“Nope. I’m looking for Augusta, is she around?”
With another knowing smile, Melanie turned to face her computer screen and tapped a few keys before she turned back to me. “She’s up on the pediatric floor, checking on patients. Go on up, you’ll find her.”
“Thanks, Melanie.”
“Sure thing, handsome.” She waved me off and I had no doubt she would be on the phone, lighting up the gossip line before I set eyes on Augusta.
A pair of hot pink scrubs came into view as I rounded the corner from the elevator, and I don’t know how I knew, but I knew it was Augusta. Maybe it was the way the pink scrubs hugged her hips and butt, or the way she crouched down to talk to the crying youngster, but I just knew it was her. I waited patiently for her to finish up with her patient.
This town must be filled with idiots if none of the men in town had seen the gift that was Augusta. She wasn’t just kind and caring, and damn good at her job. She was beautiful. Sweet. Hot in the sack.
“Antonio, what are you doing here? Is Rosie all right?” She looked behind me in search of my daughter, and yeah, for just a moment, I thought maybe I more than liked this woman.
“Rosie is fine, hanging out with Teddy.”
“Oh.” She blinked several times, her shoulders slowly relaxed as my words sank in. “Then why are you here?”
That genuine confusion in her voice, as if she couldn’t believe that I would just show up for her, pulled me into her orbit. “I’m here for you. Obviously.”
Her gaze slipped to the bouquet of flowers in my hand and then back to my face, her confusion even stronger. “Okay. Why?”
“To give you these, for starters.” I pushed the flowers at her in what was certainly not my smoothest moment. “I, uh, hope you like them.” Other than Rosie, I hadn’t given a woman flowers since high school, and being unsure made me uneasy.
Augusta’s plump lips pulled up into a gentle smile. “They’re beautiful, Antonio. Thank you.” She looked up, red brows still furrowed. “What’s the occasion?”
Hell if I knew. “I wanted to see you and I figured you might like some flowers.”
Her smile blossomed fully at those words. “I always like flowers, Antonio.”
“Do you have time to talk?”
She let out a husky laugh. “Is talk a euphemism, or do you really want to talk?”
I couldn’t tell which answer she wanted and I shrugged. “I’ll settle for talking, but I’ll never pass up a chance to bury myself deep inside you.”
She shivered and let out a shaky breath before she quickly recovered. “Come on. We can talk in my office. Just. Talk.”
“Whatever you say, sweetheart.” I had no plans to seduce her inside the medical center, there were too many eyes, too many wagging tongues and I didn’t want Augusta to get in trouble. But I wouldn’t mind a long drink from her sweet mouth.
She dragged me down the corridor and into an office no bigger than a shoebox, where she shut the door and turned to me with a smile. “What did you want to talk about?”
I couldn’t think straight while her hands slid up and down my chest and abs, her thumbs grazing the waistband of my jeans. “I wanted to invite you…ah hell, I can’t concentrate when you do that.”
Her hands immediately stopped, but her expression was full of mischief, not regret. “Okay. Talk.” She took five big steps back, leaving too much distance between us.
“Me and Rosie are going to a Renaissance Fair this weekend and I thought you might like to join us.”
I could tell my invitation stunned her because she stood with her mouth open into a perfect ‘O’, big green eyes stared up at me like she didn’t know who I was.
The silence became uncomfortable. “If you don’t want to go, just say so…”
Augusta blinked and shook her head. “It’s not that, I just wasn’t expecting the invitation. But I love history and giant turkey legs, so count me in.”
“Perfect.” I relaxed with relief, and with the invitation issued and accepted, I was hungry for a taste of her lips. “Just fucking perfect.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “Hell yeah,” I whispered a hot second before my mouth crashed down over hers, devoured her until she panted and clung to me. Her tongue teased my lips and danced with my tongue while her hands roamed my chest and my back. “Augusta, if you don’t take a step back, I will take you right here. Right now.”
She shivered again and I was half tempted to do just that. “The door doesn’t lock.”
I growled and buried my face in her neck. “Too bad.”
“Maybe later?”
“Definitely later. Definitely,” I kissed her one more time before I headed towards the medical center exit with a wide grin and a bit of energy in my step. Later couldn’t come soon enough.