve finished kicking Reacher’s ass, that is?” His smirk was beautiful, because it told me that his pain was passing, at least for now. I watched him for a moment, and he nodded just a little.Thank god.
“Thank you for the coffee, Ice. I have my phone here. Let’s make your next appointment, if you’re ready.”
He nodded. “Reacher, you gonna leave someone free to take me this time?”
Reacher glanced from him to me.
“He’ll be back tomorrow.”
I laughed. “Wow… you really don’t understand how any of this works, do you?Youdon’t decide when Ice makes an appointment. He does, and it depends on if I have any available appointments.”
He glared at me. “Well, do you?”
I stared right back at him.
“Perhaps.”
“Jesus. Right, I’m leaving this with you, but Ice… this doesn’t happen again. Next time, you ask for my office.”
I followed Reacher to the door.
“Next time, maybe don’t take away his only opportunity to honour his appointment in the first place.”
I closed the door as soon as he crossed the threshold, sputtering quiet curses, and turned to speak to Ice, finding him closer than I’d expected. Very close. Almost touching me.
“You have any idea how fucking sexy it is, watching you hand Reacher his ass like that?” His voice was low and predatory.
“Ice…”
He backed me up to the wall again, moving carefully.
“Nobody sasses him like that. Well, maybe his old lady, but mostly people know better. You just savaged him, Lissa, and it was hot as FUCK.”
He crowded me against the wall, his body heat leaching into me, as he stared me down. He was taller than me, but not by much. A perfect fit, you might say. Of course, the last thing I should have been thinking of was how we might fit. We couldn’t be anything more than we already were.
“Thank you, Lissa. For being with me today. For covering for me. I know that it’s your job, but it felt like someone cared, and I didn’t realise how much I needed that.” Ice stroked my cheeklightly as he spoke, and I felt more heat and tingles from his touch.
It made me want to grab his neck and pull him in for another kiss. A real one this time. No teasing, just kissing. I didn’t want to risk his injury though, and of course that wasn’t the only reason.Ethics. There’s a huge fucking reason.
“I do care, Ice, and I’m glad I was here for you. Thank you for trusting me with uh… with what’s going on. I have a better understanding of your… uh… your…”
“What’s up, Doc? You look like you’re going to pass out there, or are you just too warm? Do you need to remove some clothes?”
Dammit. I took a deep breath and put a hand against his hard chest, pushing back, even though I wanted to drag him closer.
He moved. He didn’t resist, but maybe because it would injure him more if he tried.
“Am I overstepping those boundaries Reacher was so worried about, Doc?” He didn’t look like he gave a damn, those grey eyes filled with heat, when we were so used to seeing coolness. I nodded once, swallowing against my suddenly dry throat.
“I… message me to make an appointment, Ice. I should leave. It’s not right for me to be here. I shouldn’t have come.”
“I’ll make sure you’re not sorry the next time you…come…”
