He drove home beaming. The night had turned out better than he expected.
Well, not quite. He wished that chocolate and coffee
had
been code words but hadn’t really expected it. Anyone who hadn’t dated in over a year wasn’t going to jump in bed with someone on the first date. Second date, actually. He was counting dinner together on her shift as their first date.
Boy, she had looked fine tonight. Better than fine. Those fitted jeans with those heels—classic. And just his style. Not that he didn’t like to see a woman dressed up, but he was more basic, more casual. Jeans and heels worked for him. They always did. Especially jeans that fit on her like that.
Tall, lean and leggy—he loved that, too. No bending over, no leaning, in those heels she was right on his level, just a few inches shorter. He was secure enough in his manhood that having a woman almost the same height as him was just fine.
And he had been honest with her about losing at pool. He didn’t need to win at everything. Sometimes losing was actually winning in the end. Points for him, he hoped. But the truth of it was, he couldn’t have beaten her if he’d wanted to. She was good. He had been serious when he asked if she had been a pool shark in a former life.
Not only did she play pool well, but she also knew what moves to use to win. Moves with her body that was. It was almost like a choreographed dance. Twist just so, tilt a hip this way, bend a knee that way, lean in a bit more, flash a little cleavage. Oh yeah, she had moves all right, and that had done a number on him. She knew it too. He had no doubt.
Her apartment—now that was her. Walking in the front door, it was hard to miss the bold purple accent wall. It should have looked out of place and too… well, bold. But it didn’t. The rest of the room was a warm light taupe color. But her furniture, decor and throw rug were all varying shades of browns, with that rich purple thrown in. Just a hint, enough to say “look at me.”
Like her. Even at work, dressed in scrubs, her gorgeous body covered in loose baggie clothes, there was still something about her that screamed, “look at me.”
Aside from the bold way her place was decorated, he didn’t notice many personal touches. Nothing other than one picture of her and Lucy in a small frame on the corner of an end table.
Even her kitchen was pretty bare of anything personal. No pictures or notes on her refrigerator, nothing more than a few pieces of miscellaneous mail in the corner by her laptop. And an outdoor adventure magazine. That had been a pleasant discovery.
He remembered the stunned look on her face when he asked why she went into nursing. There was something behind it. He saw it in her eyes, but she hid it well. Almost as well as he hid things, but not good enough. It was a mystery for him to uncover.
The minute he pulled into his driveway his phone rang. “Harper,” he answered and listened for a second. “On my way.”
***
“Tell me everything,” Lucy said, setting her lunch tray down at a table in the corner of the cafeteria.
Presley laughed to herself. She wasn’t surprised when Lucy had texted her last night wanting to know the details of her date with Ben. But Presley wasn’t about to text all the details and she hated talking on the phone. In the end she suggested lunch in the cafeteria before their shift. “It went well.”
Lucy sighed, not satisfied with the answer. “You better tell me more than that, or I won’t run away the next time I see him. Because I have to tell you, it’s pretty embarrassing. He actually laughed at me the last time I did it. It’s like he knows. You didn’t tell him, did you?” she asked wincing.
“Of course not.”
“OK,” she said, looking relieved. “So tell me about your date.”
“We went to dinner, just a local pub, had burgers and a beer. Nothing fancy. Nice and casual like I said. There’s not much to say really. We talked the whole time. None of those awkward silences that can happen, so that part was good. And he didn’t spend the entire time talking about himself. He really didn’t say much about himself at all,” she said frowning, suddenly realizing that.
“Then what did you talk about?”
“Just work things. I mean not boring things, though. More like all the changes going on here, stuff like that. He’s really smart, not that I thought otherwise. But the things he’s doing here, and the security measures he is making, they’re really good. Issues you and I and the rest of the employees wouldn’t even see—let alone think about—but make complete sense. And I do feel more secure knowing it.”
“Like what?” Lucy asked, taking a break from the salad she was eating.
“Little things. Like never having the same officer on the same floor. And never having them rotate in a pattern either. He has no pattern at all, to be honest.” Presley picked up her sandwich, took a bite, chewed and swallowed.
“That makes no sense. Sounds more like he is flying by the seat of his pants.”
“Hardly,” Presley said after she set her drink down. “By having no pattern, there is nothing that people can study and learn. It’s unexpected. Think about it, if you were a patient and wanted to steal meds, or even an employee and were going to do something that you shouldn’t, don’t you think you would do it when you knew no one was watching?”
“Well, I would like to think so, if I was going to do something like that,” Lucy replied with a little snicker.
“He is making it harder for that to happen. There is no getting
used
to one officer and his routine or habits. It’s always different. And I’m sure you’ve seen him around. He does rounds all the time, never the same floor, or routine, or times. Nothing. No one ever knows when he will be around.”
