“Yes, she fucking did!” He swings me around in a circle like a rag doll. “You’re stuck with us. Deal with it.”
After more baby-ogling and several rib-cracking hugs from Mama Riley, Blake and I find the hastily parked Hummer in the hospital lot and speed away. He drives with a hand on my knee, singing along with Mick Jagger on “Play with Fire.” And I’m so peaced-out that when he butchers the lyrics I don’t even have the urge to correct him. Much.
We pull through the drive-thru of a McDonald’s, and I feed him French fries as the lights of downtown Toronto approach.
The food shores me up. So when Blake parks his car beneath his apartment building and turns to me, saying, “Thank you for saving my sister and my niece,” the words nestle comfortably in my chest.
“I’m glad to have helped,” I say, instead of arguing with his logic.
For the first time since I got here, I feel certain that nursing is something I’m going to excel in. Maybe my grades won’t be as good as Violet’s. Maybe I’m going to panic once in a while. But I’ll just keep paying attention like I did today, and I’ll learn to get more things right than I get wrong.
That’s all any of us needs to do.
“Will you stay the night?” Blake asks.
“Yeah,” I say immediately. “And thank you for asking. Instead of, well, just assuming.”
His face softens. “I’m sorry. I’m just used to…” He looks oddly embarrassed.
“Women throwing themselves at you,” I supply.
He clears his throat. “Well, yeah. Bossy works for me. On most girls.”
“I’m not most girls,” I argue instinctively.
Blake grins. “I know. That’s why I want to kiss you so bad. Can I?”
“Okay,” I whisper.
His smile comes closer. Then he takes my mouth gently, his lips soft. I draw a deep, slow breath and slant my head to improve our connection. Blake’s teeth graze my lower lip, and then he deepens our kiss. I open for him instinctively, welcoming him in. Whenever he touches me—from the very first day we met—I always melt like candy in the sun.
Before, I’d blamed this on my own lack of willpower. But tonight I don’t want to blame anyone. I just want to grab his shoulders and lean in. It isn’t long until we’re steaming up the Hummer.
Blake groans and breaks our kiss, his forehead against mine. “Let’s go upstairs, baby. I want you in my bed.”
In the way of two people who are in a hurry to pull each other’s clothes off, we hustle through the lobby to the elevator. It’s smooth sailing up to Blake’s floor.
The minute we enter his apartment, he kicks the door shut and pushes me up against the wall. Our kiss skips all the preliminary stages and goes right to a five-alarm fire. He wedges one muscular knee between my legs and then lets out a loud moan. “I want to do you on every surface of my apartment. Can’t decide which one should go first.”
I look up at his movie-star handsome, square-jawed face, my breath sawing in and out. This beautiful man wants me so badly he’s trembling. How did I get so lucky?
“I guess we’d just better start somewhere,” I say solemnly. “Sounds like it’s gonna be a long night.”
His answering smile is so bright and warm that I might need to remove some clothing just to survive it. So should he, I suppose. My fingers find their way onto his buttons and I undo them. His chin drops as he observes me.
“Am I doing it wrong?”
He shakes his head. “You’ve never undressed me before. I like watching it.”
When the halves of his shirt fall apart, I palm his chest and sweep a hand up and down his abs. Blake tips his head back and sighs with happiness. My fingertips tease lower, skimming the soft skin just above his waistline, trailing through the fine hairs leading down into his shorts. My mouth waters just knowing what’s waiting for me.
“I’m still wearing pants, Jessica. Why am I still wearing pants?”
I snicker. “Sorry. Allow me to rid you of your trousers, milord.”
His expression brightens. “Are we role-playing? I love role-playing.”
Of course he does. “Maybe another time. I need to brush up on my Elizabethan English first.”
He waves a hand. “Naah, they still use the same words for fucking. Like in Romeo and Juliet, when she’s all, a blowjob by any other name will still make you come.”
I burst out laughing. “God, Blake, you’re priceless.” Then I drag his zipper down before he can spew more made-up Shakespeare lines, because as entertaining as it is, my body is tingly with impatience.
Blake groans when I free his erection. It’s thick and pulsing in my hand. The bead of moisture at the tip moistens the pad of my thumb. Taking a breath, I slowly sink to my knees. He watches me from above with heavy-lidded green eyes. He slides a hand through my hair and leans his head back against the front door, the muscles of his chest tight with anticipation.
When my tongue circles his swollen head, he makes a low, tortured noise, his fingers forming a fist in my hair. “Feels good,” he mumbles.