Me: On my way.
I catch Stephanie on her way back to the desk as I grab my purse. “Taking my break. Want me to grab you anything from the cafeteria?”
“Ooh, coffee would be amazing. Almond milk, extra sweet, please.”
“You got it.”
The slow elevator ride is almost painful. I tap my badge against my thigh as I run through different possibilities in my mind. By the time the doors open on the ground floor, I’ve already mentally outlined three different approaches to getting more information from Jess. But of course they’re only approaches. What actually happens will be entirely different, I’m sure.
Jazz renditions of holiday classics float from speakers in the ceilings, and warm white lights twinkle through the hallways of the hospital’s main floor. It’s a nice change up from the clinical blandness of the med-surg unit.
The cafeteria is almost empty at this hour. There’s a few visitors grabbing a late dinner and employees like me on break before the kitchen closes for the night. I spot Damon immediately, sitting vigilant in a corner booth that gives him a perfect line of sight to all three entrances. His back is to the wall, phone face-down on the table, leather jacket slung over the seat beside him.
Damn, he looks good enough to eat. He’s in dark jeans and a charcoal henley that hugs his shoulders. The sleeves are shovedup past his elbows, showing off his inked forearms corded with lean muscle. Every time I look at them, I remember just how good he is with his hands. His hair is a mess, like he’s been running his fingers through it, and his jawline has a faint hint of dark scruff. To anyone watching, he’s just a hot guy impatiently waiting for his girlfriend.
But I know better.
I can see the way his eyes track every person who walks by. I know his vibrating leg won’t stop until I’m next to him. I can read the tension in his shoulders that never fully relaxes when we’re in public.
For a moment, I wonder if I look similar nowadays. My body certainly feels tense, my mind constantly spinning.
I don’t have time to dwell.
Once I’m a few steps from the entrance, our eyes meet across the room, and everything I was just thinking about falls away. That’s what it’s always like with Damon. The entire world narrows down to just us. It’s something primal, otherworldly. This magnetic pull that’s existed between us from the very first moment he broke into my bedroom.
He doesn’t smile, not fully, but his expression softens in a way that’s only for me.
A male nurse brushes past me on his way to the coffee station, and Damon shoots out of his seat like he’s ready to draw blood.
I narrow my gaze and shake my head.Simmer down, killer.
He doesn’t wait for me to reach him. He closes the distance in seconds, arms open, waiting for me to take my place against his chest. He smells incredible. Leather and smoke and home. I breathe him in before tipping my head up to meet his gaze. “Hi.”
Those amber eyes gleam like warm honey as he finally awards me a smile. “What took you so long?”
“Oh, you know, just meeting up with my other boyfriends first to give them their Christmas gifts. I have one on each floor… Takes a while.” I smirk and wrap my fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck.
“You’re getting coal in your stocking for that, Angel.” His fingers catch my chin and his mouth finds mine in a warm kiss. I press in closer, fisting his hair, losing myself in him… until I remember where we are and pull back.
He clears his throat, keeping his hand on my waist. “Yeah… naughty list for sure.”
“I know you’re full of it. You think I haven’t seen the present stash in the office?”
“If we were home right now, I’d spank that round ass for being a bad little snoop,” he says, his voice almost a growl. “Actually?—”
I yelp, as his palm comes down on my left ass cheek. Not hard, but enough that I’ll feel him there for the rest of the night. “I can’t believe you just?—”
He wraps his hand in mine and pulls me toward the booth. “Come on, I got you your latte.”
Guess I’m done arguing.
“Thanks?”
Spankings and lattes… not a bad way to spend an evening.
He waits for me to sit before taking his place against the wall. There’s a plastic shopping bag next to my drink, before I can ask what’s inside, he pushes it toward me.
“I stopped at Whole Foods. Turkey wrap and those jalapeno chips you love.”
