Skirt Steak (Grade-A Beefcakes 5)

Why would I want to be clean when I loved being so, so dirty?

9

JILL

* * *

Mondays were usually busy in the recovery room. Planned surgeries began bright and early, so the beds were full by nine. It kept me on my feet, checking on the patients, monitoring their pain, vitals until they were stable and moved on to a room on one of the floors to recover fully. It kept my mind busy, but my thoughts veered from blood pressures and chart updates to Porter and Liam.

I wasn’t much for going to the gym and working out, but I would have to consider it if I wanted to keep up with my men. My men! They’d been insatiable all weekend. So had I, and I was sore because of it. There were muscles I didn’t even know I had that were screaming at me today, reminding me of what we’d done.

But I wasn’t complaining. I couldn’t help but smile. I’d lost track of how many orgasms I’d had. My co-workers gave me odd looks—no one was as cheerful as I was so early on a Monday—but didn’t question. I’d been grilled by Parker on Saturday, although only by text since I’d wanted to give her an update after our phone call in the car Friday night, but not too much more than that as I hadn’t been ready to share. I still wasn’t, content to just… revel in the feeling of being wanted. No, more than that. I’d been needed by two men.

Needed in bed, in the shower, on the kitchen counter. The list of places we’d had sex had been long.

Spending the weekend with Porter and Liam had been everything I’d hoped for. Sex, talking, more sex, cooking and just being together. Oh, and more sex. They’d gone with me on Saturday to the pawnshop to buy back my mom’s pin, insisting I wouldn’t go alone, but otherwise we’d stayed inside Porter’s house. Naked.

I’d only gone home for a few minutes this morning to shower and grab a quick breakfast before I drove to the hospital for my shift. It wasn’t even lunchtime and I missed Porter and Liam. It was totally crazy and slightly dangerous. I hadn’t realized how lonely I’d been until now. My usual Friday night with a book or a sappy made-for-TV movie seemed dull now. I didn’t want a man—men—to make my life exciting. I didn’t want to think that I wasn’t… whole without them in it. Once I did, I’d be reliant on them. As soon as I did that, I kept myself open for heartache. But I couldn’t resist Liam and Porter, and I’d certainly tossed those fears to the side while I’d been with them.

I hadn’t done anything except have fun and enjoy myself the entire time.

When I came out of the elevator after wheeling a patient down to a room on the second floor, I was surprised to see Liam. My heart skipped a beat, making me think I needed to get hooked up to a cardiac monitor.

He was at the nurses station chatting with a few people, and I paused, taking a moment to admire him. He was in his usual work uniform of boots, jeans and the sheriff uniform shirt that peeked out from his jacket. To say he filled it out really well was an understatement. Broad shoulders were clearly defined, even beneath the fluorescent lighting. The utility belt around his waist held handcuffs, a walkie talkie and on his hip, a gun. I wasn’t big on weapons, but I knew Liam had a big one and knew how to fire it.

God, I was so cliché, but he fit every romance book’s sexy sheriff hero I’d ever read about and the hat that rested on the high counter beside him only checked the cowboy box, too. I knew what that mouth felt like on my skin, the gentle touch of those big hands as they worked me to orgasm, the feel of that taut ass beneath my palms. He made me feel giddy. Excited. Eager. Aroused. My nipples hardened beneath my scrub top, and I was thankful for my long sleeved t-shirt and padded bra to hide my obvious attraction. But we were in the hospital and not any place I could act on my desires.

I’d seen him in the building before; work often brought him to see patients or talk with staff about a case. His turf was more the emergency room or even the morgue, but never in the recovery room. I had to wonder if someone had been seriously hurt as part of a crime.

I took a deep breath, let it out and walked toward him, trying not to look as if I’d spent the whole weekend riding his dick and wanted another go.

When he saw me, his eyes brightened, but he didn’t offer me more than a small smile. We hadn’t talked about how we were going to behave in public—not that I didn’t want to jump into his arms and rip the buttons on his shirt off—but this was my work and our relationship was separate from that. So was his.

“Hey there, Sheriff,” I said, returning his smile.

He nodded a hello, but Barbara, the head nurse, spoke. “Jill, the sheriff would like to talk with you for a minute.” She pointed toward the staff lounge.

My smile slipped as Liam picked up his hat and led me down the hall, holding the door for me. He closed it behind him, but while we were alone, didn’t step close. I didn’t have a good feeling, as if something wasn’t exactly right. He could have been in the building for work and decided to come up and say hello, but he wouldn’t need to get Barbara involved for that. Nor would he show up to break up with me. Would he? Had he planned all along to have a wild weekend and then dump me? My nerves had me thinking irrationally because that wasn’t something Liam would do. Not after what we shared.

“I wanted to see you this morning, but not for a reason like this,” he began.

I worried my lower lip between my teeth, waited, becoming more impatient by the second.

“Dr. Metzger’s office was broken into over the weekend,” he said, tapping his hat against his thigh.

My mouth fell open. For a quick second, I was relieved that I wasn’t getting dumped, but pushed that aside. Dr. Metzger was the woman I job-shared for and worked in her office on Thursdays and Fridays. This wasn’t something I expected. At all.

“Did they steal the television in the waiting room?” I frowned, wondering why anyone would want it that badly. The practice was in an old house right downtown that had been converted into a doctor’s office back in the eighties.

Liam shook his head. “No. The exam rooms were tossed, and we think they were searching for drugs.”

“Drugs,” I repeated. Dr. Metzger was a general practitioner, meaning she handled everything from sore throats to pregnancy to broken bones. “She might have a few samples from drug reps, but that’s it. She fills out prescriptions on the computer and sends them right to the pharmacy and patients have to go pick them up.”

“Whoever broke in didn’t know that,” he replied, rubbing his free hand over the back of his neck.

“Should I call her? I can go in after my shift and help clean up.”

Liam stepped close and put his hand on my arm. “Jill, the person who broke in used your code to disable the alarm. That’s why no one knew about the break in until they opened this morning.”