The Pairing (The Proposition #3)(35)

“Um, sure. Maybe. Things have been really busy.”

“I hope that you’ll free up some time. I really, really need a night out with you again.” Reaching around him, Kara did the unthinkable. She squeezed one of his ass cheeks. A gasp of shock behind him caused him to whirl around. Of all the people in the world that could have been standing there, it had to be Megan.

Pesh quickly jerked out from Kara’s reach. Megan’s eyes bulged at the two of them before she quickly looked away. With her head ducked, she started past them. The last thing in the world he needed was for something to be awkward between them. Without another word to Kara, Pesh turned and fell in step beside Megan. “What are you doing?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Nothing. Just walking with you. Is that a problem?”

Glancing over her shoulder at Kara, Megan said, “It looked like you were a little busy back there.”

With a grimace, he said, “The conversation and the contact were unwanted by me.”

Megan stared up at him. “Why am I not surprised by that?”

He eyed her curiously. “Just what do you mean?”

“You are not the type of man who does public displays of affection…or I should say lust.”

“Haven’t we already established that you shouldn’t try to typecast me? I don’t fit into any of the preconceived holes you have tried to put me in.”

“There is one hole that you remain firmly lodged in, and that is being a gentleman when it comes to women and sex.”

As much as he hated to admit it, she had a point about him being a gentleman. He touched her arm, urging her to stop. “Yes, I am a gentleman both in public and private. But let me address part of your assumption. When I am committed to a woman and she is committed to me, there is never a time I would reject public displays of affection or lust.”

Megan’s lips curved up in a smile. “So what you’re saying is you would actually grab your girlfriend’s ass in public?”

“Yes, I would.” Glancing around, he found them happily out of anyone’s earshot. “When I am truly committed to a woman, I have trouble keeping my hands off her regardless of where we are.”

“That’s good to know,” she replied, with a wink.

He couldn’t help the silly grin that filled his face as she hurried down the hall to join up with Kristi. He was making progress with her, wasn’t he? Surely Megan had to be seeing how much she enjoyed spending time with him in the hospital and would soon decide that she wanted more. His smile started to fade as he wondered if he was deluding himself.

With a resigned sigh, he made his way over to the reception bay to sign off on some charts. He eased down on a stool and immersed himself in the paperwork, so he didn’t have to think about Megan.

“Alpesh!” a voice across the room shouted. He snapped his head up. Without even looking over his shoulder, Pesh knew who the voice belonged to. Few people in his life addressed him by his full name, and no one in the hospital ever called him by his first name.

Slowly, he rose off his stool and turned around. His youngest brother, Dev, stalked toward him with a stormy expression plastered on his face. As the oldest of his three siblings, he had always felt a responsibility to look out for his two brothers and sister. While Arjan and Shveta had never given him any trouble, Dev, as the spoiled baby of the family, had been a challenge for both Pesh and his parents.

After experiencing teenage rebellion and a wayward early adult life, he had managed to get his wild ways under control when he was twenty-five. Dev had set his sights on a beautiful nurse Pesh had befriended when he was still a resident. Mia Martinelli had been through hell with an abusive boyfriend, so Pesh was reluctant to pair the two together. But at Dev’s continued insistence, Pesh fixed the two of them up. What followed was a three-year courtship and then engagement. Mia was accepted and loved by all of Pesh’s family. And then Dev had gone and thrown it all away by cheating on Mia. In her heartbreak, Mia had stayed close to Pesh, and he wanted her to be happy more than anything else in the world.

Pesh would have liked to have been surprised by his brother’s visit, but ever since he had been summoned to console Mia a few days before, he had been anticipating it. Truthfully, he had been bracing himself for his brother’s wrath. “Hello Dev,” he said, in a calm voice.

Shaking his head furiously, Dev said, “I just got a f**king blow off text from Mia. When I tried calling her back to demand she explain herself, she couldn’t talk because she was in Mexico. With AJ.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that.”

Dev’s dark eyes narrowed at Pesh’s confirmation. “So it’s true that you went to talk to her?”

“Yes, it is.”

“I can’t believe it.” He threw up his hands in frustration. “I didn’t want to believe anything Mia said, especially that it was you who helped her see that she shouldn’t give me a second chance and take me back—that she should make things work with AJ.”

“It’s all true. You and I both know Mia would never lie.”

“But how could you?” Dev demanded, in a strangled voice.

“I’m sorry, but I had to do what was best for Mia.”

Dev’s brows shot up. “And what about me? I’m your f**king blood.”

With a sigh, Pesh replied, “I’m sorry, my brother, but blood or not, I couldn’t stand by and let you hurt her again—she’s been through too much.”