It was just Cherry he lusted after. Nurse Cherry was raising his temperature to explosive levels. Naughty nurse. Heh heh.
He watched the clock, judging when she’d arrive home, and then he rang. No answer. He rang fifteen minutes later, but still no answer. He waited half an hour and no answer. He thought about going over and making sure she was all right. Hell, anyone could have hit her on the head when she got out of her car late at night. By herself.
He rang again. By eleven o’clock he was ready to ring the hospital and find out if she was still there. Shit, he was turning into a stalker. Nurses sometimes worked late, depending on what was happening, and he didn’t have the right of a husband, live-in boyfriend, or fiancée to ring the hospital and find out. Plus he was pretty sure she’d fry his balls if he did ring.
He rang at eleven thirty and she answered.
“Hello?” She sounded tired.
“Hey, love.” Tension uncoiling inside him, he leaned back in the armchair. “You sound tired. Hard shift?”
“Busy. One of the patients went into organ failure.”
“Nasty. You all right?”
“Fine. What are you still doing up?” She yawned.
Waiting for you. Worrying myself sick. Wondering if I am turning into a stalker. “Just watching some TV, thought I’d call and whisper sweet nothings in your ear.”
“That’s nice.” She yawned again and spoke softly to someone.
Rick was immediately on the alert, only to relax once more when he heard Frizz’s complaining meow coming through the line, followed by Cherry’s clearer words as she turned back to the phone.
“The cats are hungry,” she explained unnecessarily. “I’m going to feed them and then go to bed.”
“Want a back rub?” he asked, only half joking.
Obviously the heart of his desire didn’t take the hint, because she only yawned again and mumbled, “Aren’t you working tomorrow?”
“Yes. But for you I’ll make it a later night.”
She laughed. “Yeah, right.”
“Seriously.” The yawn this time was so loud that he could almost picture her half asleep on her aching feet. Gently, he added, “Go to bed, love. No doubt I’ll see you at the hospital tomorrow.”
“Right,” she mumbled. “’Night.”
Listening to the dial tone, Rick thought it was probably the first time in his history that a woman had hung up on him. He just wished he could be there to rub her aching feet, to give her an erotic little shower, and then tuck her snugly into bed.
Instead, he was going to go to his own bed alone and stare at the ceiling all night, thinking of what he wanted right now but couldn’t have.
The phone rang and he picked it up listlessly. “Yeah?”
“Geez, bro,” his sister’s voice came down the line. “Sound enthusiastic. Watcha doing?”
“In danger of turning into a stalker.”
“Ooohhh, tell me all about it.”
He smiled a little. “Tell me why you’re ringing, first.”
“David and I had a little disagreement.”
Rick sighed. Oh, joy. He settled in to hear about her woes, knowing from experience that his big sister was going to tell him whether he wanted to listen or not. “I’ve got an early morning, so don’t take too long.”
“That David is such an arse, did you know that?”
“From the moment you first told me years ago.”
~*~
Cherry was making the bed when she felt someone watching her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Rick standing in the doorway, a patient’s file in his hands. His gaze slid over her warmly, but there was a shadow in his eyes.
Clearing her throat, she straightened and turned around. “This isn’t your patient.” Realizing how that sounded, she bit her lip, glad that said patient was in the shower with the door shut. “I beg your pardon. Did you want something, Doctor?”
His smile was easy, those green eyes crinkling at the corners in amusement. But there was still that shadow.
Immediately she wondered if he’d changed his mind about them, if he was regretting being intimate with her. Her stomach muscles clenched.
“Actually, Cherry, I was wondering if you could give me a few minutes in the treatment room.”
“Now?” Hell, their familiarity was spilling over into their work relationship. She wouldn’t normally answer a doctor that way. “I mean, certainly.”
He stepped back, allowing her to pass him, and she sucked in a lungful of the aftershave he’d used that morning. Yummy. Mentally shaking her head and girding her loins for bad news, she strode into the treatment room with Rick bringing up the rear.