“I’ll be back. Hold down the fort.”
“Will do,” he mumbled.
Raine took a moment to try to squeeze some of the water out of her pant legs, then snatched up her dry clothes and shoes and headed out of the room barefoot. She jogged lightly to the elevator, praying that she didn’t see anyone she knew on the way up to the employee apartments. She had no idea how she would explain away her… self.
Since she was one of the nurses that stayed on-site and had her own apartment, she’d never been assigned an actual locker in the locker room. She could probably just pick one but it seemed silly with her living quarters mere steps away.
When the doors opened she almost thought she was home free, until she stepped inside. Noah Cross was inside, against the right hand wall. Oh, no, why did it have to be him?
Blinking, she forced herself to look away from his glorious form and stepped inside, holding her clothing in front of her protectively. She’d met the man a few weeks ago and she was a little unclear about why he was here. Apparently he’d been Elizabeth’s son’s bodyguard at one point, but now he was some kind of patient liaison. At least, that was the title he’d been given, but she’d drawn blood from him before. He wasn’t a patient, per se, but he seemed to have been given the same drug or a variation that the other patients had been given. It had affected his hearing in some way. He always wore either ear buds, like were around his neck now, or bigger headphones.
“Hey,” she squeaked.
“Hey,” he murmured, voice incredibly low. “You might want to hit a button.”
She glanced at the dark panel and punched the seventh floor, face flaming, then stared straight ahead, praying that the elevator would jump to warp speed any second. Out of her peripheral vision she saw him look down her form to the floor, then back up again.
God, why did it have to be Noah? The man was ridiculously attractive, with smooth skin a shade lighter than actual teak wood. He wore a thin stripe of black hair along his sharp jawline, as well as a neat beard and mustache. It probably took him a decent amount of time to keep it that perfect, she thought.
It was obvious he’d just come from the basement gym because he was dressed in shorts and a black, tank-type t-shirt. His skin glistened in the light of the elevator, and the perpetual earbuds hung around his neck. Sweat gleamed on his shoulders under the ceiling light and it was harder than heck to drag her gaze away. Watching the numbers change on the display she wondered if she would ever have enough courage to approach a man like Noah, a man so beautiful and… slightly scary. Though she hadn’t been in the profession long, she prided herself on her ability to separate herself from her patients, but she had a feeling she would smudge that line in a heartbeat if he showed any inclination.
“You’re, uh, kinda raining,” he pointed out, mouth quirking in a smile. “Raine.”
She looked at him. “What?”
He glanced down at the floor and Raine followed his look. A puddle was spreading beneath her cold, bare feet. “Oh, no!”
Squatting down she put the towel beneath her feet and swiped up the water with the excess fabric. She hadn’t even noticed, but he had. Great impression, she sighed. Again, she squeezed her pant legs with the towel, hoping to absorb some of the water.
“You’re very wet,” he said when she stood, and her face flamed, though she knew what he meant. Her brain had just jumped to the inappropriate.
“I, uh, got into the shower with a patient.”
Her mouth fell open in horror and she looked up at him. He was frowning and looking at her oddly, waiting for an explanation. “Not the way you’re thinking,” she hissed, praying that the weight of her sodden hair would keep the top of her head from blowing off.
His dark brows lifted and his clear eyes, an incredible shade of dark gold, glinted with humor. Then his gaze slid down her body, across the expanse of her wet t-shirt. Raine knew her breasts were already pebbled from the cold, and they firmed even more as she felt the weight of his gaze for that split second. She jerked her arms to her chest, then leaned down to snatch up the towel from beneath her feet as the elevator dinged to a stop—finallythankGodhallelujah-- gathering it to her chest as well. When the doors slid open he held a hand out for her to exit first. Raine gritted her teeth and walked out, thankful that there was carpet in this hallway. It padded her steps as she jogged lightly down to her door, fumbling for her keycard. She could feel Noah walking slowly behind her, giving her time to get through her door and into her apartment.
Then she realized that he could probably see her panties through the super-thin fabric of the pale blue scrub pants. What was she wearing today? She wracked her brain, trying to remember, but it was useless in her flustered state.
Finally, the door lock released and she stumbled inside, then she slammed the door shut behind herself, panting. Holy Toledo, she would never live that down. Great way to show the man what a professional nurse she was. Not!
Padding through her entryway and living room she entered the bedroom, already tugging her wet t-shirt over her head. When she saw her emoji-covered underwear, she groaned out loud, wondering how she would face the man again. Surely he had seen the cartoons through the paper thin fabric of the scrubs.
Sigh…
Noah was way out of her league. The man was dangerous and his ever-steady gaze made her wish she
