“I’m good.” He stopped the bouncing, and Liv quickly lifted her hand away.
“Miss Lincoln,” the nurse said.
Liv got to her feet. She couldn’t help but smile when Danny tossed the magazine onto the side table and jumped to his.
The pretty RN held the office door open. “Hi, Danny.”
“Hi, Sabrina.”
It was clear by the look that passed between Danny and the nurse that they knew each other. In that way. Liv’s muscles clenched in discomfort—and displeasure. It shouldn’t bother her, but it did. So much so that she wondered if she should find a different doctor so she didn’t have to see Sabrina on every visit.
Once inside the patient room, Sabrina motioned for Danny to take a seat in a chair by the window while Liv sat on the examination table. She wrote down Liv’s health history, then took her vitals and weight. Sabrina was warm and friendly, and Liv liked her. Of course she did. Danny didn’t choose standoffish women for his quick liaisons.
Sabrina motioned for Liv to follow her to the restroom so Liv could leave a urine sample. When Liv returned to the room, Sabrina pulled a paper gown and paper drape out of the cupboard underneath the sink and directed Liv to remove all of her clothing and put it on, open in the front. “The doctor will be in shortly,” Sabrina said as she left the room.
“I’ll step into the hallway,” Danny said. Not much ruffled him, but Liv was pretty sure if he had feathers they’d be mussed right now.
“No! I mean, you can’t. Supposedly you’ve seen me naked.” Liv did a Vanna White sweep toward her tummy. “Just turn around.”
Even with his back to her, and knowing he couldn’t see anything—and didn’t care to—it didn’t stop tiny sparks of awareness from flickering over her exposed skin. Danny sat a few feet away, yet she’d never been so acutely aware of him. His body, his strength, his appeal.
She’d loved him for a long time, as best friends do, but what she felt for him right this minute added a new layer to that affection. She told her hormonal brain to let it go, to look at things from a clinical standpoint. They were both mature adults who could handle some nakedness. Feelings and emotions were not required. In fact, they were better left forgotten, stuffed into a box and left in a waterproof vault at the bottom of the ocean.
“All set.”
Danny turned. His gaze went right to her bare legs before jumping up to her face. He and Zane had taught her to surf and they’d swam in the ocean together a hundred times, so he’d seen her in less than the paper robe, but something flashed in his eyes this time that she’d never noticed before.
“You nervous?” he asked.
“A little.” As always, he sensed her anxiety, but he didn’t know part of it was because of this new vibe between them. Did he feel the weirdness, too? “I’m sorry I’ve put you in an uncomfortable position. I forgot about the whole paper gown thing.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“But you didn’t sign up for it.”
“Don’t start thinking I’m not happy to be doing this, Liv. You’re stuck with me, so quit worrying.” He pushed his legs out and crossed them at the ankles, slouched against the chair back.
She appreciated his relaxed posture considering he was the one stuck, not her. “So, Sabrina, huh? Is that going to be a problem?”
“What? No.”
“Come on. She looked at you like she wanted to climb you like a stripper pole.”
He shook his head in confusion. “I don’t even know what that means, but no.”
Liv raised her eyebrows.
“We got together a couple of times, but I haven’t seen her in months.”
“Okay. Change of topic. Is there such a thing as a bacon and honey sandwich because I think I need one.” Danny made a face like he’d eaten something sour. “On toasted bread that’s been buttered.” Liv let out a sigh. “I think I’m having my first craving. I had no idea it would be so specific. Got a fix for me when we’re done here?”
“Absolutely.” His expression softened. A smile played at the corners of his lips.
“Awesome.”
“Always.”
Liv grinned. Years ago, she, Danny, and Bryce had taken a road trip up to Otter Creek, Oregon, to see Zane surf and they’d played the one-word-that-starts-with-the-same-letter game. Bryce had kicked their butts, but every now and then when he wasn’t around, she or Danny liked to toss the challenge out. The only catch? It had to make sense in the context of their conversation. “Admirable,” she tossed back.
“Accidental.”