there still going to be ground rules?” Her voice had gone all breathy and feminine and hell if it didn’t make him want her that much more.
“Definitely.”
“Like what?”
“You’ll sleep in my bed.”
“Every night? Even when we’re not...”
He nipped her lips. “Even then.”
Why had he just made that a condition of their arrangement? Practicality. When he wanted her, he could just roll over and have her.
“What else?”
“No other men between lessons.”
This time she frowned. “Of course not.” She leaned her head back. “Were you planning on having other women?”
His brows contracted. Did she really think he would? “No.”
His fingers closed over her hips, feeling a possessiveness that startled him. No, not possessiveness. It was protectiveness. It had to be. He didn’t want her to wind up with another bastard like Travis.
Right. And that’s exactly what he’d tell Jason: he was sleeping with his sister to protect her.
That was sure to get him a fist to the face...maybe two.
And would Jason be wrong? Probably not.
He let her go and took a step back, dragging a hand through his hair. Time to get real. “Are you sure about this?”
Chloe blinked at him then gave him a slow smile that made his stomach flip, made him want to reach for her all over again. “More than sure. I want you to teach me everything you know.”
* * *
Teach me everything you know.
Chloe rolled her eyes as she adjusted the blood-pressure cuff on her next patient. Had she really said that to him?
That wasn’t what she wanted. Not really. She’d had a husband who’d tried to teach her everything he knew, and it had been the worst six years of her life.
No, what she wanted was for Brad to teach her about her own body. Teach her how it felt to be loved. Really loved. Teach her how to ask for what she wanted.
She smiled as the blood-pressure cuff deflated on their twin-to-twin transfusion patient. “One twenty over seventy. That’s ideal.”
Sitting on a stool, she noted the woman’s weight and other vital information. “So how are the babies doing?” Cade’s nimble fingers seemed to have worked a miracle.
“My obstetrician thinks both twins have stabilized but wants me to meet with the surgeon to make sure everything’s progressing well.”
The words “progressing well” struck a nerve. Her own situation with Brad seemed to have turned some kind of corner, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it any more.
Immersing herself in her work seemed to be the only thing keeping her sane at the moment. The more patients she saw, the less chance she had to think about tonight. About what was going to happen. Brad had made it clear he wanted her. The sooner, the better.
It’s what she wanted as well, right? Somehow, though, she’d expected him to balk at the idea. Or at least put up some kind of token argument. Instead, he’d dragged her against him with the talk of ground rules and wanting to start immediately.
He could have any number of women who were infinitely more experienced than she was. And yet he was agreeing to sleep with her in what she’d come to see as a cold-blooded arrangement that she’d been stupid to even suggest.
So why did he seem so eager?
She wasn’t that beautiful. Men didn’t swoon at the sight of her. So what was he getting out of it?
Maybe he pitied her. Was trying to help out the next poor sucker who got involved with her.
That explanation didn’t seem to fit either, although that could just be because she was too mortified to think it might be true.
Swiveling her attention back to her patient, she nodded at the gown on the end of the bed. “Our fashion designer is dying for you to try out her latest creation. While you’re getting dressed, I’ll page Dr. Coleman and let him know you’re here.” She squeezed the woman’s shoulder. “We’re all pulling for those little ones.”
“Thank you. They’ve got a lot of family and friends praying for them too.”
“I’m glad.” She picked up the chart and headed for the door. “See you in a few minutes.”
Chloe went to the nurses’ station to call Cade. Before she could do that, he appeared in the flesh. “Clara Serrano is here.” She handed him the chart.
“Everything look okay with her?”
“Her vitals are all normal. She’s feeling movement from at least one of the fetuses. Dr. Morris wants to see if the size ratio has changed at all.”
“Sounds good. I’ll take a look.” He tapped the counter with the chart. “Have you seen Dr. Davis, by any chance?”
She had. Quite well, actually. But that’s not what Cade was asking. “I haven’t seen him since this morning.” Not since he’d dropped her off at the hospital entrance and then revved up his bike and rounded the corner on his way to the parking garage. He hadn’t touched her as she’d unsnapped her helmet and shaken her hair loose, but his smoldering look had spoken volumes. She was getting some tonight.
The thought made the corners of her lips curve much higher than they should have.
Cade evidently thought so too, because his brows went up and he leaned his elbows on the desk, bringing him a little closer. “Very nice. Is that smile for me?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” The low voice came from beside them, making Chloe jerk to attention and spin to face it.
Brad. And although his tone was calm and reasonable, his expression was anything but. Narrow-eyed, with lips in a tight hard line, he studied her face—from which her smile was now gone.
Cade, on the other hand, straightened. “Is it against hospital policy to comment on someone’s pretty smile?”
“I’d prefer that you both do your jobs instead.”
A thread of anger ran up her spine, replacing the warm anticipation of a few seconds ago. “I think we both were. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and check on one of my other patients.”
She stalked toward the nearest room, having no idea which patient it belonged to. All she knew was that her irritation was out of proportion to the situation. But if Brad thought he could use their little agreement to his advantage at work, he was going to find out he was dead wrong.
A hand on her arm stopped her before she made it halfway to the door.
