“This is SO why you’re single,” I muttered to myself, groaning as I sank into my chair and sipped at the steaming hot coffee.
I knew I had things to do, but my mind stayed locked on the night before. Yes, there was the harrowing experience of patching up a bullet wound, which had been a little touch and go for a second or two. But really, I knew it was the kisses—Caleb’s surprise one, his lips on mine and his hand cupping my jaw as I melted against him. And then Landon, possessively pinning me to the counter and growling into my lips as my whole body came alive.
I shivered again at the memory before I glanced up at the clock on the wall. We didn’t technically open for another three hours. And even though I’d told myself it was to get paperwork done, I knew I’d come in early in hopes of being able to see Landon and Caleb, even if just to check on Caleb’s stitches and pain level.
As opposed to… what else?
I blushed at the dirty thoughts in my head, shaking them away as I gulped at the coffee. Yeah, I’d been way too long.
But still, the doctor in me did feel a need to check on Caleb. I mean, I knew I’d patched him up well, but still. I knew I needed to make sure he was on the mend and wasn’t infected or anything like that. And him not being here meant he was hopefully resting up at home.
I dwelled on the implications of what I was thinking for another second or two before I grabbed my bag and keys, gulped down the rest of my coffee, and headed back out.
4
Kennedy
This is a bad idea.
Outlaw Ink was on the first floor of a two-story old brick building in town. Exposed iron beams, huge old factory windows and, and this really cool old clock-face set into the side of the building. Landon and Caleb lived on the second floor, and it was their door I was standing in front of, taking a shaky breath.
You’re here to check on a patient, not get laid. Calm your tits, lady, my brain muttered at me. But still, as I reached out to knock, all I could do was think of both of the kisses from the night before, and I shivered at the top of the wooden staircase that led up the back of the building to the guys’ front door.
I knocked once, swallowing again as I heard footsteps and a grumbled “hang on” from inside. The knob twisted, and as the door swung wide, I felt my cheeks redden.
Good lord.
It didn’t matter that he looked like he’d been hit by a truck. It didn’t matter that there was a sizable and slightly blood-tinged bandage taped to his side and dark circles under his eyes. Even with all of that, Caleb Rawlins standing there shirtless in just a pair of jeans was sex on a fucking stick. His broad shoulders bunched, biceps curling and tattoo ink rippling as he swung the door open. And when his sharp blue eyes landed on me, I trembled at the pure heat they blazed into me.
His perfect lips—the ones he’d used to kiss me the night before, as if I could not remember that—curled back into a hungry grin. He leaned against the door frame, his arms folding over his muscled, chiseled chest. My eyes dropped with a mind of their own, making me shiver as I watched those perfect, grooved abs ripple.
“Hey, Doc,” he purred, making me startle as I dragged my eyes up to his, blushing furiously.
“I, uh…” I swallowed. “I wanted to check on you.” My brow furrowed at him. “You should have stayed at the clinic, you know.”
“Yeah, well, there was just something about the cold stainless-steel operating table that was just…” he stroked his chin exaggeratedly. “I kinda felt like a dead guy laid out for an autopsy.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Not exactly conducive to a good night’s sleep,” he smirked.
I looked at him dryly. “There’s a bed in the storage room, you know.”
“I didn’t. Wish you’d shown it to me though.”
I felt myself blush at his hungry grin before I cleared my throat. “You should be resting.”
“I am.”
He shrugged, gesturing down at his bare chest and the dangerously low-slung jeans hanging off his hips. Grooved, perfect muscles, gorgeous tattoo ink covering his skin, and a little dark trial of hair teasing down into the waist of his jeans. God, he was pure sex—enough so that I felt my body tingle at the proximity of him.
Be professional, you psycho, I admonished myself, straightening up and clearing my throat.
“I need to examine you.”
Caleb grinned. “Yes please.”
I rolled my eyes, but I was blushing furiously as he flashed me that same hungry, teasing smile.