Lucy finished chewing. “Oh, I guess that does make sense.” She took a quick drink. “OK, enough of the boring talk. Let’s move on. Details… good details. I know he kissed you. He had to have. Anything else?” she asked, her eyes gleaming with hope.
Presley asked, “What do you think?”
“I think no. I think you are like a camel that doesn’t require a lot of water. You never seem to need sex,” Lucy said disgruntled.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Presley said, laughing. “But yes, he did kiss me a few times, if you must know.”
“And…”
“And, what? Everything about him is intense. Need I say more?”
Lucy sighed dreamily. “No. I guess not.”
“Did you guys hear?” asked Jane, a fellow nurse that had worked with both Lucy and Presley at one point, walking over to their table.
Presley turned her head. “No, what?”
“Some guy was drunk last night in the waiting room of the Cancer Unit. I think they said his name was Jake. Anyway…” She waved a hand. “Who cares about his name? He must have come in drunk. It was after visiting hours and he put up a big stink about not being able to see his wife. The officer on duty tried calming him, but Jake was belligerent. And big. I mean really big, like six foot five, two-sixty maybe. Another officer came down to help, but Jake was causing quite a scene and got even louder when the second officer tried to escort him from the building.”
“So what’s new there?” Lucy asked.
“Just that Ben Harper was called in. I heard from Cindy, who heard from Sue, that he must have been out, because he looked
really
good. They almost didn’t recognize him. He had some fitted shirt on that had half the girls fanning themselves over him.”
“Focus, Jane,” Presley interrupted, trying to fight the annoyance creeping in over others staring at Ben. “So what is so different from this situation than all the others we’ve seen here? Besides the fact that Ben came in.” Which had to have happened almost immediately after he left her house, since he was still dressed from the date by the sounds of it. And thinking back, that was about when visiting hours were ending.
“Oh, just that Jake turned more belligerent when Ben showed up. And when Ben approached the situation, one of the officers reached for Jake to try to pull him aside. That is when Jake pulled his arm away, turned and threw a punch at Ben, obviously not realizing who Ben was.”
Presley tried not to show any reaction. “Did he actually hit Ben?” she asked, praying her voice wasn’t raspier than normal.
“Yeah, landed a punch right in the jaw.” Jane laughed. “I know I shouldn’t laugh. But that’s why this is such a big deal, at least the story is.”
Lucy was eying Presley. She knew but refused to make eye contact with her friend. And she was trying not to lose her patience with Jane but really wanted to know what happened to Ben. “And?” Presley asked.
“Oh, sorry,” Jane said. “Anyway, yes, Jake landed a punch. And Ben barely flinched. His head didn’t even turn. There was dead silence when it happened. Like one of those scenes you see on TV when time freezes and you could hear a pin drop. Then as the story goes, Ben’s eyes turned a whole different shade of mean, though all he did was calmly—but quickly before anyone knew what he was doing—reach out, grab the guy’s arm and had his face up against the wall with an arm behind his back. If you blinked, you missed it,” Jane said, almost excitedly. “The Police Department was just arriving on scene and they cuffed Jake.”
Trying to control her racing her heart, Presley asked, “Then what?”
“What do you mean?” Jane asked, confused.
“What happened to the drunk?” Presley asked. Not that she cared, but she was afraid it would look suspicious if she asked what happened to Ben.
“Oh. I guess the police took him away after Ben told them to let him get sober in the cell for the night.” Jane stopped and looked at her watch. “And now I need to get back. Talk to you later,” she said, dashing away.
Lucy looked at Presley. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Your face is white.”
Presley ignored that comment. “I better go punch in. I’ll talk to you later.” She stood up and walked away before Lucy could ask another question.
On her way out of the cafeteria she pulled out her phone. She’d had no intention of talking to Ben today, or approaching him. She liked the waiting game they were playing with each other. The unexpected was working for them. But after what she just heard, no, she wasn’t waiting.
Ben pulled his phone out of his pocket midstride on his way into the hospital. He was just returning from the police station after filling out more dreaded paperwork. In the end, he didn’t file any charges.
He knew Jake was distraught. His wife had taken a turn for the worse earlier yesterday. Ben had looked at all the information he could before going to the Police Department. One too many beers, mixed in with grief just aggravated the situation. Not that it was right, but Ben understood.
Jake had sobered up by the time Ben arrived, and the two of them had a little heart to heart. With Ben doing most of the talking—glaring was more like it. He never had to say much. Most people got the message by his body language.
They had come to terms—Ben’s terms. Jake would be let back into the hospital to stay with his wife, he would follow all the rules and if he crossed even one line, said even one offensive thing to any of the staff, Ben would bar him from the hospital and Jake would find himself back in a cell if need be.
Happiness lit his face when he read Presley’s text.
Where are you right now?
He took note of the time, twenty minutes before her shift, and typed back.
