After tossing the rag in the hamper, I slid the comforter from beneath her and stripped it off the bed before pulling down the sheet. Then I climbed back in and dragged the soft fabric over us. I wrapped myself around her, pressing our naked bodies together and drifted to sleep.
It was still dark in my room when I opened my eyes and I frowned when I found my arms empty of a certain sexy, red-head. A quick glance at the bedside clock showed that it was just after three in the morning. I sat up and looked around, noticing that Aubrey’s clothes were also missing. I felt a flash of irritation as I lifted back the sheet and got out of bed. My boxers were still on the floor and I pulled them on as I headed to look in the kitchen first. She didn’t have her car, so if she were gone, she would have had to call a car service. In the middle of the fucking night. Fear fueled my anger as I stalked down the hall. She had better still be here, or I was going to turn her ass cherry-fucking-red when I found her.
The kitchen was empty, but there was a mug missing from the rack hanging near the coffee pot. One of the French doors to the back patio was slightly ajar and I started to calm down as I strolled over to it. I stepped outside and immediately spied Aubrey curled up in one of the plushly cushioned chairs. The deck overlooked the pool on the ground level with an unobstructed view of the private beach beyond. The sounds of the waves always soothed me, but I found a new level of peace came from the woman in front of me.
“I don’t like waking up without you.” My tone was hushed, but she jumped never-the-less, and her head whipped in my direction. Liquid sloshed from her cup, missing her by inches as it splashed on the ground and she quickly set it on a glass table beside her.
“Jeeze, Nash. You scared the hell out of me!”
“No more than you did me when I woke up alone and thought you might have left in the middle of the night,” I scolded as I approached her.
Aubrey pursed her lips in annoyance. “I’m a big girl, Nash. I know how to take care of myself.”
Stopping at her chair, I scooped her into my arms and took a seat, keeping her on my lap. “I don’t doubt you are a woman, cherry,” I murmured into her ear. She shivered, and I grinned but kept my face hidden in her hair so she wouldn’t see it. Then I pinched her bottom. “But I still expect you to be safe, and that means not sneaking out at three in the morning.”
She sighed and gave me an irritated glower. “I wasn’t sneaking out.”
I raised an eyebrow and waited without comment.
“Fine,” she huffed. “So I was going to. But, I decided we should talk before work.”
Satisfied with her honestly, I fluttered little kisses on her neck. “What’s there to talk about?” I inquired absently, much more focused on her soft, sweet skin.
“Well, I thought this would be a one-night thing”—I growled at her assumption—“But, it seems like you want to continue sleeping together.” I decided to come back to that statement later and let her finish whatever she was trying to say. “So, I think we should establish some rules about being in the office for however long this lasts.”
I lifted her and rotated her body so she was straddling me. My eyes narrowed, and my jaw clenched as my brows bunched low. “Let me be very, very clear, Aubrey.” My tone was lethal, and her eyes widened. My anger was boiling just beneath the surface, furious that she would even consider herself worthy of a fling or that I thought that low of her. “You are not a one-night stand. This”—I gestured between the two of us—“is not temporary. I’m not scratching an itch or adding a notch to my bedpost. I’m fucking claiming you, baby. Do I need to take you back to bed and prove that you belong to me?”
Her eyes were like saucers and her mouth had formed a little O. A rational voice in my head told me to back off before I sent her running in the opposite direction. I took a deep breath and tried to smother the possessive beast inside me. “We are going to date, Aubrey.” I gritted my teeth and almost choked on my next words. “We’ll see where this goes.” It was going to moving her in, marring her, and starting a family. That’s where.
“You want to date?” she asked with a doubtful expression.
I sighed in exasperation. “Yes, cherry. Because that’s what a boy and a girl who like each other do.” They also fucked like bunnies, but we’d get to that later.
“Okay,” she agreed tentatively.
“Exclusively,” I added firmly. “There will be no one else.” I couldn’t imagine what I’d do if I saw her with another man. Feed him to the sharks probably.
She nodded then glared at me. “Same goes, buddy.”
I almost laughed at the ridiculous thought. There hadn’t been anyone else for me since the moment I’d met her. “It’ll always be just you, Aubrey.”
“Okay,” she agreed.
