“Nurse, I think if he sees you in that get up you’re going to be there all night long. I know I wouldn’t let you out of my room.” He bit his bottom lip again and this time the blush won out, flushing into my cheeks.
“Well, good thing he won’t be able to chase after me then, huh?” I laughed and the prospect laughed too. “I better get in there.”
I turned the handle on the door and pushed it open before going inside. With my shoulders back, my head high, and Jenna’s words in my head, I felt good, pretty, confident, and I was determined to own it.
He was sitting in bed, as usual, scowling at something on the TV, and didn’t bother to look up as he started to yell at me for being late.
“Should have bene here twenty minutes ago, Belle. This shit ain’t good enough. We pay your wages you know, you can’t just fucking turn up whenever you feel like it. This isn’t fuckin’ Hooters,” he snapped, finally tearing his eyes away from the TV as he automatically clicked it off. His mouth clamped shut when he saw me, and I felt his heated stare on my body as I strode across the room trying to act completely casual.
“Listen, first, Thursday is my day off, as you well know, and second, I wasn’t going to come in tonight at all, but I did because you requested me to, so stop yelling at me or I’ll just leave you here in pain,” I replied as calmly as I could.
Walking to the cupboard, I used my key to unlock it and get out the meds I needed and then I loaded them onto the cart. I began to pull it over to the side of his bed, still not meeting his gaze but feeling it with every move I took. He hadn’t said another word since I’d answered him back, but he also hadn’t stopped staring at me, so I was taking that as a win. I refused to look him in the eye, instead focusing on putting on some gloves and opening the tub of ointment.
I peeled back the sheet to his waist. “These are looking really good, Beast,” I said, scooping out some of the cream. And they were. Like really good. The bruises had all but gone and his skin had healed really well. He was still hugely scarred, obviously, but he was definitely on the other side of healing now. He still hadn’t spoken so I chanced it and finally looked at him, automatically wishing that I hadn’t.
Beast was scowling, which wasn’t really unusual for him, but there was something fiercer in his expression than usual. His mouth was set in a thin, hard line as I set about my business, choosing not to bait him anymore, and it seemed like he was happy enough to give me the cold shoulder too. Instead, I ignored the deafening silence in favor of applying the cream over his burns, and for once he was silent. No grumbling. No complaining. No hissing in pain. He was just silent. Watching me move around the bed, applying the cream to his various burns. When I was done, I screwed the lid back on the cream and placed it back on the cart. It made me wonder how much of the complaining he usually did was actually real.
I cleared my throat. “Just your meds now and we’re done here,” I said, looking at him again.
His scowl had gone, but his eyes were still dark and stormy. “I don’t need ’em tonight,” he said, his voice a deep rumble in the quiet room.
“Well, you might not think you need them, but you do. It’s not just for the pain, it’s for the healing, Beast, and you want to get better, don’t you?”
“That’s a stupid fucking question,” he snapped, and I rolled my eyes at him.
“There’s the Beast we all know and love.” I smirked and almost fell over when he smirked back. He dropped it just as quickly as it came, though. We stared at one another in silence for a moment, something passing between us that I couldn’t explain. He seemed different—or maybe it was me. I hated being in that room, but there was also something comfortable and familiar about being in there too.
“You going out?” he asked, nodding toward my outfit.
I’d chosen four-inch heels to wear, which I would never normally do because I felt more comfortable in sneakers, but with the shorts, they made my legs look long and graceful and my ass look pert. I was lucky enough that I had great skin so didn’t need much makeup, but I’d still gone for smoky eyes and a little lip gloss, and my hair was thick and curled around my shoulders. I felt good, and I knew that I looked good too.
I certainly looked better than when I was in the awful, too-big nurse’s outfit.
“That’s a stupid fucking question,” I retorted playfully, raising an eyebrow at him.
His smile grew, and if I didn’t know any better I would have thought that he actually wanted to laugh. Could it be that the man with the heart of stone was cracking? And all it took was a little leg and some heels?
I got his meds from the table and poured a glass of water from the jug. His eyes were on my every move as I walked around the room fetching things, and I hated that I’d turned intothatgirl, but I couldn’t the extra swing of my hips I gave as I walked.
“Open up,” I ordered, holding the pills in one hand and the water in the other.
He swallowed, his face growing thoughtful. “Who’s the lucky guy? Or girl. No judgment from me.”
I shook my head, my grin still I place as I tried to keep things light between us. I was so close to getting out of there.
“I’m serious, Belle.”
I put down the water and sighed. So much for getting through this quickly. The one and only time he was in a chatty mood and I didn’t have the time for him. I almost felt guilty, but then I remembered it was my day off and I was there because he’d forced me to be.
“It’s a guy,” I replied, putting one hand to my hip.
His eyes watched my every move, taking in every little thing I did.
“Shame,” he tutted. “Could have really got behind seeing you with a girl.”
“What is it with guys wanting to watch girls hook up?” I chuckled with a shake of my head.
“It’s hot,” he replied bluntly, his eyes cold. “All that ass and tits. All that soft pussy being licked and sucked.”