First floor. Entrance corridor.
Stay there.
He let out of a laugh. Oh, she liked to give orders, did she? Getting better and better.
Within moments he saw her coming down the hall from the cafeteria, then caught her look when she saw his face. He knew there was light bruise on his chin, which was why he hadn’t shaved today, hoping to conceal most of it and avoid questions. But by now, he knew the story was making the rounds. Nothing stayed quiet for long here.
Looking around and seeing all the people, he tilted his head to the side and started to walk toward the stairs. She followed his lead and didn’t say a word until they were in his office with the door shut.
“Does it hurt?” she asked, reaching for his face.
He was touched. It was nothing. He barely felt it when the punch landed. Actually, he had done all he could to hold himself back, reactions that had been entrenched in him upon attack. Anyone else, the guy would have been out cold on the floor. Pinning him against the wall and restraining him was nothing, and the most he would allow himself do. “Not really. Nothing more than a paper cut to me.”
“A paper cut?” she asked, her fingers tracing his jaw.
He reached up and grabbed her hand, held it for a minute, and ran his thumb along her palm. “Trust me, I’ve had much worse happen to me than this,” he said. “But I can lie and tell you I’m in excruciating pain if you want to kiss it and make it better.”
Her eyes softened, the tension leaving her body, he saw. She tried to hide it, but he saw everything, and was warmed even more that she cared. “You don’t need to lie to get me to kiss you.”
The warmth turned to heat. “Really?”
“No. All you need to do is ask,” she said, challenging him.
He looked around, and noticed they were away from the window on his door. “What if I don’t ask?”
“Then I don’t kiss it and make it better.”
Lightning quick, he reached forward and yanked her close, sealing any protest from her lips when his mouth covered hers. His tongue came out, traced her upper lip, urging her to open for him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, returning his kiss eagerly. Lifting his head, he sent her an arrogant grin and said, “I don’t like to ask for anything.”
“Taking works just as well.”
He shook his head to clear all the images that just rushed through his brain. He didn’t think she meant that the way he hoped, because if so, then he was getting mixed signals. Not that he would ever take more than someone was willing to offer. He didn’t picture her as the type to send mixed signals, either.
She must have sensed his thoughts. “I’m not trying to play hard to get. I’m not someone that says no when I mean yes,” she explained.
“Never thought otherwise.” He hated head games and was glad to know she wasn’t playing them.
“I need to get to work, and I’m sure you’ve got things to do.” She unwound her arms from his neck, then leaned in for one more quick kiss. “I’ll see you around. Try not to get into any fights today. I would hate to have to patch you up.”
Images of her playing nurse with him forced him to bite back a groan. “Pity. I think I would like that.”
She flushed, then laughed, walked a few steps, stopped and looked over her shoulder. “I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
***
Unlocking her front door, Presley was shocked to realize she still had the same silly look plastered on her face that had most likely been there for the last few hours.
Around seventy thirty her phone had vibrated in the front pocket of her scrubs. She had been in the game room—which had been dubbed that by the kids thanks to the video games, TVs, board games and various other forms of entertainment available for them to feel normal in the midst of the turmoil part of their lives. Glancing around to make sure her supervisor wasn’t nearby, she’d pulled her phone out and felt her lips widen at Ben’s message asking if she had her lunch break yet.
“Thirty minutes, kids,” she announced to them. “Start picking up soon, and no arguments,” she added when she heard the usual groans. Then she exited the room quickly and replied back.
Negative.
Her smile widened even more when she read.
Text me when you punch out. Same place as last time.
Guess he really didn’t like to ask.
But she’d done as he told her and met him forty-five minutes later in the quiet break room they’d had her lunch break in last time. Somehow she wasn’t the least bit surprised to see a small personal pepperoni and black olive pizza for her. When she raised her eyebrow at him, he only said smugly, “You had a menu on your counter with that circled.”
She would have to remember that. He seemed to see and remember everything.
Halfway through her meal, she said, “So date three. And no, that’s not a code for me either.”
He grinned ruefully. He was always smiling or grinning. “Pity. But no codes. When you’re ready, you make the move. No asking either, just make it. Or take it.” He sent her a sexy look. “I won’t fight you off.”
She knew she flushed, then felt the heat coursing through her body at that statement, but he held his tongue and didn’t comment on her reaction. Thankfully he changed the subject after that, and before long their time was up.
They had enjoyed a nice, if rushed dinner. And an even nicer not so rushed kiss before she had to return to her shift. But now she was home and could finally let go of the giddiness she was feeling.
She wasn’t sure she had ever felt this much anticipation or eagerness with another guy. Not that she had dated all that much. She’d had a handful of boyfriends over the years, and of course plenty of dates from time to time. But lately, she had been in a dry spell and hadn’t been even bothered by it, until recently. With any luck that dry spell would be ending soon.