Having her sexy little ass in my lap had been feeding a slow burn in my body. My cock wanted to slide into heaven again. Perhaps set up camp and sleep buried inside my woman, which would have the added benefit of keeping my seed from leaking out of her womb. I was about to carry her off to the bedroom when she folded her arms and peered at me seriously.
“Now, back to the rules.”
I groaned and slumped in my seat, my dick shouting obscenities at me for making him wait. “Rules?”
Aubrey lifted on hand and began to tick a finger with each item on her list. Yes…a fucking list.
“No kissing in the office. Definitely no sex in the office. In fact, no PDA of any sort. Remain professional at all times. No—”
I didn’t let her finish, I shot to my feet, making her squeak in surprise and practically ran to the bedroom. We were naked, and my mouth was on her pussy in record time, distracting her from her ridiculous rules. I also didn’t bother to tell her that I intended to ignore every one of them, but not before I tortured her a little.
Chapter Seven
Aubrey
I finished typing up notes in a patient file and glanced at the clock on the bottom of my computer screen. Melody and Madison were meeting me for lunch in half an hour and Nash’s last morning patient was just leaving his office.
“Everything looks good, Kara. You’re all set to start treatments,” he said as he walked to my desk beside her and her husband, Will. “Aubrey will give you the referral form and results of your exam. Then you can go right next door and make an appointment with Dr. Cole.”
“Oh, thank you, Dr. Nash!” she gushed with a bright smile.
Nash shook Will’s hand and returned to his office. Before he disappeared through the doorway, he paused and looked back at me. “Aubrey, when you’re done. Please bring the patient files for the afternoon appointment to my office.” His tone was courteous and professional, like it had been for the last couple of weeks.
“Of course, Dr. Mason.” His eyes darkened just a little, but he didn’t otherwise react to my agreement before nodding and going into his office.
At night, we barely left the bed but when we stepped into the clinic, he left our relationship at the door. I knew I had been the one to lay down the rules, and logically I knew it had been the right thing to do. However, a little part of me missed the heated glances, stolen touches, and sly smiles he used to send my way before we actually started sleeping together. I didn’t know how he was able to shut it off so easily. I craved him all day and by the time it was over, I was ready to jump him in the car. Which may have happened once or twice.
His door clicked shut and the sound snapped me out of my musings. I focused on my work, getting everything together for Kara and Will before seeing them to the door and pointing out the correct entrance to the suite next door.
I deliberated on whether to lock the office door but decided to leave it for Melody and Madison in case I was still in Nash’s office when they arrived. The files I needed were already sorted and stacked neatly on my desk, so I grabbed them and strolled over to the door and used my knuckles to rap on it twice before entering.
Nash was behind his desk, those sexy as hell glasses on his perfect face as he
typed up his notes from his last appointment. He didn’t even look my way when he said, “Close the door.” I fervently imagined being doused in ice-cold water, hoping it would cool the fever he always ignited in my body. I did as I was told and marched up to the desk, depositing the folders in the designated place.
I turned around to leave when he spoke. “Come here, Aubrey.” I spun around and frowned at his tone.
“You’re being awfully bossy, Dr. Mason,” I snipped. His head slowly turned in my direction and his darkened pools of green studied me.
“Come. Here.”
I debated what do because his eyes and expression gave nothing away of his thoughts. Was he actually mad at me? His mouth flattened into a straight line and his face hardened. Yeah, he was pissed about something. I swallowed hard and hesitantly approached him. He removed his glasses and stood as I rounded the desk. I stopped in front of him and bent my head back to meet his gaze. I loved that as tall as I was, even in heels, he still towered over me, making me feel more feminine.
We stood for a moment in silence, staring each other down. Then he dipped a finger in the neckline of my shirt and brushed his fingers along the top of my breasts. I’d worn a silky tank with a scooped neck that showed a decent amount (though still professionally acceptable) of cleavage.
“Did you dress like this on purpose, Aubrey?” His voice was low and almost, stern. “Were you trying to drive me fucking crazy?”
I opened my mouth to deny it, but his eyes pierced right through me, warning me not to lie. I might have worn a slightly shorter skirt than usual and high heels that made my legs look a mile long, and perhaps I’d added the sweater I knew he loved. I wasn’t going to admit it though, so, I kept my mouth shut instead.