Luke(24)

"Uh…" Faith's eyes widened on Luke. "Yes. Yes, I'm in here."

"Well, open up." The knob turned, but before it could open, Luke wedged his foot against it.

"Faith? Are you stuck in there?"

Faith let out a slow, careful breath, and so did Luke. "Uh … not exactly."

"What are you doing?"

"Well…" Faith grinned at Luke, and right then and there, with his foot blocking the door so that they wouldn't get caught, with his shirt ripped open and hers half off her body as well, he fell a little bit in love.

"Faith?"

"I'll … be out in a minute!"

"Okay…" Shelby's voice went to a low, conspirator's whisper. "Do you have Dr. Walker in there with you?"

Wide-eyed, she stared at Luke. "Uh…"

"Oh my God. You do … okay, you know what? Never mind, I'll figure out the patient situation in room four. You two just … carry on."

Her footsteps moved away and Luke realized Faith was still staring at him, a little hopefully now, and he let out a rough groaning laugh. "No," he whispered. "We're not carrying on, not in this closet."

With a sigh, she started straightening her clothes.

He looked down at himself and tried to figure out if a doctor's coat could possibly cover the biggest erection he'd ever had.

"So, have we come to terms?"

He stopped in the act of tucking in his shirt and looked at her. "Terms?"

"About … you know."

"Sleeping together?"

She shook her head. "Actually, sleeping would be a bad idea."

His head was spinning. "But you just said…"

"Sleeping implies some sort of relationship, when we both know a relationship between us would never work. In fact," she said earnestly, "sleeping together would only backfire."

"Right. Backfire." And she was right. Hell, she was so right. He'd gotten sidetracked in her glorious body, but the truth was staring him in the face. He didn't want a relationship, and neither did she. So why his hands itched to grab her close again and talk her into exactly that was beyond him.

She finished buttoning herself up—though not correctly—and scooped her hair up off her face, holding it there with some clip she pulled out of her pocket. Immediately, strands of long red hair escaped, making her look like … like she'd just been in the storage closet being ravaged. "I'll see you," she whispered and turned from him to reach for the door.

Let her go.

Instead, he grabbed her and turned her back to him. Reaching out, he fixed the buttons on her blouse. The woman needed a goddamn keeper. Not a job he wanted to apply for. Nope. He was going to walk away. Hell, he was going to run—

She kissed his cheek, sent him a smile that made his heart tumble in his side. "Thanks."

Then she was gone.

Luke stood in that closet for a good long time, until his coat was no longer tented with his obvious hard-on. Until he'd decided that yes, the right thing was to walk out of the closet and right out the front door of the clinic.

So he walked out of the closet.

Walked down the hall.

And then turned right instead of left, and went to see which patients needed his attention.

*

That night, Faith sat on her couch staring at the wall. She'd done yoga, had given herself an aromatherapy session and had eaten dinner with Shelby.

None of the normally calming, soothing rituals had soothed her. Nope, she was keyed up, strung tighter than a cheap guitar, and for once it wasn't nerves or anxiety over money or the clinic.

She'd thrown herself at Luke today.

She'd like to blame the heat of the moment, especially with his mouth on hers and his hands … oh goodness, his hands. Things had gotten so fiery so fast in that storage closet, they'd practically singed off any unwanted body hair with the fire they'd generated.

Yeah, blaming the heat of the moment sounded like a good excuse for how shameless she'd been. How else could she explain offering him sex for the next two months?

So damn it, where was he? She looked out the window. The only car in the lot below was hers.

He should be here now, easing her tension with his hands, his mouth, his body.

Why wasn't he?

But after the last patient had gone, so had he.

And here she sat, alone, thinking about sex until her body hummed.

Only a few weeks ago she'd have said that sex, no matter how consensual, how healthy, should never be used outside a loving, monogamous relationship. But only a few weeks ago she hadn't met Luke Walker.

With a sigh, she got ready for bed alone, and plopped onto her mattress.

And then proceeded to stare at the ceiling imagining all she could be doing if Luke had shown up.

Since sleep wasn't going to come—and neither was she or Luke apparently—she padded downstairs in her oversize T-shirt and favorite bunny slippers to hit the paperwork until she felt suitably tired.

Flipping on the light in her office had her blinking like an owl. Her desk was definitely threatening to bust at the seams. Looking at the stack of unpaid bills, her tummy flip-flopped. It would be nice to have someone to call right now, right this minute, someone to talk to, someone who understood her, through thick and thin.