Heat (8 page)

Sales of my dildo line would plummet.

I was dooming him to the poor house. Or worse. It was almost as if he felt like he owned me. Or at least the part of me that made him millions over the years.

Fuck that. It was my cock. And no one was ever going to tell me where to stick it again.

I just laid back and ignored him. I didn’t care about a damn thing he said. For the first time in a long time, I felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders.

It took another fifteen minutes for George to run out of steam. Finally he left, a shell of a man.

But that’s what he’d always been. A shell. And he’d been using me for way too long.

It was time for a change.

Lexi

I kicked up the volume on my headphones as I ran. My feet pounded the sidewalks as I ran through the shabby suburban neighborhood we lived in. Most of LA was going up in value. But all the way out here? Not so much.

It was safe. But that was it.

Nobody took pride in their houses. The landscaping was laughable. There weren’t any parks in walking distance. It was an hour to the beach. I didn’t have any nostalgia about growing up here.

I would leave in a heartbeat if we could afford it.

Maybe someday…

If
I made head nurse.

I tried to clear my mind, let the thoughts slide away. I used to run a few times a week. It had been a while. But it had been an easy few days at work and an easy few days at home with Char. Everything was calm for once. So I jumped at the chance for some me time.

Trouble was, I was having trouble keeping my thoughts off of one certain person…

BEEP

Speak of the devil. He was like clock work. I sighed, turning up the volume again.

BEEP

Two texts. Any second now there would be a third.
 

BEEP

There it was. At least he was consistent. He’d been texting me at least once a day since the last time I saw him. I snorted. The scene at the hospital. That had been a real shit show.

It had been a week since Trent got released. Or should I call him Rez. I sighed deeply, locking my phone without reading the text.

I wouldn’t see him again. I wouldn’t respond. I couldn’t. Even if I did miss him. Which I did. I missed him a whole hell of a lot.

It was crazy, but true.

I picked up my pace, forcing myself to run faster. As if I could outrun my feelings. My stupid, traitorous feelings.

I had no doubt whatsoever that Trent was having a good old time with his ‘friends.’

Meanwhile I was stuck here, unable to scrub him from my mind. He was there when I woke up. He snuck into my thoughts at the worst possible moment.

Hell who was I kidding? He was there almost constantly.

Driving to work, I’d be thinking about him. Moments of quiet between rounds, I’d be thinking about him. Making dinner for Char, I would still be thinking about him.

And God help me when I went to bed. Each and every night I would toss and turn for hours thinking about Trent. And I wouldn’t just think about him.

I would feel him.

I slowed to a walk. Fuck. I was in trouble. I had no idea how I was going to get over Trent. And it was clear, I had to.

Maybe I should go out with someone else. Even Dr. Richardson. Let someone else kiss me. Touch me. Fuck my brains out.

Maybe that was the only way to erase him.

And I
had
to erase him.

I wasn’t the type for casual sex, no matter how mind blowing it might be. And he wasn’t the sort to date. Never mind fall in love.

I had a terrible feeling I’d been on the brink of the ‘L’ word since I’d met him.

His easy smile and his bedroom eyes.

And his… well that was nice, but it didn’t have much to do with what I liked about him. That part of him was a little bit intimidating to be honest. More than a little. A lot.

The worst part was how much he made me laugh. I’d been laughing non-stop since I met him. Well, until now.

To hell with it.

I would just go out with the next guy who asked me. I didn’t have to do anything. But it was worth a shot.

Of course, that’s as long as nothing else disastrous happened.

I shook my head, turning to run back towards home.

For the first time in a while, I felt like everything might be okay.

Or at least, not entirely terrible.

I laughed.

How’s that for lowered expectations?

Chapter Twelve

Trent

It was probably illegal, what I was doing. Finding out someone’s address and showing up there uninvited. Demanding she honor our agreement.

Some might call it stalking.

I called it collecting on a bet.

