in which she’d take pain medications. She’d seen one colleague too many end up with addiction problems.
“You might regret that decision later tonight.”
“I won’t.” Feeling the pain would remind her that she was alive, that Levi had come to her rescue, saved her life.
“You’re one tough cookie, Madison.”
Her insides melted at her name rolling off his lips. “I try, Dr. Fielding.”
“I asked you to call me Levi.” His gaze lingered on her mouth long enough to make the pit of her stomach dip to her toes and boomerang back like an overstretched rubber band.
“That you did.” She tried not to read too much into his look, but failed miserably. How could she not when he looked as if he was wondering what kissing her would be like? When she really wanted him to kiss her? She lowered her gaze to his lips, hoped she conveyed that she wanted him to lean in, to touch his mouth to hers. “Levi.”
Not leaning in or touching his lips to hers, he cleared his throat and glanced at his watch. “There’s still another hour at the picnic if you want to go back.”
“No, thanks.” She shook her head. “Going back to work tomorrow and dealing with all the embarrassing commotion of having choked will be soon enough.”
“Did you get to eat?” he surprised her by asking, his gaze flicking to hers.
“No.” She’d poured a drink, taken that fateful gulp that had gone down the wrong pipe, and had never made it to prepare a plate of food. “I’ll grab something later.” She gave a self-derisive smile as her gaze met his, held. “Maybe this time I won’t get choked.”
“I didn’t finish and I’m starved.” He rubbed his belly, emphasizing his point. Or was it those flat abs she wanted to lick he was emphasizing? She had to stop looking at Levi like human eye candy. She had to. Or did she? Maybe that was how playgirls saw the opposite sex? After all, he was delicious on the eyes, sugary sweet and made her want to go into a Levi-induced diabetic coma.
“You want to grab a pizza before I drop you off?”
She wanted to grab a lot more than pizza.
“You’d miss the rest of the picnic.” Now, why had she pointed that out? Why hadn’t she just said, “Yes, take me now, I’m yours, but don’t go messing with my heart because it’s off limits”?
“Oh, no, not that,” he teased.
A hot flush spread across her cheeks.
“Pizza sounds wonderful.” Reminding herself that him asking her to eat meant nothing, absolutely nothing except that he probably wanted to make sure she didn’t choke on her food again. Madison managed not to melt at his feet, managed to keep her hands to herself. “If you’re sure you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind, Madison,” he said in an all-too-serious voice, then blew it by adding, “Just ask anyone who knows me. They’ll tell you what a naughty boy I am.”
There he went with that flirty tone again. And with the eyes. Those eyes screamed with pure male naughtiness.
Dr. Levi Fielding was definitely flirting with her. Question was why hadn’t he all along when she hadn’t hidden her interest? Currently, he was looking at her as if they’d been typed and crossed and were a perfect match.
Based on his supposed history with women, his interest wouldn’t last long. She’d wanted his attention from the moment they’d met. Why not soak up every morsel and enjoy whatever the day brought? Just so long as she remembered she was a player, too, one who kept her heart locked away, what could spending time with Levi hurt? Wasn’t that what she wanted, after all?
And, really, it wasn’t as if she had the strength to say no. Not with her oxygen-depleted brain and all.
When they left his office, Levi drove to his favorite local pizza parlor.
Why had he asked Madison to dinner? Sure, he really was hungry, but spending time with her was a bad idea. He wanted a woman who wanted the same things he did, a committed relationship to each other based on more than just sex.
Not that sexual attraction wasn’t important. Certainly he and Madison had that in spades. But after overhearing her conversation with Karen, he knew she wasn’t what he wanted in a woman. So why was he here? And why did he want her so much when she epitomized the type of woman he’d sworn never to get involved with again?
They ordered their food, got drinks, and settled in where they could both see the wide-screen television.
Although Madison made a pretense of watching the sporting show, he could tell she wasn’t really into the program by the nervous way she kept glancing around the restaurant and toying with her drink straw.
Watching Madison with her straw interested Levi more than any sporting event that had ever been broadcast. After the first few minutes he quit pretending to watch the show and watched her instead, grinning when her big green eyes met his and widened. She didn’t look away, although he got the impression she’d like to. No, she held his gaze, only allowing her eyes to lower enough to glance at his mouth for a few brief seconds.
As if she was thinking about kissing him.
Levi swallowed. There would be no kissing Madison Swanson. How could he when kissing her would definitely lead to other things? If he gave in to urges, well, that proved his father right, didn’t it?
“What made you decide to move to Angel Creek?” he asked, to steer his mind away from those other things.
“I went to nursing school with Karen and we stayed in touch. She’s tried to get me to relocate several times over the years, but there were reasons why I stayed in Winston-Salem.”
Reasons? Levi was sure he’d like to know what those reasons were.
Madison toyed with her straw again, placing her fingertips over one end and raising the other to her perfectly shaped lips in a purely seductive move that she almost seemed unaware of. Almost. Levi bit back a groan.
When she lifted her gaze, pleasure registered at what he obviously failed to hide. He wanted her.
“When Karen’s roommate moved out a few months ago,” she continued, watching him with those mesmerizing green eyes, “I took her up on the offer.”
“What made you change your mind?”
Her eyes darkened, lowered. Staring at her drink for several long seconds, she finally shrugged. “She needed a roommate and I needed a change of everything.”
Which probably meant she had been involved with someone and the relationship had gone sour. His abdominal muscles contracted defensively, rejecting the thought of Madison with another man, the thought of flashing her pretty smile, her wide, seductive eyes in another’s direction. What was up with that? He wasn’t the jealous type and this certainly wasn’t a date. Just two hungry colleagues sharing a meal and each other’s company.
Still, he’d known from the beginning there was something different about her. She was different. Made him feel different. Made him not quite certain about things he’d
