Holding her again felt so good, so right.
“Let them wonder.”
“Easy for you to say,” she mused. “You’re leaving in a couple of months.”
He pulled back enough to look into her eyes. “You care what they think?”
She considered his question, then shrugged. “Only Amy.”
“She approves.”
Taylor snickered. “You think?”
He did his best to look innocent. “I’ve picked up on a few hints here and there.”
Taylor rolled her eyes. “Observant of you.”
“What about you?”
She arched her brow.
“Do you approve?”
“Of our dancing?” She shrugged. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
“That you are,” he agreed, pulling her closer as they swayed to the music. “You feel good, by the way.”
She smelled good, too. A light vanilla with a dash of spice scent drew him in, making him want to inhale deeply. Cookies, he thought. She reminded him of fresh-baked sugar cookies.
“And,” he continued, “I’ve missed you.”
Her gaze lifted, but it wasn’t a smile on her face. No, she was frowning. “How could you have missed me? We spent less than five full days together.”
“Five great days that ended too soon.”
She didn’t look convinced. “What exactly did you think was going to happen Monday morning at the end of our shift? That we’d make plans to drive to see one another until the sexual chemistry fizzled out? You didn’t know about my interview or that I might move here before your ER stint was up so I know you weren’t planning to see me again.”
“You think our sexual chemistry would have fizzled out?” He ignored the rest of her comments, because he didn’t know the answers.
She rolled her eyes. “Be serious, Jack.”
“I was. It’s been over a month and the chemistry is going strong.”
She missed a step, bumping her foot against his. “It is?”
“Do you really have to ask?” Jack held her close, fighting the urge to lower his head to where he could breathe in the scent of her hair, of her neck, see if she tasted of cookies, too. “I don’t like this tension between us.” Such an understatement. “I can’t figure out if it stems from my comment to Duffy or Amy pushing us together or something I’m clueless about. Regardless, I want you, Taylor. I have from the beginning and that’s not changed. Not for me.”
“If you wanted me so much, why did I have to come to your tent?” Her eyes glittered with challenge and her chin tilted forward. “Why didn’t you come to mine?”
He deserved her questions and she deserved the truth. “I was trying to do the right thing.”
She snorted. “Guess I blew that all to pieces.”
“So that you know the whole truth, I was afraid you weren’t ready to take that step and didn’t want you to have regrets.” He shrugged. “Unfortunately, you do anyway and that’s my fault for my careless comment to Duffy.”
“Why does any of this matter now?”
“Besides the fact that we’re going to be working the emergency department together soon?”