“I’m sorry you didn’t sleep well, Simon.”
“I did manage to get an hour nap in this morning.”
“I’m glad.”
“But you screwed that up, too.”
Her neck pulled back. “I screwed your nap up?”
I nodded slowly.
“How, exactly, did I screw up your nap?”
“You were in my dream, and you were wearing something very special.”
She swallowed. “What was I wearing?”
I dug into my pocket. “This.”
Rightly, she was confused. I was holding an unpackaged tube of women’s lipstick. “Whose lipstick is that?”
“I went to the store and bought it this morning when I woke up. I opened it to make sure it was the exact color you needed.”
Her breathing grew heavier. “You bought me the lipstick I was wearing in your dream?”
“Did you ever dream in black and white before?”
She shook her head.
“Everything in my dream was black and white…” I rubbed my thumb over her lips. “…except for this.”
Her mouth parted, and I knew if I’d dipped my head down and crushed my lips to hers, she wouldn’t stop me. My eyes dropped down to her breasts. Bridget’s nipples were swollen and pointing from under her shirt as her chest rose and fell with deep breaths. God, she’s fucking amazing.
I opened the palm of her hand and folded the lipstick into it. “I can’t wait to see you wear this for me.”
Somehow, I managed to rein myself in enough to step back. As much as I wanted her, as much as it physically pained me to put distance between us, it wasn’t going to be here in the supply closet at work. Because once I got started touching her again, there would be no way I could fucking stop. Plus, Bridget needed to be the one to initiate things so she couldn’t hold it against me.
My girl seemed too stunned to focus on anything so I grabbed the supplies that were needed in the treatment room. “I’ll take care of restocking room three.”
As I reached for the door, her hoarse voice stopped me from opening. “Simon?”
“Yes, luv?”
“What were we doing in your dream that I was wearing this red lipstick?”
I smiled broadly, thrilled that she’d asked. “Your beautiful red lips were wrapped around my cock.”
Simon and I had somehow ended up working opposite shifts over the next several days.
The break was both good and bad. While I’d definitely missed the excitement of seeing him, when he wasn’t working the ER, I didn’t have to worry about any distractions.
I was in the middle of another Simon-less shift—or so I thought—when I heard his voice behind me.
“Thought you’d get lucky another day without me, eh?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, this is an emergency room. And I’m a doctor, so…”
“I know, but you weren’t supposed to be on this shift.”
“I switched with Dr. Boyd. He had an obligation.”
“I see.”
“And I missed you. So, I took advantage of the opportunity, even if it’s just working alongside you. It’s the only way I get to see you these days.”
“It has seemed like a while. How are things over at Calliope’s?”
“She’s pretty sick of my smart mouth in the morning. I’ve been interrupting her quiet time. She needs lots of coffee before she can deal with me, apparently. I think she’s ready to be rid of me. Luckily, I think I found a place.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. A small apartment in Wayland Square with no lease.”
I pretended to be happy for him. “That’s great.”
A part of me was sort of hoping that he wouldn’t be able to find anything, that he would decide to come back to my house. That was stupid, but nevertheless, I had hoped. His moving into a new place seemed like the first step toward his leaving my life altogether.
“Yeah, it’ll do,” he said. “It’s small, but it will only be temporary.”
Temporary. Right. Because you’re leaving. Get that in your head, Bridget.
Simon was staring at my lips then his eyes travelled down to my breasts. I changed the subject.
“Brendan told me you’ve been keeping in contact with him.”
“We text back and forth, yeah. I don’t want him to feel like I can’t be there for him just because I’ve moved out. I’ve told him I’m just a phone call or text away anytime he needs to talk.”
“That’s very nice of you. I know he appreciates your friendship.”
I know now that’s all it will ever be—a friendship. That’s for the best.