NYC Angels: Tempting Nurse Scarlet (5 page)

“Did you find what you needed?” he asked.
Please say yes
.

“Yup,” she held up a bag he hoped contained Jessie’s new undergarments.

“This is for you.” He handed her the biggest box of chocolates he could find in the store. “Thank you for coming with us today.”

“Wow.” Scarlet took the box. “The fat cells in my thighs are vibrating with excitement in anticipation of room to expand.”

“I heard how much you and your staff like chocolate,” he said, referring to the box they’d devoured before it could be redirected to his new clerk.

“That we do.” She smiled. He liked making her smile, liked the way her smiles made him feel. “Thank you, from all of us. But in the future, you don’t need to buy me things to spend time with you and Jess. I had fun today.”

“Me, too.” Jessie hugged Scarlet.

Lewis did, too. In fact today had been the most fun he’d had in months. Even with talk of periods and bras.

When they exited Macy’s Lewis asked Scarlet, “Where are you headed from here? You want to share a cab?”

“Nah.” She held up her Metro card. “I’m going to hop a bus to the hospital. I want to stop by to visit Joey before I head home.”

“Is there a problem?”

She shook her head. “No.”

As Lewis watched Scarlet’s appealing form walk away, he realized he was sorry to see her go. And as he raised his hand to hail a cab his mind went to work on creating a reason to see her again soon.

“F
ANCY MEETING YOU
here,” Lewis greeted Scarlet with a big handsome smile as she exited the elevator on her way to the cafeteria.

“A big coincidence indeed on account of it’s Tuesday and you now know I meet Jessie in the cafeteria on Tuesdays and Thursdays around three,” she replied, not letting her happiness at seeing him show. In an unexpected turn of events, she’d been looking forward to the next time their paths would cross. And hoping it’d be sooner rather than later.

“I walked her over.” He held up a cup of coffee. “Then I waited, hoping to see you.”

How sweet.

“I need a favor,” he said.

Not so sweet after all. She tried to walk around him.

He stepped in front of her. “For Jessie. One more and I’m done,” he promised. “Then I won’t bother you again.”

Well forget about the fun they’d had on Saturday, and the signs of a friendship forming between them—that she’d obviously misinterpreted, and the unwanted stirrings of attraction that were totally his fault. All Lewis Jackson wanted from her was help with his daughter. “Lucky me,” she said. “One more favor and you’ll be
done with me. I will have exhausted my usefulness to you, and I didn’t even have to take off my clothes.”

She pushed past him.

“Oh no you don’t.” He draped his arm around her shoulders, guiding her, rather firmly, to the quiet back hallway before releasing her. “What’s wrong?”

Scarlet adjusted her lab coat. “This must be a whopper for you to manhandle me into listening.”

“Why are you mad at me?” he asked, looking truly confused.

Because maybe it’d be nice for a man, one man, any man, to see her as more than a neighbor to get his mail while he’s out of town, or a competent professional nurse managing the NICU, or a resource for parenting his teenage daughter. Maybe it’d be nice to be noticed and appreciated as a woman, someone nice to spend time with and not bad to look at, maybe even a little sexy in the right outfit and dim lighting.

“What did I do?”

“Nothing,” she said. “Stressful day. Overreaction. Let’s move on. What’s the favor?”

“Did you
want
to take your clothes off?” he asked seriously. “Tell me where and when and I will happily and enthusiastically join you.”

Two weeks ago she’d have fired off a sarcastic comeback meant to shut him down. No, she did not want to earn a place on his long list of meaningless one-night-stands or have her name tossed into the hospital’s gossip channels as his latest conquest. But now, things weren’t so clear. He was different than she’d first thought. A caring doctor. A nice guy. A father trying to be a better parent. Maybe—

Loud male voices interrupted her thoughts seconds before two men turned the corner into the back hallway.

“Damn you, Cade,” the older of the two men said, pushing the other man up against the wall. “Do you hear what’s being said about me? People are questioning my integrity and my skill as a surgeon.” Both tall and handsome with dark hair, they could have passed for brothers. “I give you a job and this is how you repay me by trying to ruin my reputation?”

Before they noticed them, Lewis pulled her into an alcove outside a closed janitorial closet door. “This has been brewing for weeks,” he whispered. “Let’s give them a few minutes to work it out.”

“Who are they?” Scarlet whispered back, trying to ignore his close proximity and oh so yummy scent, and the feel of his big, solid, warm body touching hers in so many places.

