days ago, walked in.
Polly wore black, straight-leg jeans and high wedge heeled shoes with open toes. Red toenails seemed to smile up at him. Her bright blue top clung to her body in soft folds and outlined her breasts and curves in an inviting way. Since when had he noticed what a woman wore, or how much he liked it?
“Finally came to see my Aquaman imitation, did you?” He pretended not to be distracted by how fantastic she looked.
She smiled, a look that spread like warm butter across her face. “Not really.”
“What are you still doing here?” he asked.
“I was going to see a movie tonight, and needed to hang around until eight.”
She brushed her bangs across her forehead. The rest of her hair hung loose and free, something he hadn’t gotten to see while she was on duty or since the bar on Monday night. The waves and curls accentuated her features, big eyes, straight nose, those well-shaped lips, forcing him to realize she was pretty. Damn, she was pretty. “I was just going to pick up some pizza, wondered if you’d like me to bring you a piece, as you’re obviously still here at six-thirty.”
The thought of pizza did sound good, but if she expected him to join her in the employee lounge, she had another thought coming. “You deliver, too?”
“Sure, if that’s what you want.”
What he wanted. Well, the picture of youth and suppleness in front of him gave a whole new meaning to what he wanted. Polly had started a domino effect of interest, attraction, challenge, and all-out lust since her arrival this week. He’d spent more time in the last five days missing and thinking about the wonders of sex than he had in all the years since Lisa’s death. It wasn’t right, but he couldn’t stop himself.
For whatever reason, Polly had the right combination of charm and good looks to make his body involuntarily take notice. The thought was wrong on so many levels yet he couldn’t give it up. She worked for him, for crying out loud, and what about Lisa? Well, that was a whole other matter.
Maybe having a piece of pizza with the new nurse and having his little fantasy of making love to her might add some long-overdue entertainment. That wouldn’t be such a bad way to spend an evening, would it? Compared to his usual Friday nights, a tasty slice of pie and a few naughty daydreams about the new nurse would be a welcomed change.
“You’d actually bring me a couple of slices of pizza, no strings attached?” He could think of a couple of strings he’d like to attach to a place or two on Polly, but that would be wrong on so many levels.
“Sure.”
“You’re too nice for your own damn good, Pollyanna.”
“What goes around comes around, right?”
“That’s only when the world makes sense, and most of the time there’s no rhyme or reason about what’s going on in the world.” Especially now with these crazy thoughts about Polly, which seemed to be growing stronger by the minute. Man, he needed to get a grip.
“Are we talking pizza or philosophy?”
He smiled, letting her youthful beauty warm up his innards and tease at that other kind of appetite he couldn’t shake. “Maybe a little of both.” He sat back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. Was right now one of those life moments a guy was supposed to grab with gusto, or was he going off the deep end? “Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“Why don’t I scare you off like I do everyone else on the staff?”
She smiled, took a few more steps toward his desk, and perched on the edge of the chair. He liked the way she kept her knees together when she sat, all prim and uptight. He liked the scent of whatever she’d splashed on her skin after work, too. “It takes a lot to scare me off.” She went silent for a moment. “You want the truth?”
Did he really want to find out how a needy people-pleaser like Polly had become that way? It could ruin this perfect storm of a fantasy brewing in his mind. He glanced at Polly, so appealing and open. He needed to quit thinking only about himself. “Nothing but the truth. Lay it on me.”
“My mom died when I was six and my dad couldn’t handle it. He took off without me. Later we heard he’d been killed in a car crash. After that I got shipped from one aunt or uncle to another. None of them really wanted me, though they pretended they did. Even a kid can tell when someone isn’t being sincere, you know?” She gave a wry, lopsided and totally appealing smile. “So it takes a lot more than what you dish out to scare me off.”
Her story snuck around his chest like a vine and tangled up his already confused feelings. It messed with those more basic thoughts floating around in his head, too. She’d been kicked in the teeth, and she’d gotten used to jerks like him giving everyone a hard time. It didn’t settle well on his conscience that, in her world, he was one of the bad guys. Why did one person get kicked in the gut and become unbearable, while another learned to be sweetness and light. Exactly what kind of a heel had he turned into since 9/11?
He had a sudden need to make up for all the times he’d been an ass to her. As hard as it would be, he’d banish those sexual thoughts she kept stoking in his head and show Polly some long-overdue respect. “I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you let me buy you dinner? I know a great Italian joint round the corner.”
“Oh, I couldn’t let you do that.”
“But you will.” He stood, took off and hung up his doctor’s coat on the rack behind his desk, and walked towards Polly. “Let’s go eat. I promise to have you back in time for your movie.”
She stood and looked at her backpack and lunch container, and the small plastic bag with her soiled scrubs.
“Leave that stuff here,” he said. “You can pick it up later. I promise to get you back in time for your movie. Besides, I’ve got to come back to say goodnight to the kids.”
Her widened eyes showcasing those baby blues looked as though they were calculating a gazillion reasons why she shouldn’t let him take over her dinner plans, yet she stood mute. If she’d had any clue how she turned him on, looking at him like that, she would run for cover.
Wondering how long he could keep his poker face, he took her elbow and nudged her along. “Come on, come on, let’s go, I’m hungry.” He’d use being gruff as his cover, because right now the feel of her skin beneath his fingers set off a whole new list of thoughts he hadn’t dared to think in ages.
She lifted her brows higher, which seemed impossible, as if she’d felt something in his touch, too. “Okay, Johnny.”
* * *
The Italian restaurant named Giovanni’s was less than two blocks away, and though Polly’s wedge heels weren’t exactly made for walking—she’d planned to change into flats before heading for the subway home—she enjoyed the exercise. Being in a big, noisy, polluted city, surrounded by skyscrapers and cement—albeit with many well-kept neighborhood parks, not to mention Central Park to soften the blow—made her miss home. John looked after her as they juggled their way through the passing crowds, ignored crossing lights, and jaywalked to their destination.
Giovanni’s was everything she’d hoped for in a restaurant—quaint, quiet, romantic, with tall, thin breadsticks waiting at each table and a handsome young waiter ready and willing to serve the diners. For a Friday night, the place was half-empty, and Polly wondered if it had anything to do with the food. Or if the time being only six-thirty in the city that never slept might have something to do with the small turnout.
Johnny knew the waiter by name and ordered a bottle of Chianti and a medium cheese pizza plus two dinner salads, without giving Polly a chance to change her mind about pizza for dinner. The list of pastas and seafood was impressive, but she had said she was going out for pizza, so she didn’t fault him for that. She even kind of liked John’s take-charge approach to all things in life.
While