fixed herself up a bit more today. Why hadn’t she worn any make-up? Right, she had been running late this morning, feeling a bit queasy after her morning coffee. Obviously she’d made it too strong and her stomach had been out of sorts all day because of it. Come to think of it, she’d been feeling under the weather since last week.
“Dr Metha has ordered a lot of tests.” She strode to the cabinet and removed two hospital gowns: one adult and one pediatric-sized—and discreetly glanced at Gavin’s chest when she handed them over. She couldn’t miss a soft patch of hair below his neck at the V of his hospital scrub top. “You’ll both need to undress from the waist up. You know the drill, opening to the back.”
He lifted his top over his head before she had a chance to close the curtain. A charming, boyish grin covered his face, though that wasn’t where her eyes concentrated as he stood before her half-naked. She recalled how quickly he’d gotten undressed the last time they’d met. “I’m ready.”
She wasn’t. Beth couldn’t help noticing the fine line of dark hair beginning at his trim waist and sprinkling upward across his substantial chest. She remembered how it had tickled her cheek. Her face went hot. She lifted her gaze and shot him a warning look for teasing her so openly in front of his son.
“Why don’t you help Patrick with his gown?” she asked, distracted. “After that, you can sign these consents. I’ll be back.” She tossed the papers on the table and left before he could notice how much he’d affected her. But she suspected it was too late—how could he not have noticed?
“I’ll be vaiting.” His Arnold Schwarzenegger imitation wasn’t half-bad.
She strode to the refrigerator and removed three trays of testing antigens, trying her best to steady her nerves.
Poor Patrick. Dr Mehta wanted the works and that’s what the two of them would get. She’d get a certain satisfaction in stab—Er, scratching the cocksure doc a good sixty times in payment for being so damn sexy. But she felt bad for the boy. It was never easy to test children, especially if they were afraid. At least Dr Mehta had come up with an abridged version for kids under twelve. Beth had been told by many of her patients that she had a soft touch, and today she’d definitely use it on Patrick. But Gavin? Well, that was another story.
She shook her head. So this was what she got for watching those chick-living-in-the-big-city sitcoms. They made casual sex seem so easy and without consequences. Well, here she was, sweating in her scrubs and wishing she’d never been so bold with the ER doc. What in the world had come over her that night? Two words. Gavin Riordan. And now, several weeks later, her total physical attraction to the man hadn’t changed an iota.
She carefully placed the trays on a movable bedside table and rolled everything toward the half-closed curtain. Gavin, still naked from the waist up, swept the curtain open for her, affording another view of his muscular shoulders and arms. Everything about his incredibly superb physique affected her right down to the core, exactly the same way it had the night they’d “met”.
“Here. I think you forgot this,” she said, lifting the gown from the gurney and tossing it back at him.
Slightly off balance, Beth gulped and gestured with an unsteady hand toward the narrow gurneys. Making another attempt to sound professional, she concentrated on Patrick’s scrawny body instead of his father’s mature, masculine frame.
“I need both of you to lie face down on the testing tables.”
“Now, that sounds like fun,” Gavin said, obviously making light of what they were about to undergo for his son’s sake.
Patrick dove for the gurney and it rolled a few inches, making him look like a surfer paddling out on the Pacific Ocean.
“Whoa, hold on, dude,” Gavin stopped the gurney with a sculpted arm, and pressed on the brake.
Beth’s gaze ran over the smooth tanned skin of his back. She shook her head. He was nothing more than a brief sensual treat. Eye candy. That’s all.
An incredibly sexy memory of the two of them in a rather exotic position forced its way into her mind, and she almost lost her composure again.
Beth helped Patrick get into position on the gurney and gave him an encouraging look. “You’ll do fine. I’ll test your dad first, OK?”
The boy nodded in relief with a tense, thin-lipped smile.
She tried her best to ignore Gavin’s goose-bumps at her touch, rationalizing that it was the cleansing alcohol wipe she’d applied, the potent whiff of which seemed to be taking her breath away…
Gavin felt Beth’s breath blowing lightly over him. The fine hair on his neck stood erect and his skin prickled. She had a face he couldn’t forget—bright hazel eyes surrounded by thick lashes and brows the color of dark honey, and a fine, straight nose. Her kissable lips were a natural tone. He’d already committed to memory how those lips felt. And her body. She’d tried her best to cover it up today, but he knew what was beneath those scrubs.
Where did they go from here? Hot sex with a stranger was one thing, but did he really want to get to know her? Maybe some things were best left forgotten.
It tickled when she drew something on his back and applied light, chilling drops of liquid. He relaxed and enjoyed the sensual feeling.
She began to scratch him beneath each of the droplets with something that felt like a needle. Hey! What was that?
“How does it feel, Dad?”
“Not bad at all,” he fibbed. “Sort of like a pinch.”
“Just a light scratch,” Beth said.
Yeah, and we’re just work colleagues.
Wanting to be a good example for his son, he managed a reassuring smile then laid his forehead down on the backs of his hands and forced himself to relax. But soon his head shot up. “I felt that one.” Oops.
“Sorry. I was just thinking about the last time I saw you. A lady, um, called you away.”
OK. So she definitely remembered him. Yeah, Carmen’s timing had certainly sucked that night, but she’d found out that Patrick had been in the ER and had done the right thing by beeping him. It had been a much wiser choice than breaking in on them, though he was certain Carmen had known exactly what had been going on.
Ignoring another sharp scratch, Gavin seized the opportunity to explain. “That was no lady, that was my ER charge nurse, Carmen.”
“I like Carmen,” Patrick chimed in. “She lets me watch videos at her house sometimes.”
“She was my designated driver, Bethany.” He raised his head and looked over his shoulder. “What is your last name?”
Her eyes quickly flitted away. “Caldwell. Bethany Caldwell. Now, lie still or these drops will run together.”
“Nice to meet you again, Bethany Caldwell. Carmen was supposed to keep me out of trouble that night.” Gavin couldn’t resist reminding her about them meeting the month before. Sure, he’d wished he’d known her last name and where she worked. If he’d had it all to do over again, he’d definitely handle the situation differently. It was probably too late to worry about that now, though.
“Did you get into trouble, Dad?”
“Nah, I was just kidding.” Turning his attention back to Beth, he said, “As I recall, you’re divorced, right?”
“My mom and dad are divorced.” Patrick hadn’t a clue what was going on but, as usual, just wanted to be in on the conversation.
Beth rolled the stool she sat on toward the counter to discard her cotton swabs and lancets. “Well, I guess we have something in common, then.”
Gavin remembered her silly toast about her ex-husband at the party. Something about “May the dog lose his pecker in a mysterious accident.” He scratched