He forced a smile. “Well, you can never have too many of those.”
Heavenly absently stroked the side of her water cup. “It’s been so long since I’ve had any, so I really value the time you spend with me. I know you’re busy—”
“Unless I’m elbows deep in a patient, I’m never too busy for you.”
He meant that, but he’d had lunch with her almost every day for a week and he was only more desperate to touch her. Still, if all he ever had with Heavenly was conversation, that was better than having no part of her at all.
“I’m really grateful, but I don’t want to cause problems,” she murmured. “I-I mean, if you have a girlfriend or someone spec—”
“I don’t.” And if he was merely her “friend,” why did she want to know his relationship status?
Heavenly looked surprised…but distinctly not unhappy. “I just assumed you would since you’re, um…good-looking and successful and really, really nice.”
Nice? He’d been called a lot of four-letter words, but never that one.
She dropped her gaze, suddenly fascinated with the scarred Formica table between them. “Now that I think about it, Raine mentioned you were single…”
So, she was interested in him as more than a friend. Jesus… What the hell was he going to do? Resisting her was getting really fucking hard. Because so was he.
Beck scowled. “Raine meddles.”
“She communicates.”
He snorted. “Should I be worried?”
“No, silly. We just like to see the people we care about happy. I know she thinks the world of you.”
Was Heavenly saying she cared about him, too? “She’s the little sister I never wanted.”
Heavenly laughed. “She feels the same.”
The quiet between them hummed with awareness. Had Heavenly ever imagined him as the lover who could teach her the joys of raw, primal, deep, consuming sex? Or had her sheltered little fantasies even progressed beyond kisses?
Beck mentally jerked on the reins of his libido by extracting an envelope from his pocket. “When you mentioned you were writing a paper on Guillain-Barré Syndrome, I did some research and talked to Dr. Litchfield, who’s the head of neurology.”
Heavenly plucked up the envelope and eased it open with glee. She scanned the information he’d printed off for her, along with several medical journals with articles about the disease. Her baby blues went wide. “This is great. Thank you so much!”
“You’re welcome. I didn’t know much about the disease when you first asked, but I do now. You picked a rare and ugly disorder to focus on.”
Her happiness faded into a somber nod. “The way the virus strikes with little or no warning is frightening. But the way it assaults the patient’s immune system, which turns against the nerves, is even more terrible.”
Beck agreed. “I’ll keep wading through my medical journals for more articles and bring you what I find.”
“I would really appreciate that. I want to know as much as I can.”
“You’re welcome.” Picking up his sandwich, Beck finally took a bite. He watched Heavenly pore over the documents as he washed down his food with a gulp of coffee. “How’s your paper coming along? Shouldn’t you be turning it in soon since the semester is ending?”
“What?” She didn’t lift her head, just kept drinking in the words on the page. “Oh, it’s…good. I’ve got a few days. Online classes have a more flexible schedule… It’s taking a little extra time because I’ve decided to make this a case study. I’ll learn more that way.”
She was dedicated. And compassionate. She really would make a great nurse. Beck vowed to do everything he could to help her.
“Great idea.”
She kept reading. “Thanks.”
He gently grazed his fingers over her delicate knuckles to get her attention…and for the pure pleasure of touching her. When she lifted those big blue eyes to him, Beck held in a groan. “Are you sure you won’t let me buy you lunch?”
“I’m positive. As usual, I got full on the goodies at the nurses’ station.”
Still, he felt guilty for stuffing his face every day while she sipped water. “Those ‘goodies’ probably aren’t healthy. You need protein, fruits and vegetables, and complex carbohydrates, little girl.”
Heavenly lifted her chin in a defiant tilt. “I learned about the food pyramid in grade school, Dr. Beckman. I’m just not hungry.”
God, he’d love to slide his fingers into her hair, bend her over the table, and rip away her pastel-green scrubs before he spanked the sass out of her. After she counted, begged, and cried, he’d curl her onto his lap, hold her tight, and reassure her…right before he fucked her raw.
Down, boy. Down.
Seconds later, Heavenly’s stomach let out an audible growl. She ignored it. Beck wasn’t fooled. He didn’t know what she was up to, but she sure as hell wasn’t going hungry.
Without a word, he pulled out his wallet and plucked out a twenty. Gripping her wrist, he shoved the money in her palm and curled her fingers closed. “You will get yourself something healthy to eat now.”
“But—”
“It wasn’t a request.” He dropped his voice and pinned her with an expression ripe with displeasure. “Go.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I do. We’re done discussing this.”
The sleeping Dominant inside him stretched and roared. Beck mentally tightened the leash on his dark side.
Begrudgingly, she rose to her feet, resolution stamping her face. “Just this once.”
Beck raised a brow at her. We’ll see about that.
As she walked away, he watched the smooth sway of her ass.
“Ahem.” The not-so-subtle clearing of a woman’s throat caught his attention.
Reluctantly, he dragged his stare from Heavenly and peered up, half expecting Kathryn or one of her slut squad. Instead, he found the hospital’s nursing administrator standing over him.
He stifled a guilty grimace. “Good afternoon, Nurse Lewis. Can I do something for you?”
“I’m sorry to interrupt your…lunch.” A knowing smirk curled the corners of
