left him wondering why.
He’d have to be blind, deaf, and dumb not to know that she was interested in him. As interested in him as he was in her. A volatile chemistry sparked between them that threatened combustion on contact. He wasn’t wrong about that. Which left what reason for her to say no?
Not that he was all that, but women didn’t usually turn him down flat. Especially women who looked at him the way Joni looked at him. Had any woman ever looked at him that way? With such yearning in her eyes? He didn’t think so. Which still didn’t resolve the question of why she’d turned him down.
“Have I done something to offend you?” He couldn’t think of anything specific, but maybe he’d inadvertently stepped on a toe or something. Maybe he should offer to rub her feet to make amends. He’d use any excuse to touch her.
She arched a brow, but didn’t quite meet his eyes, more like stared at his ear or maybe a stray strand of hair. “Other than tell me you were hot in bed?”
“That offended you?” She wasn’t a prude. He’d heard her laughing and cutting up with the other nurses and patients. Joni had a great sense of humor, even if she rarely gave him a direct glimpse of it. As a matter of fact, he was the only person she didn’t smile at.
“Obviously, it didn’t bowl me over,” she pointed out, taking a step back and pressing firmly against the elevator handrail.
“Obviously.” Grant regarded her long and hard and made a quick decision. “So tell me what would.”
Her startled gaze shot to meet his head on. “What would what?”
“Bowl you over.”
Her gaze lowered, her long lashes shading the lovely dark green hue of her eyes. “I don’t want to be bowled over.”
“Perhaps not, but humor me. What would it take for a man to win your interest? No, not a man, for me to win your interest and for you to go on a date with me?”
Her cheeks flushed a bright shade of pink, splotching her creamy skin that was otherwise only marked by the spattering of faint freckles across her nose. “Let it go, Grant. I’m not going to date you.”
His brow mimicked her earlier movement. “Because I’m not your type?”
“I do recall mentioning that only minutes ago.” She shot visual daggers at him.
Fine. He wasn’t so egotistical that he thought every woman wanted him. Only he knew Joni did. So why was she being so adamant that she didn’t?
“What is your type?” he questioned, determined that if she wasn’t going to date him he at least wanted to know her reasoning. “No one seems to know.”
Her lips pursed. “Have you been checking up on me?”
He’d asked, put out feelers to make sure she wasn’t involved with someone, to make sure she was free for him to ask out, to make sure no one raised red flags about her as a person. “Yeah, I guess I have, because I did ask around at the hospital.”
She exhaled with an annoyed huff. “Great. Now everyone will know.”
“Will know what?”
“That you asked about me.” Her expression screamed, Duh!
His confidence was ebbing fast, as was his reassurance at her sanity. “Is that a bad thing?”
“It’s not a good thing.” Her gaze shifted to the elevator button, then up at him expectantly.
Was he wrong? Had he imagined how this woman looked at him? How he caught her watching him? He’d bet his Hummer that she wanted him, too. So, why was she playing hard to get? Was there more going on than met the eye?
Grant didn’t like games. Lord only knew, he’d played enough of those over the past few years with Ashley. But he liked Joni in a way that made him want to know more, that made him unwilling to let this go until he understood her rejection.
Which perhaps made him the world’s biggest fool.
Because the right thing to do, what he should do, was lift his finger off the door-closed button, see her to her car, and forget about the pretty little nurse he thought about more often than not.
But that wasn’t what he did.
Instead, he took advantage of how close they stood to each other in the elevator and, keeping one finger on the door closed button, with his free hand he lifted her chin.
“Fine. You don’t want to date me. I’m not your type. Asking our co-workers about you prior to asking you out was a bad thing. But what about this?” he challenged.
She stared up at him with huge eyes. Her generous chest rose and fell in rapid, heavy breaths.
“If I kissed you, Joni, would that be a bad thing, too? Because I really want to kiss you and have wanted to for weeks. If that’s not what you want, if you don’t want me to kiss you, tell me to stop now.”
Her pulse hammered at her throat. Her breath warmed his skin in fast little pants. She swallowed hard. Her lips parted as if she was going to speak, but not a word came out of her mouth. Instead, her eyelids closed, and a thousand emotions flashed across her lovely face all at once.
Ever so slightly her chin relaxed against his fingertips. Her lips parted another fraction. Her eyes remained tightly closed. Her breathing deepened.
She wasn’t saying no. Her body language screamed, Yes. Oh, yes. He hadn’t been wrong.
She wanted him to kiss her.
Which meant what? That she was playing hard to get? That she was stringing him along? Toying with him as Ashley had done?
He started to pull away, to cut his losses and put Joni out of his mind, or at least try since he hadn’t had much luck up to that point. But her eyes opened and there was such vulnerability in their sea of green that he tumbled in.
Tumbled in and covered her mouth with his, not one bit surprised at the immediate explosion of sensation weakening his knees.
The moment Grant’s lips touched hers, Joni was lost.
Lost in wonder and excitement and awe.
His mouth brushed over hers with a feathery touch that was soft yet masterful. Gentle yet demanding. Hungry yet restrained. All Grant.
She didn’t understand his interest in her, not really, but his kiss was so sweet, so tender, so hot that she couldn’t pull away. Couldn’t do anything except embrace the emotions flooding through her at the simple joy of his mouth conquering hers.
Of their own accord her fingers found their way into the golden brown waves of his hair, pulling his head closer to deepen the kiss. Her hand flattened against his cheek, loving the smoothness that was broken only by the hint of late evening stubble. Loving how his long, lean body pressed against her, so strong, so capable, so absolutely delicious.
And the way he smelled. Oh, my!
She inhaled
