“I’m going to kiss you,” he announced.
The jolt sent her heart into panic mode. “You can’t!” she told him, and yet, she didn’t pull back. “I’m your doctor.”
Slowly, he shook his head, those blue eyes staring into hers, conveying a message that she both loved and…knew was very wrong. “You’re a woman who came to my apartment, Abigail.”
“Abby,” she corrected. “No one calls me Abigail unless I’m in trouble.”
He smiled slightly, and bent lower, brushing his lips over hers tantalizingly. “Shut up, Abby.”
Abby almost laughed, but the way he kissed her felt…wonderful! Scary, but amazing.
Yeah, she was in big trouble!
“I really need to look at your back,” she murmured when he lifted his head slightly.
“In a minute,” he countered, lifting her chin with a fingertip and covered her lips with his, deepening the kiss.
Abby gasped when she felt his tongue against her lips, but she couldn’t have stopped herself from responding even if she’d wanted to. He was just that potent!
Moving closer, her hands slid slowly up his chest. That’s when she felt his arm wrap around her waist, pressing her against him and her mind blanked as instinct took over. She was mesmerized by his kiss, feeling her body tingling all over in anticipation of…!
The hissing pulled her out of the lust induced haze and Abby pulled back, blinking up at him with surprise. Then she realized what happened and gasped, stepping out of his arms. “I’m so sorry!” she whispered, her fingers moving to her lips that were still tingling.
He laughed softly and pulled her in again. “Not your fault, Abby,” he assured her. “It was my fault. I’m the one that tried to pick you up.”
She blinked, her hands resting on his shoulders as she tried to make sense of his words. “Why did you try to pick me up?”
His other hand moved to slide across her cheek again. “So that I could carry you into my bedroom and make love to you.”
He said it as if the idea were a foregone conclusion. “Into your bedroom? And…!” She pulled out of his arms, shaking her head. “Nope! No way! I told you five days with no physical activities. Nothing strenuous.”
He chuckled, following as she hurriedly retreated. “Okay, then you be on top.”
Abby blushed as that image popped into her mind. “Um…you’re…Colonel Jeffers, I just…!”
Her hand fluttered as she tried to tuck her hair back behind her ears.
“Let’s get something straight, Abby. There’s something going on between us. You came here tonight to find out what it was. And if you hadn’t come here, then I would have sought you out at the hospital over the next couple of days. But there’s no way that we can ignore this. It’s too strong. And if those dark circles under your eyes are any indication, you’re not sleeping any better than I am.”
She shook her head. “Colo…”
He growled warningly. “If you use my title one more time, we’re going to see how strong your stitches really are.”
Abby pressed her lips together for a long moment, giving him her best “doctor” glare. With a tone that didn’t allow any argument, she pointed to the club chair he’d perched on previously. “Sit down. I’m going to look at your back, apply the ointment that you should have been applying every day, and then I’m leaving.”
He looked at her intently for a long moment, then moved towards the chair. “Why not stick around and have some dinner?”
“Because I’m here…”
He stopped her with a shake of his head. “No, you’re not. You’re not just here as a doctor, Abby.” His hand slid up her back, proving his point when she shivered. “You’re here as a woman. A confident, powerful woman who needs to accept that you’re also a sexually vibrant woman who wants me.” He leaned down a bit more as he said, “Don’t hide from it. Embrace it.”
And with that, he turned around and sat back down on the club chair, giving her his back again. “Why did you decide to become a doctor?” he asked, changing the topic.
It took Abby several moments to get herself under control. His question helped and she turned her attention to his back. Pulling on a pair of gloves, Abby carefully peeled the bandage away and peered at the raw, torn flesh on his back. “I don’t really know,” she admitted. “I just sort of fell into it.”
He glanced at her over his shoulder. “How does that work? I thought most doctors spent their lives knowing that they want to become a doctor.”
While Abby smiled as she touched his flesh with her gloved finger, and wishing that she could pull off the gloves and touch his skin, she considered her answer. “Actually, when I was little, I wanted to be a fashion designer. When I got to be a little older, I wanted to be a mystery writer. When I reached high school, I knew that I was going to be president of the United States.”
“Seriously?” he asked, surprised, but she heard the amusement in his voice even if she couldn’t see his face at this moment.
“Yep. I was head of the debate team and loved politics. I read every article I could find on the presidential election that year, and I loved reading books about the Constitution. So I probably would have headed into law school.”
“What changed your trajectory?”
“Well, my father was a Navy SEAL and, during my sophomore year of high school, he was killed on a mission.” She pulled out the container of antibacterial ointment she’d brought with her, squeezing some
