I wasn’t thinking.”
He grinned and winked at her. “It’s okay. For a moment I wasn’t thinking either. I was just thinking about kissing you again.” Then he leaned in, brushing his knuckles down the side of her face, which made her knees go weak, just before he kissed her. A light kiss that made her whole body tingle with anticipation.
Mindy watched the dishy Scot go to the coat check and slip on his jacket.
She couldn’t believe that she was actually doing this, that she was taking a strange man home to her apartment to have sex with. A younger man to boot.
In all her thirty-seven years she’d never done anything like this. She’d never lived dangerously. She was always too afraid to take the chance, to take the risk. Except when it came to surgery. When she was in the OR it gave her a whole different kind of rush. When she was in the OR and a mother and her baby’s lives were in jeopardy she went with her gut instinct. It was the same instinct she was using now.
Mindy was trying to listen to her gut more often, especially about non-medical situations. She’d been terrified about leaving California, which was safe and what she knew, but she’d listened to her gut and made the decision to travel across country.
So when she’d seen Sam and spoken with him, her gut had told her to take a chance, to live a little. She hadn’t been with anyone since Dean and even then that had been some time ago.
It was time to start afresh.
She could do this and, more importantly, she wanted to do this.
He joined her. “Lead the way.”
Mindy’s cheeks flushed with heat and she knew she was blushing, but she didn’t care as she took his hand. They walked across the street to her condo. The doorman let her in and didn’t even bat an eyelash over the fact that she had gone to the bar alone less than an hour ago and was returning with a man.
They got into the elevator and she hit the button to her floor.
“Penthouse?” he remarked.
“It’s the best.”
The elevator stopped and they walked down the hall to her apartment. She was shaking. She was very nervous about what was going to happen, but she wanted it to happen.
“Here it is,” she said, hoping that her voice didn’t wobble too much.
Get a grip on yourself, Mindy! You’re not some inexperienced virgin. You’ve done this before.
“Are you nervous, Mindy?” he asked.
“A bit.”
“Look, we don’t have to do this. I won’t be mad.”
He was being a gentleman. He was giving her a way out, but she didn’t want a way out. She wanted this. She needed this night. Tomorrow she was going to start her new job and she wouldn’t have time for moments like this.
As of tomorrow she planned to focus solely on building her career and her patient list at West Manhattan Saints. There would be no time for dating, gorgeous men or trysts. It was now or never.
“No, I want this. It’s just that I’ve… I’ve never done this before.”
He smiled at her tenderly, stroking her face. “I have a confession.”
“Oh, yes?”
“I haven’t done this for a very long time, and if you want to stop at any moment, I’ll stop. I won’t force you, I won’t pressure you.”
Mindy smiled and then kissed him, just like she had in the bar. His arms came around her, their bodies pressed together.
“I want this.” She unlocked the door to her apartment and pulled him inside.
There was no turning back now for her.
SAM HURRIED DOWN the hall of West Manhattan Saints at a quick pace, but considering he was late it was a pace that wasn’t quick enough for his liking. He’d been reluctant to leave that temptress’s bed this morning, but he had and before she’d woken up.
Which was good. He didn’t want to deal with any aftermath. At least her apartment was close to the hospital, but he was still late. He was never late and people would notice. It wasn’t good.
Not when today was the day the new head of maternal-fetal medicine was being introduced to the peds floor. He’d barely made it to the hospital in time for a shower and a fresh set of scrubs. His sweater, currently hanging in his locker, still smelled strongly of Scotch. He straightened the collar of his white lab coat and slung his stethoscope around his neck without missing a beat.
“Holly said you didn’t make it home last night,” Rebecca, their new roommate, teased as she fell into step beside him.
“Since when did you become my keeper?”
“You’re tetchy this morning. What happened last night?”
“Nothing. Look, shouldn’t you be on the trauma floor?” Sam asked, trying to get rid of Rebecca before she pried too much deeper. His roommate didn’t need to know that he’d had a one-night stand. He didn’t know her well enough yet and she seemed to report everything back to Holly, Tessa or Kimberlyn. And those three were always purporting to know nice girls to set him up with. The three of them were in cahoots.
Sam figured it had something to do with the fact that he had been the only male in the brownstone for some time. Not to mention that they were all loved up themselves and seemed determined to push soulmatedom on everyone else.
“Heading there now. Just wanted to wish you good luck with the new head. I hear she’s tough.”
Sam grunted his thanks as Rebecca headed down another hallway that led back to Trauma and he kept on his course to Peds. Before he pushed open the rainbow-colored double doors that led into the pediatric department, he straightened his hair in the reflection of the mirror.
There was already a crowd gathering in the main thoroughfare of the department, right in front of the main charge desk. Sam could see Dr. Amelia Chang talking calmly to the group of surgeons who were all vying for the two coveted fellowship positions in Peds.
As he moved into the group he caught Dr. Chang’s gaze and could see she was quite aware that he was late. Her quiet disapproval and disappointment was hard to miss.
Mother would not be impressed.
At least Dr. Chang wouldn’t humiliate him and call him out on the carpet for being late. His mother’s way of teaching her residents was shaming them so they didn’t do it again. Dr. Chang would probably put him on scut duty. Labs and charting he could deal with.
“Now that we’re all here, we can finally get down to business. As you are all aware, this pediatric fellowship is one of the top five on the eastern seaboard, and we can only open this fellowship to two worthy residents. Because of that, the hospital has always felt that those two positions should not be decided solely by the pediatric head. That’s why the head of Neonatology, Dr. Hall, taking over from Dr. Powers, the head of Obstetrics, Dr. Finn, and also the new head of Maternal-Fetal Medicine will all have a say in who gets those two spots.” Dr. Chang leaned against the charge desk, her eyes scanning the crowd, silently assessing them in that unnerving way she had before continuing.
“I know some of you have questioned the need for Maternal-Fetal Medicine to have an impact on your career as a pediatric fellow at West Manhattan Saints. We don’t see a lot of births that require a need for that, but that is changing. West Manhattan Saints hopes to become an innovative leader in maternal-fetal medicine and high-risk pregnancies. We will be expanding our birthing center to accommodate high-risk pregnancies.”
Sam was stunned, but pleased