Her mouth went dry.
She stole a glance at the name on his lab coat—Dr. Wild—then forced herself to lower her eyes back to the microscope before she made a complete ass out of herself.
Holy shit. Dr. Wild? Are you kidding me? That sounded like a fake name. He was wild—there was no doubt about that.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Ally is working on your results right now, Dr. Wild.” Marty touched Ally’s arm.
She couldn’t continue staring into the microscope and ignoring them. She braced herself for humiliation—sure Marty would read, I’ve sucked his cock, in her eyes, and sat up to face them.
“Ally, this is Dr. Wild. He needs his results.” Before walking away, Marty added, “Ally, I have only one more thing for you before the end of your shift.”
Ally wrinkled her brow, and it wasn’t until Marty winked that she realized he was rating Heath.
One. He’d rated Heath a one. Thank goodness.
Her heart thundered in her chest as she drew in a deep breath and finally met Heath’s gaze.
“Dr. Wild,” she said in the most professional voice she could muster.
Heath’s eyes never left hers as he moved in close, his chest brushing her shoulder.
“Allyson. I guess New York City isn’t so big after all.” His hushed whisper slithered over her skin, leaving a trail of goose bumps.
He smelled like strength and warmth, and when he nodded toward the microscope and said, “May I?” she wished he were asking if he could kiss her, despite swearing him off only moments earlier.
There was no swearing off Heath Wild. Just the sight of him did funny things to her entire body, not to mention the way it flustered her mind.
He leaned down and peered into the microscope. “Did Fifi get your tongue?”
That shook her back to the present. He remembered her cat’s name?
“I…” Get your act together. She closed her eyes for a beat and forced herself back into her professional, work-appropriate demeanor. “There’s nothing remarkable in the findings.”
He continued looking through the microscope as silence stretched between them.
“I was just thinking about how this case has me all tied up.” He rose to his full height and pinned her in place with a seductive stare.
Her insides churned, and all the good parts of her remembered all the good parts of him—and exactly how incredible they were together.
“Yes, well…” She lowered her voice, unable to stop from playing their dirty, flirtatious game. “It is a hard case.”
His eyes slid around the busy laboratory. “I’d like you to come…” He put a hand on her lower back and guided her to the microscope as her knees turned to jelly. “Take a look at this.”
His grin told her that he knew exactly what effect he was having on her. He had that damn lab coat on, so she couldn’t tell if she was having the same effect on him. He moved to her other side, where the table shielded him below the waist from the eyes of the other employees, and pressed his hard length against her hip. There was no mistaking the effect she had on him. She looked into the microscope so her coworkers wouldn’t be wise to the flames igniting between them. She was surprised they hadn’t already lit the room on fire.
He leaned in close again and said, “Now I know.”
She gazed up at him in confusion. “Know?”
“What city you live in.”
She swallowed hard at the look of lust brimming in his eyes. “Yes, well. No strings, remember?”
He touched her back again, and she swore she’d have a third-degree burn from the searing heat of it. “No strings. Only ties.” He straightened his tie as Marty entered the room again.
“Is everything in order here?” Marty’s eyes ran between the two of them.
Ally felt her cheeks heat up and stepped away from the microscope, straightening the reports on the table in hopes of breaking the sexual tension that tethered her and Heath together.
“Yes. I’ve completed Dr. Wild’s results.”
“Yes, she’s tied up all my loose ends.” Heath smiled, and when his eyes moved from Marty to Ally, she felt her insides melt.
“Perfect. Ally will type up the report and get it into the system. Is there anything else you wanted to see, Dr. Wild?” Marty asked.
Heath straightened his tie again. “I may need to dig a little deeper, but for now I think these results are clear. Thank you.”
Marty smiled. “Okay, well, I’ll leave you in Ally’s capable hands.”
Don’t I wish. Her fingers itched with anticipation.
“Now, that’s someplace I’d like to return to,” he said quietly.
“No ties,” she reminded him.
“Right. Dinner, then?”
“Thought you weren’t looking for anything more than…what we had.” She didn’t need to be the booty call of a doctor in the hospital where she worked. That had trouble written all over it.
“I wasn’t.” He held her gaze, and she read so many conflicting messages in his blue eyes that she could barely think straight.
“Then why?”