Chapter Five
LEXI DIDN’T REALIZE she was still sitting in her car in the parking lot of the hospital staring off into the distance—probably with a very goofy grin on her face—until Melinda texted asking where she was. Crap, she was supposed to meet her friend for lunch fifteen minutes ago.
It wasn’t her fault. She couldn’t be blamed for wanting to relive last night’s date with Dane. It had been pretty awesome. In fact, she was certain it was going to go down as one of the very best dates of her life. She couldn’t even say which part of the evening had been her favorite.
Dane had picked a great place for dinner, but while the food had been amazing, the conversation had been even better. She couldn’t remember when she’d had so much fun getting to know a guy. He’d been so easy to talk to, and considering the kind of personal stuff he’d gotten into, it seemed obvious he was comfortable with her as well. If they hadn’t done anything else last night but talk, she would have been fine with that.
But to say theyhaddone something else last night was an understatement. The entire evening at the club had been amazing. The kiss they’d shared on the dance floor had about lit her on fire. She’d already been a little aroused from the flirting during dinner, and dancing with Dance had only gotten her hotter. If he hadn’t dragged her off the dance floor when he did, she might not have been responsible for what happened next.
But, truthfully, as turned on as she’d gotten from that, it paled in comparison to what they’d done on the bull. She only prayed it didn’t show up on YouTube because they’d come damn close to have sex right there on that mechanical testament to humanity’s lack of intelligence.
At first, she’d been too nervous at the prospect of getting tossed off the thing to consider how sexual their position on the bull really was. But then Dane had wrapped his strong arms around her, positioning one hand between her legs while his hard cock had pressed up against her bottom. That’s when she figured out things were about to get a little naughty
Okay, maybe alotnaughty. Without a doubt, what they’d done on that bull had been the sexiest thing ever. She hadn’t merely gotten excited, aroused, and wet as hell. If they hadn’t fallen off when they had, she was thoroughly convinced she would have climaxed at some point.
Orgasm by mechanical bull—that would definitely have been a first for her. Okay, she was born and bred in Texas, and that still sounded wrong.
She’d been a little dazed during the drive back to her place, but Dane hadn’t seemed to mind. He’d tugged her across the bench seat of his pickup truck and snuggled her close. That was when Lexi knew they had something really good going on. If you could sit in comfortable silence with a guy for that long and not feel the urge to fill it with meaningless chitchat, then he was definitely a keeper.
Dane had been the perfect gentleman when they’d gotten back to her place, walking Lexi all the way to her apartment and making sure she got in okay. While he’d been telling her he had a great time and was looking forward to going out with her again, she’d pulled him inside for a good night kiss. No way in hell was she letting him get away without one—not after he’d gotten her so fired up.
That good night kiss had turned into a twenty minute make out session against the wall by the front door, and it had taken all her control to keep from dragging him off to her bedroom. The man could kiss like nobody’s business!
Before he’d left, they’d set up another date for Sunday, their next day off. Lexi had to work hard to convince herself she could hold out that long. Yeah, she’d see him at work on Saturday, but that was different. At work, she’d have to be on her best behavior. That mean no kissing on top of the fire truck—or anywhere else for that matter.
After sending Melinda a quick text to let her know she was there, Lexi reached into the backseat to grab the bag of books and magazines she’d brought for Wayne. Since she was meeting Melinda for lunch anyway, she figured she’d stop by and visit the older man while she was there.
Lexi waved at a few of the doctors and nurses she knew as she made her way to the nurse’s station in the ER. Melinda wasn’t there yet, so Lexi asked the nurse at the desk if she knew what room Wayne was in. Since his injuries were minor, she doubted they’d left him in one of the urgent care rooms. She only hoped they hadn’t already released him.
The nurse at the desk was still checking which room Wayne was in when Melinda’s voice interrupted them.
“You don’t need to do that, Kim. I got it.”
Lexi turned and gave her roommate a smile. Melinda had worked late last night then come in early this morning. It was barely noon, and she already looked exhausted.
“Hey,” Lexi said. “I brought some books and magazines for Wayne to read. I thought I’d drop them off before we grab lunch.”
Melinda didn’t return her smile. For some reason, Lexi suddenly got a funny feeling in her stomach. She wasn’t sure what her friend’s silence meant, but she didn’t like it.
“What is it?” she asked.
Melinda shook her head. “I’m sorry. Wayne didn’t make it.”
Lexi stared, sure she hadn’t heard right. “Wait…what?”
“Wayne passed away during the night.” Melinda sighed. “I think it was his heart.”
Tears stung Lexi’s eyes. She blinked them back, stunned by her reaction to Wayne’s death. She’d been doing this job for a long time. Although losing patients was always hard, she’d gotten used to it. But Wayne was different. He wasn’t supposed to die.
“How is that even possible?” she demanded. “Dane stopped to see Wayne yesterday and said he was fine. They talked for hours.”
Tears trickled down her face. She tried to dash them away so no one would see. She was a paramedic, dammit. Paramedics weren’t supposed to cry.
“Melinda, is everything okay?”
Lexi turned and saw a middle-aged man in a white lab coat approaching them, a concerned look on his friendly face. She recognized him as the doctor the news crew had been interviewing the other day about the kid who’d had saved his family from a fire.
“Lexi, this is Dr. Lambert. He’s the attending physician in charge of our residents. Doctor, Lexi Fletcher, a paramedic at one of the local fire stations.” Melinda’s smile was sad. “She’s the one who brought in Wayne Moore.”