“The older one is Dr. Alex Rodriguez, the somewhat new head of pediatric neurosurgery,” he said quietly, his mouth right next to her ear, his hot breath making it difficult to concentrate. “The other one is his half-brother, Dr. Cade Coleman, a prenatal surgeon.”

Scarlet peered around the corner.

“Get your hands off of me,” the younger one—Cade—yelled, twisting out of his brother’s grasp. “I didn’t know it was a secret. What’s the big deal? You were cleared of the charges. Nothing sticks to you.”

She turned back to Lewis. “What charges?” she asked quietly.

“From what I’ve heard, Alex was named in a malpractice suit a few years ago after one of his patients died.”

A voice she now recognized as Alex’s yelled, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You always come out on the plus side of things,” Cade replied. “Something bad happens, things get
tough you walk away clean and leave others to deal with the mess.”

“So that’s what this is about? Me leaving? You still haven’t forgiven me?”

Scarlet leaned in toward Lewis and whispered, “I don’t think we should be listening to this.”

“If we leave now we’ll interrupt.” Did he have to breathe so hot and heavy with every response? She tried to ignore the warm flush spreading along the right side of her face, down her neck to her chest. “And they’ll know we’re here.”

Alex said, “I couldn’t take it anymore, the verbal and physical abuse. You were so young and your dad loved you so much. If I’d had any idea he would turn on you after I left, I would have stayed. I promise you that.”

“A lot of good that did me then,” Cade said, sounding worn out. “And it means little to me now.”

“There’s nothing I can do to change what happened other than to apologize. I know it doesn’t change anything, but from the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry. For leaving. For everything you had to endure because I wasn’t there to protect you or help you.”

Scarlet whispered, “How horrible for both of them.”

Lewis nodded. “Now you understand why I didn’t want to interrupt?”

She nodded. When no one spoke Scarlet peeked around the corner. Both men stood there not looking at each other. Then Alex said, “Can we get past it?” He held out his hand.

Cade looked at it.

Scarlet wanted to scream, “Take it. He’s your brother for heaven’s sake.” Oh how she’d wished for a sibling growing up.

Eventually Cade shook his brother’s hand, and Alex
took the opportunity to pull him into a hug. “I love you,” he said.

Cade didn’t reply, but he did pat Alex on the back.

When the men broke apart, they turned and started to walk in her direction. Scarlet ducked back into their hiding spot, sucked in a breath, and tried to blend in with the wall. “They’re coming this way.”

Lewis jumped to action, moving her into the corner, pressing her back into the wall with the front of his body flush against hers.

Okay. Not a bad plan. She’d be well hidden. But what about—?

Her brain ceased to function when he lifted her chin, lowered his head, and set his soft, moist lips on hers.

Just for show, she rationalized, to create a plausible reason for them to be there. In an effort to up the realism of their fictitious interlude she slid her hands up and clasped her fingers behind his neck.

Just playing her part.

His lips separated and his tongue ventured out to explore the seam of her mouth. Looking for entry? Only one way to know for sure, Scarlet created a slim smidgeon of an opening, purely for investigative purposes to see what he’d do.

And
hello
, Lewis thrust his tongue into her mouth, over and over. Something about the taste made her mouth water, made her body ready, made her want—

He closed his arms around her, deepened the kiss and thrust his hips.

Whoa. Holy hard-on. This was realism run amok. At work.

Scarlet forced her head to the side, breaking the kiss. “We can’t.”

He released her instantly but didn’t move. The sound
of their heavy breathing filled the quiet. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I guess I got a little carried away.”

“You guess?” She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back, needing air, but not feeling steady enough to move away from the support of the wall.

He looked down at her and ran a thumb along her lower lip. “You look like you’ve been thoroughly kissed,” he said with the small smile of a man re-living the experience in his mind.

“Perfect,” she snapped, losing patience. “When I’m on my way to meet up with your daughter. What were you thinking?” Scarlet took a tissue from the pack in her pocket and tried to wipe away the remnants of their kiss.

“Well at first I was thinking about hiding you and giving us an excuse to be tucked away in our little nook.” He reached out to touch her cheek. “But you felt so good. And I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long.”

She swatted his hand away. “We’ve known each other for all of eight days and every interaction we’ve had has revolved around your daughter or work. Exactly how long could you possibly have wanted to kiss me?”

“Day three,” he answered without hesitation. “In the cafeteria, when you closed your eyes to imagine me in my underwear.”

“I was pretending,” she lied.

“No you weren’t.” He grinned.

