could hear traffic on Jack’s end of the line. She instantly envisioned him driving his old Chevy with his windows rolled down. “Reilly cancelled?” he asked.
“How did…”
“I know because Mall just called from the 101. Engine trouble. I’m heading over to help her now.”
Layla made a face and looked at her watch. “Sorry to hear that. I was really looking forward to tonight. Oh, well. It’s busy here anyway. Maybe I’ll just get a salad and head home. Give me a call later to let me know everything’s all right?”
“Will do.”
SAM WATCHED the sexy doc clap her phone closed and slip it back into her purse, feeling curiously as if he’d been whacked upside the head and sucker-punched at the same time. The first because he hadn’t felt this strongly attracted to someone in a very long time. The second because, well, he barely knew her and she hated his guts. Not because of something he’d said. But rather because he was the new senior staff administrator at Trident.
Aw, hell. Talk about your small worlds.
Sam pretended to focus on something the guy on the other side of him was saying about the poor service, rather than on the doc’s enticing legs. Meanwhile he considered his dilemma. Either he came clean now with the certainty that the attraction arcing between them would vanish like a flash of lightning. Or he continued to play dumb, pretending that she hadn’t been specific about her information. Then he could try to take things on a bit with her—possibly even take her back to his house in the Hills—then hope that she would forgive him in the morning.
And he would have to face the music in the morning because if memory served him correctly, his first appointment tomorrow morning was with one Doctor Layla Hollister, the center’s only female general practitioner. A getting-acquainted meeting that he’d prefer to conduct right now under present conditions…and without her knowing who he was.
“Your friends cancelled out, huh?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She slung the strap of her purse over her shoulder, tucked the grocery-store rag under her arm and started to get up.
“Are you up for dinner with me, then?”
She looked at him, obviously tempted. “I thought you had business to conduct.” She tilted her head. “I never asked what you did, did I?”
“No. And about the business dinner…I can always reschedule.” He grinned at her, having made his decision not to reveal his identity. Not just yet. “This is just too good an opportunity to pass up.”
She laughed. “Unfortunately, I don’t make a habit of picking up strange men in bars.”
“Shame.”
She nodded. “Definitely a shame.” She motioned to the waiter and placed an order for a salad to go. “Hold my chair for me? I’m just going to go freshen up before I leave.”
“I think I can handle that.” Good. At least this wasn’t goodbye. Not yet…
He watched her head toward the restrooms at the back of the bar area. The material of her skirt hugged her high, firm bottom just so. Suddenly the temperature in the place seemed to jump at least twenty degrees. Sam tugged at his tie, emptied his soda, then got up. The bartender glanced at him as he slapped a twenty on the bar. “Hold both seats, will you?”
Sam navigated through the sea of hot, young bodies crowding the restaurant, his mind on one hot, young body in particular. Oh, no, he didn’t intend to let her get away that easily. He stopped outside the ladies’ room and leaned against the wall. An opportunity was an opportunity. And he planned to take complete advantage of it.
The door to the restroom opened to let out a perky blonde. Sam rubbed his chin, then crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring her suggestive look.
The door opened again and Layla came out, stuffing something into her purse and appearing not to notice him. Sam lightly grasped her arm as she began to edge past him.
She blinked up into his eyes and a curious mixture of vanilla and lemon teased his nose. She smiled. A little welcoming, a little nervous. A slight upturning of the edges of her full mouth that made his stomach crave something other than food. “I thought you were holding my chair,” she murmured, her gaze flicking over his features.
“Mmm. I was. But there was something I needed to find out first.”
Someone walked by, forcing her to step closer to him to make room. He watched her swallow thickly and saw her green eyes dilate in a telltale sign of arousal. “Oh? And what’s that?”
Heat surged through Sam’s groin. “Whether or not you taste as good as you look.”
He slowly closed the few inches separating his mouth from hers, giving her plenty of time to pull back. She didn’t. In fact, she leaned forward. Sam made a low sound of satisfaction. He liked a woman who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid of taking it.
And, oh boy, she tasted even better than she looked. She might smell like vanilla and lemon, but her mouth was a juicy, fleshy peach just begging to be devoured. He flicked his tongue out, licking the rim of her lips then dipping it inside. So hot, so sweet, so utterly intoxicating.
He felt her hand on his waist, her fingers splaying against the muscles there, boldly probing. Sam snaked his arm around her and tugged her closer yet, feeling every inch of her clothed body against his as he slanted his head and took a deeper taste of her. Damn, but she felt good. Need, sure and swift, swept over him as he slid his hand down her slender back toward the upper curve of her bottom.
Something between them vibrated. For a moment, Sam thought he was feeling the electricity generated by their mutual passion. But then he realized it was her cell phone.
He opened his eyes, surprised that he’d completely forgotten where they were.
He had to give Layla credit. Rather than jerking away from him or displaying surprise, she laughed softly and rested her forehead briefly against his. Then she cleared her throat. “So what’s the verdict?” she asked.
“Hmm?” Sam had to restrain himself from pulling her back to him when she stepped out of his arms. “Oh. You definitely taste as good as you look. Better even.”
He heard that sultry laugh again as she dug into her purse and clicked open her cell phone. “Hello?”
Hello was right. Hello, sunshine.
If only tomorrow’s forecast didn’t call for rain.
She snapped the cell closed. “I have an emergency at the clinic.” She began to walk away, then hesitated. “It was nice meeting you…”
Nice didn’t begin to cover it. “Same here.” He took her hand and shook it, trying to ignore the heat that shot through his body at the contact. The dampness of her palm made him think of all things hot and wet. Now, how should he handle her subtle prompting for his name? “Let’s just leave it at that, shall we?”
Her smile widened. “Why not?”
Why not, indeed? Sam thought, watching her walk away. He tried to keep a mental image of that beautiful smile, because he had a feeling