I drove up to her house and parked my convertible. I’d trashed my bike, but I still had this thing and a beat up old SUV for taking the dogs to the beach. I rolled my shoulder. It was still hard to believe the cast was finally off.

That’s when I noticed her.

Or, actually, I noticed ‘it.’

Lexi was bent over, a handkerchief covering her hair as she dug into the flowerbeds in front of her house. Her ass was high in the air for all to see. I knew she had no idea how fucking tasty she looked. It might be wrong, but I could not take my eyes off her perfect fucking ass.

High cut little denim shorts. A button down shirt tied around her waist. A bright green bandana on her head.

She looked good enough to eat.

I grinned, slamming the car door behind me.

She jumped, turning around. For a split second she looked happy to see me. Then she scowled.

“Well, you are persistent aren’t you?”

“Oh, you have no idea.”

She frowned at me, getting to her feet.

“Are you cleared to drive? How is your shoulder?”

I grinned, circling it for her. I loved how she was worried about my shoulder, even when she was mad at me. She was a good person. It’s just who she was.

“I have two hands now. Can you imagine what that means?”

She turned pink immediately, two bright circles of embarrassment on her gorgeous cheeks. I wondered if the rest of her was blushing too. I’d sure as shit like to find out.

“I’m glad you are feeling better Trent but you really shouldn’t have come all this way.”

She turned around and got back on her knees again, reaching for her garden tools.

“I quit.”

She stopped what she was doing and looked at me with disbelief.

“Quit?”

“Retired. From the business”

“Oh.”

She went back to weeding around the pitiful looking flowers by the stoop. But her body language was different. Softer. She was definitely listening to me now.

“Don’t tell me you did that for me.”

“No. I did it for me.”

She looked up at me. I held her gaze, refusing to let her look away.

“But you played a big part in that.”

Her mouth opened.

“You see, you made me realize how dirty I felt. Because it wasn’t like that with you. With you, I felt clean.”

Now her eyes were wide. She believed me. I stepped forward, pulling her into my arms.

Two arms this time. Never in my life had I been so grateful to have all my limbs intact. All five of them.

Jesus, she felt good.

I lowered my head, delving my tongue into her mouth. She hesitated for a moment. And then she started kissing me back.

Thank you, Jesus. She was kissing me back.

With a groan I yanked her against me. Our chests collided and I could feel her for the first time without the damn cast in the way. My whole body stood up and cheered.

She felt like heaven. Literal, actual, heaven.

I have no idea how long we stood there, kissing like teenagers. I forgot we were on the street. I forgot everything except the feel of her. Finally, I lifted my head, staring down at her.

She looked soft and so sweet.

“Do you want to come inside for some iced tea?”

I grinned at her. I did want to come inside. But I also did not want to jinx this.

“Actually, I came to schedule our date.”

“Oh. Alright.”

“What’s your next few days like? Can I see?”

She handed me her phone with the calendar app open. I wanted the earliest possible time, but also a time she didn’t work for a few days after. I had big ideas for our date.

I was surprised as fuck that I was willing to wait. But I knew she was worth waiting for.

“Okay, dinner on Friday. I will pick you up at 5.”

“Isn’t that early?

I just smiled at her.

“Just be ready at 5. Sexy Lexi,”

Lexi

I was humming as I made my rounds. Even as I headed towards to room 408. The patient was a cantankerous old man who refused to cooperate during even the most routine examination.
 

He refused to take his meds, or keep himself clean. He refused to sleep, or wake up at any particular time. He even refused water, but only if you were asking him to drink it.

The second you left, he’d drink or eat anything.

He was a righteous pain in the ass.

Never mind handling his catheter. For some reason, he’d pulled it out several times. That was extremely painful, even for someone whose senses were diminished by age and illness.

With no catheter, he peed all over the place.

If he pulled it out again though, it was diaper city for him. I had had enough. And yet, I was smiling as I entered his room.

Because of Trent.

Everything he’d said to me, even the way he’d shown up at my house out of the blue. He’d refused to give up on me. It made me feel… special.

Like I meant something to him.

