Page 16 of Nicole
Did he take nothing seriously? Was everything just a big joke to him?
As if he could hear my inner thoughts, the corners of his lips twitched, then curved into a smirk. “What did I say or do to offend you this time?”
I halted in front of him, hands on my hips. “Are you implying I’m easily offended?”
His chin dipped, and he raked his gaze from the tops of my red Tom slip-ons, past my planted palms, and up to my narrowed eyes. His brows rose, the smirk growing into a full grin.
I ground my molars together. “Maybe the problem isn’t me. Maybe you’re just really offensive. Did you ever think of that?”
Yes, I heard myself. I’d sunk to schoolyard tit-for-tats.
“Says the vegan who probably asks people to say tofu instead of cheese before she snaps their picture.”
“Coming from the guy who probably watches reels on the internet of people crashing and hurting themselves and thinks it’s funny.”
His eyes lit. “One, those videos are hilarious. Two, reels are for cinema, not the internet.”
“You knew what I meant.”
“I probably know what you mean more than you think.”
As if someone had taken blinders off me, I noticed how physically close we had become. Had we both unconsciously taken steps toward one another as we spoke? I stepped back, my legs a little unbalanced with annoyance.
Why had I walked over here in the first place?
Sierra’s happy squeal reached me. Right.
“Don’t play with my daughter’s emotions, Drew.” I spun on my heel and stalked away. But my retreat didn’t prevent his quiet words from reaching me.
“Your daughter’s, or yours?”
6
Drew
My body swayed over my feet, and I allowed my muscles to relax. My shoulder blades pressed against the wall first, followed by the back of my head, and then my eyelids slid shut, ghosted images of the fluorescent lights shifting against the blackness. A sigh exhaled from my chest.
Just a moment. One moment of stillness, then I’d push off the wall and continue down the corridor to the next patient.
But even in the stillness, my body felt in motion. The length of a stride. That slight back and forth. The swinging of hips.
Swinging of hips?
The dancing dots synchronized like a pendulum and the lighted silhouette my mind created resembled familiar curves, the shape transforming to the memory of Nicole walking away the day before.
Lazily, as if drunk on sleeplessness, the corners of my lips tipped.
No doubt Nicole saw her storming off after attempting to dress me down as a march of victory. Wonder what she’d think if she heard me say I’d wave a white flag just to watch her walk away again. As much as I enjoyed sparking the fire in her eyes and verbally crossing swords, there’d been something hypnotic about watching her retreating form.
Blood pumped through my veins like any other guy. I wasn’t immune to a woman’s figure, and Nicole’s luscious contours awakened something in me that had lain dormant since Veronica.
“A dark supply closet works better for catching a few winks.”
My elbows hit the wall to propel me forward, and I opened my eyes to the present. My best friend and colleague, Dr. Ben Reed, grinned at me.
He clapped a hand over my biceps. “You’re dead on your feet. Dr. Stapleton wants you to head home. Take a shower, eat a nutritious meal, and go to bed.”
I glanced at my wristwatch. “I will. I just have to do something first.”
