Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(36)
“What’s so funny?”
I noted a few things in his file and signed his discharge papers. “You. For some reason I knew you were going to say that.”
He shrugged his impressive shoulders. “Wouldn’t be the first time I took my own stitches out. Probably won’t be the last, either.”
“No, I think this is the last time.” Without thinking, I blurted, “I can take them out for you.”
If I could have smacked my own forehead without looking ridiculous, I would have. Oh God. I’ve completely lost my mind.
That garnered another killer smile, showing perfectly aligned white teeth—perfect for eating me. “You willing to make house calls, Doc?”
“Erin,” I corrected.
“I like calling you Doc,” he said smoothly.
I gave up. “I don’t normally make house calls, but I think I can make an exception.”
Some emotion crossed over him; perplexity perhaps? Maybe regret? “It would have to be early in the morning or later in the evening. I’m on night shift five nights a week, sometimes six.”
My schedule was tight, too. I shook my head, tossing some of the fog off my brain, trying to backpedal out of my asinine offer. “No, I mean yeah. That’s fine.”
The edge of his mouth quirked up. “That’s not going to be a problem for you, is it?”
While I was hearing his words, the other half of my brain was trying to decipher their meaning. It was almost as if he was seeing if I was available, but damn, I didn’t want to get my hopes up for nothing. It had been so long since I’d entertained the thought of a real date since ending it with Randy, I feared my exhaustion was misconstruing his questions. “You mean mornings?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m a night owl. I’m here most nights anyway. No one ever wants the overnight shifts but I don’t mind,” I mumbled, smacking myself mentally for admitting that.
Adam wiped his thumb over my ID badge again. There was no doubt he was one hell of an intimidating cop. I wasn’t even in trouble and my knees were knocking. I swear I could feel the roll of his thumb in other places.
“Me, too.” He seemed pleased with that commonality.
I smiled. “Are you a night owl, too?”
His smirk told me yes. “You got a man at home?”
Damn, his bluntness surprised me again. I thought about the last guy I dated, which was months ago—that idiot Lab tech, Jeff, who thought a date meant watching him and his friends drink beer.
The truth spilled out of me in a heartbeat. “No. No man.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Woman?”
I laughed uncomfortably. “Not my style.”
He nodded once. His sweet smile was magnificent. “If I ask you to dinner sometime so I can thank you properly for stitching me up, you gonna say yes or you gonna shoot me down?”
All the saliva that was once in my mouth now clogged my throat. I swallowed hard, finding it almost incomprehensible that he was standing so close to me.
I felt frozen. “Depends,” I managed to say, climbing my eyes from the noticeable dip between his pecs up to those smoldering long lashes of his.
“On?”
“If you ever ask,” I breathed out.
His gaze seemed to center on my mouth. “Consider this me asking,” he declared, his voice deep and husky. “Unless you’re planning on turning into a jack on me.”
My body was humming, abuzz from just the possibility of one day kissing this gorgeous man, but that would probably never happen. “I don’t know what that means,” I said with the last of the air in my lungs.
He tugged on my lab coat, causing me to rock forward onto the balls of my feet.
“What that means, Doc—”
“Erin. My name is Erin.”
He scraped his teeth over his bottom lip. “What that means, Erin, is if I pursue you, are you going to run and make me chase you, or are you going to surrender willingly? I’ve got no time or patience for games.”
My nerves went numb. Is he really attracted to me? Oh my God. No way. “You’re going to chase me?”
“I was thinking about it. But we can start with a nice meal first. You okay with that?”
My brain seized, though my head managed to nod. My thoughts scattered to the gutter. “Are you going to cuff me again if I put up a fight?”
His finger traced the edge of my jacket. A sinister and yet very playful smirk turned up those luscious lips. “As much as I’d like to explore that idea in great length, I think we can discuss that some other time.”
Again with the instant honestly for Officer Hottie. “Okay.”
“What time you do get out of work?”
I looked at the clock on the wall and frowned. Time seemed to grind to a halt. “Not for another five hours.”
He looked at his watch. It was silver and leather and manly. “You have someone to escort you to your car when you leave?”
I couldn’t find my pen anywhere. I had just had it in my hand a few minutes ago. “My friend, Sarah, drove. The nurse.”
When I met his gaze again, the deep frown was back. “The pregnant one?” He raised his bandaged hand near my head. I felt my ponytail tug, a few hairs pinch, and then I was looking at my missing blue pen. “This what you’re looking for?”