Like I hadn’t been a complete idiot to feel all the things I’d been feeling.

He felt it too. I knew it. And that changed everything.

“Hello, Mr. Kline. How are you feeling today?”

I swear the man made a sound that sounded something like ‘harrumph.’ He was basically the bad guy in an old time movie. I smiled at him, all the same.

Nothing was going to bring me down today.

I felt my phone vibrate in my hip and smiled. I knew it was Trent. He and I were playing a little game of phone tag the past few days. Ever since he came to see me.

He texted me good morning every single morning.

And he texted me goodnight.
 

He also sent pictures of his dogs. I had no idea he had so many dogs. They were all rescues that he had taken in. He called the pictures ‘dolfies’ or ‘dog selfies.’ They often featured dogs wearing sunglasses, or sitting on Trent’s head.

It was freaking adorable.

It was making me fall for him.

Well, it was making me fall for him
faster
.

I almost wished he would stop being so amazing. Just so I could catch my breath, take my time with these crazy new feelings.

Almost. But not quite.

Mr. Kline was quiet today. He didn’t try and urinate on me, or spit. And he actually took his meds. I made a note to check all his vitals hourly. If he wasn’t spunky today, that might be a sign of trouble.

It also might be a sign that he was doing better. I hoped the latter was true, even if he was a mean old bastard. Everyone deserved as much life and good health as they could get. I truly believed that. It gave my job even more meaning.

The mid-day shift started and I reviewed patient status with Kelly. She teased me a bit about the dopey smile on my face. Even she had no idea what was the cause of my good mood. I hadn’t told a soul what had happened. What was happening.

I was grinning because tonight, I got to see Trent. In person this time. Not just a picture.

After this my shift was over. I would go home, shower, take a nap, and when I woke up it would be time for our date.

I wasn’t going to lie. I was looking forward to it.

I was looking forward to it a lot.

Chapter Thirteen

Trent

I could not stop tapping my foot on the ride over to Lexi’s. I had thought of everything. I had made sure Lexi didn’t have to work. I had made sure Jan could stay the weekend and take care of my girls.

I had the plane. I had the hotel room. I had even packed a suitcase with clothes in what I hoped were Lexi’s size.

She had no idea what was in store for her.

I grinned, imaging her face when she realized where my favorite restaurant was.

It wasn’t in LA.

“We’re here sir.”

I thanked the driver and got out. Before I even got to the front door it opened, revealing a very young, very pretty girl. She looked so much like Lexi that it took my breath away for a moment. That’s before I noticed something strange about her eyes.

They lacked something. A sparkle. Focus.

“Who are you?”

Her speech was slightly stilted, as if she had trouble putting a sentence together. She almost sounded foreign. She also did not seem all that happy to see me.

I smiled.

“I’m Trent. I’m here to pick up Lexi.”

The girl tilted her head to the side.

“I’m Char.”

“It is very nice to meet you.”

She smiled suddenly and I saw her sister in her again. Then she shut the door in my face.

Again, not unlike her sister.

The door opened in less than a minute. Lexi stood there, looking slightly horrified.

“Trent! Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine.”

And it was. I could not stop grinning. Lexi was wearing stripy high heel sandals. And a dress. A slinky, sexy, clinging to her curves kind of dress.

All the times I’d admired her looks, I’d thought she was beautiful in a sweet and innocent way. I was wrong. Really, really wrong.

Lexi was a fucking knockout. A ten. No. She was a twenty. Gorgeous face. Stunning eyes. Luscious hair. A body that would stop traffic. And I already knew what a good heart she had.

She was, quite literally, the perfect woman.

I forced myself to calm down and sound normal. Like I wasn’t ready to jump her bones the second I got her in the limo. Hell, I was ready to jump her on the doorstep.

“You ready?”

She nodded.

“Let’s go.”

The driver opened the door for us. I slid in behind her, watching as she buckled herself in. I smiled. Nobody did that. I’d literally never seen anyone use a seatbelt in a limo.