So sure of himself and his appeal. The haze of arousal cleared. Beneath his respected physician, nice guy, good father façade the fire of his womanizing sex-seeker still burned at his core. “Waiting five whole days to kiss a woman you’ve only recently met must have required quite a bit of restraint for someone like you.”

“Someone like me?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. Amused.

“Yes.” She took out her hairband and started to redo her ponytail. “Someone used to having sex with a woman within hours of meeting her.”

He laughed. “If only it were that easy.”

It
was
easy. For him. His good looks, charm, and a smooth confidence combined to form a lethal concoction that wreaked havoc on a woman’s good sense. On
her
good sense. “You disgust me.” She lunged back into the hallway.

“Stop.” He said, holding on to her arm. “I’m sorry. I got carried away. But don’t go getting all holier-than-thou. You enjoyed my kiss.” He leaned in. “Don’t try to deny it.”

No one was that good a liar.

He let out a breath. “Did I blow any chance of you helping me with one more thing for Jessie?” he asked seriously. “Of us maybe being friends?”

“Of course I will do what I can to help you with Jessie,” she said. “She’s a good kid and doesn’t deserve to suffer for the transgressions of her father.”

He smiled, not at all offended by her remark. “Thank you for that,” he said.

“I’ll defer decision on the friends issue until I see how you do at keeping your lips to yourself when we’re together.” Because as each day passed with no progress in locating Holly’s family, Scarlet became more determined to keep baby Joey out of the hands of strangers and more excited about the idea of raising the tiny girl as her own. And as a single woman it would be hard enough to get approval to foster and hopefully adopt Joey. She couldn’t chance rumors of an illicit association with a known hospital player, tarnishing her stellar reputation.

“Deal.” He held out his hand.

But she kind of didn’t want to touch him since her body was just starting to return to normal.

“Don’t be a coward.” His smile was all dare.

She shook his hand.

His skin smooth and warm. His grip powerful.

Stop it!

“During our long talk the other night,” he said, seeming unaware of how the simple act of him touching her hand affected her. “Jessie told me she’s not happy sleeping in the loft.”

She’d mentioned that to Scarlet, too. “It has no door. And it’s the
guest
room.” Jess had shared that it felt like he was keeping her there temporarily until he figured out what to do with her.

“It
was
the guestroom before Jessie came to live with me. I put her up there because the loft has a bed in it.”

Made perfect sense.

“But I want her to know she has a permanent place in my home with her very own bedroom and her very own door. I was hoping you’d help me make it happen while she’s away. As a surprise for when she comes home.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Scarlet said.

“If you’d discreetly find out what colors she likes and what her ideal bedroom would look like, maybe, if you have some time over the weekend, we could go shopping and you could come back to my place and help me put it all together.”

“Right,” she said with as much sarcasm as she could muster. And to add to her overall ‘don’t for one minute think I’m going to fall for your scheme’ body language, she crossed her arms over her chest, cocked her head and gave him ‘the look’. “Like I’m going to go over to your condo when Jessie isn’t there.” Not. Especially after that kiss. Only an insane woman would do that.

“I’d treat you to lunch.” His eyes met hers. “And a nice dinner.”

“So I’d feel indebted to you,” she said, shaking her head. “Not gonna work.”

“I will be the perfect gentleman.” He held up his right hand, again, as if that somehow made his words more believable. “Absolutely no kissing. I promise.”

“You know I think that holding up your right hand thing only works in court. And only when your left hand is resting on a bible.”

He smiled.

“And aren’t you supposed to be working all weekend?” she asked. “Isn’t that the reason you’re sending Jess on vacation without you?”

He turned away and let out a breath. “Call me a bad person, a bad parent. But I’m smart enough to know when I’ve reached my limit. I need a break from parenting so bad I lied, to my parents
and
my daughter.” His eyes met hers. “I will not apologize for taking a few much needed days for myself.”

“All parents deserve a break, Lewis,” Scarlet said, touching his arm to let him know she understood.

He covered her hand with his. “Please,” he said. “Will you help me?”

Scarlet was tempted to say she had to work all weekend.

“Perfect gentleman. I promise,” he said. Then he snapped his fingers. “Let’s go to the chapel. I’m sure I can find a bible in there.”

Scarlet smiled.

“Say you’ll help me.” Lewis tilted his head and made an innocent face. “For Jessie, who should not suffer for my transgressions.”

And Scarlet understood how he’d so successfully
charmed so many women out of their panties. But after the year Jessie had endured, she deserved a beautiful bedroom in her father’s house. Scarlet was a grown woman, she could handle him for a few hours. “Fine. Call me after she leaves,” Scarlet said. “And we’ll set up a time to meet.”