Blitzers was the watering hole of choice for the doctors of St. Katherine, or at least, the ones I was friends with. Drs. Settler and Tombs, Greg and Barry, were two world-class surgeons—cardiac and neuro, respectively—and they barely had any time off.

Thankfully, tonight coincided for all three of us. It was a lucky shot out of the blue, the four-leafed clover, the one-in-a-million night to hang out with two friends who understood what it was like to work strange hours and long nights. Both would be working over Christmas.

The cherry on top would’ve been if Marc could’ve joined us, but fuck it, he had a honeymoon to enjoy.

“What’s up with you tonight, Noah?” Greg asked, running a hand over his close-cut blond hair. “You’re nowhere. Not here, not there, but staring into space.”

The guys were used to me energized, buying drinks, wooing women—not to take them home, but just for the fuck of it. I wasn’t the guy I’d been in high school. I preferred solitude, and if I broke it, even for a one-night stand, the women had to be phenomenal in every measure.

I could think of one in recent memory who applied.

“Seriously,” Greg said, and clicked his fingers at me.

I shrugged. “I dunno, man, tough week at work.” I avoided his eye and scanned the bar instead, the dimly lit corners, the low thump of music. There were people on the tiny wooden dance floor, a DJ in the booth, thumping out classic rock tunes, and bar tables and booths scattered around the space. Two glass doors led out onto the relatively empty patio and the tables there. The smokers’ section.

Barry was out there, flirting with a brunette, working his angles in the half-light. That motherfucker was ugly as sin, but his personality pulled women like a flame pulled moths. Fortunately, he didn’t send them to the ground with smoking wings. He actually did relationships.

“I’m bored tonight,” I said. “Restless.” I lifted the can of Bud to my lips and glugged some of it back.

“Try a margarita,” Greg replied and tapped the side of his glass. He was the one who bought the fruity drinks and didn’t give a shit what anyone thought. He was too big to be bothered, in all honesty, and he didn’t suffer fools lightly. “It’ll change your fucking life, my man.”

“I’d rather have an embolism.”

“Careful what you wish for.”

Once again, the conversation lulled, as a Beatles song came through the speakers. People rocked out, whipping out all the old moves as the dance lights flashed. I shook my head at them.

Fuck, I was dissatisfied. I’d expected this morning to go better than it had. Seeing her in the hospital had made it real to me—this need for her. This desire to claim her again.

It had obsessed me for so long I’d finally let it take control. If I couldn’t have her, at least I could be around her. Gravitate in the same circles. In a way, it was a test. A test to see how well I could handle being close to her without caving in to my baser needs. Or in to those emotions I’d kept tucked away for years.

Except this was more difficult than I’d anticipated.

And she fucking hated me. Even a good fuck session hadn’t taken it out of her. I wrinkled my nose and pinched the bridge of it. “Fuck it,” I said, and shoved the barstool back. “I’m out, man. Done for the night.”

“You sure?” Greg asked, and slurped on his margarita. “Probably won’t get to do this again for a while.”

“Shit, I know, but I’ve got some stuff to work out. Personally. I’ll catch you around, Greg. You, uh, tell Barry to wrap the tool for me, all right?”

“That’s objectionable on every level,” Greg replied, with another sip. “And I totally get why you said it.” He nodded toward Barry, who was already making out with his woman for the evening. Or the week. Maybe the month. The year? I never could tell with Barry.

“See ya,” I said and slapped down a couple bills on the bar top. I made for the exit, moving past tables, past folks headed for the bar, all dressed in their Friday best. It was early, and people were just heading out for the night.

Fuck, I was probably too old for this shit anyway.

I squeezed past another group of giggling women and into the bar’s entrance room, which held a couple tables of its own. I stopped dead and stared.

In the corner, right between a petite redhead and a potted plant, sat Erika. She wore a strappy top, and her hair was down around her shoulders. Hardly any makeup, and she talked animatedly with her friend, who paid rapt attention.

Neither of them had noticed me.

I walked closer, drawn to her, even now. I halted beside their table.

“…just saying that it drives me crazy,” Erika said. “He’s so annoying.”

“Anyone I know?” I asked.

Both women jumped. The redhead let out a little squeak and went round-eyed.

“Noah,” Erika said, and gripped her drink. A vodka cranberry by the looks of it. “What are you doing here?”

“I imagine it’s the same thing you are,” I replied.

The other chick continued staring like I was a fucking Sasquatch and she was a conspiracy theorist. “Hello,” she said.

“Oh!” Erika gestured to her friend. “Sorry. You kind of, uh, blindsided me there. This is my friend, Luna. She’s the one I’m currently staying with.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, and nodded to her, but my gaze wandered right back to Erika. Whenever she was in the room, I gravitated toward her. “And nice to see you out and relaxing after work. How was your first day?”

“It could’ve gone better,” she replied tersely.

“Day’s not over yet.” I flashed her that cocky grin she loved to hate, and she squared her shoulders, opened her mouth and—her friend touched her on the shoulder. She leaned in and whispered something, then tapped on her watch.

“Luna, are you serious?”

Her friend nodded, then winked and slipped out of the seat. She headed for the busier area of the bar.

“Luna!” Erika called after her and rose to her feet.

“Trouble in friend paradise?”

“That’s not a thing,” Erika replied over the music. She sat down again and folded her arms, didn’t meet my gaze. It was like high school all over again.

Fuck it, except I wasn’t the same person I’d been then. I slipped into the booth beside her and rested my arm on the table. I tapped my fingers. “Ignoring me won’t help the situation,” I said. “We should talk.”

“About what?” she asked and met my gaze. “About how complicated things are going to be while we work together?”

“They’re only as complicated as you make them,” I said. It annoyed me, having to speak over the music like this, but what choice did I have? “What’s up with you, Erika? Why do you always have to be this stubborn?”

“Stubborn!”

“Yeah, stubborn. You won’t look at me, you won’t talk to me, you kicked me out of your office this morning. You’re fucking stubborn as shit.”

“And you’re an asshole,” she flung back at me.

“Why?”

“Because you’re willing to sleep with someone you hate.”

It was a thump in the gut. I hadn’t expected that. “Well, if that’s the case, then hello, pot, it’s nice to meet you. I’m kettle. You’re looking mighty black today.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Really? Witty puns?”

“Hey, at least you thought it was witty.”

“This is exactly what I mean. You’re thirty-fucking-five, and you’re still behaving like…”

“What? A thirty-five-year-old. ’Cause I’m in my thirties my humor must be dead? I shouldn’t go for what I want when I see it?” I leaned in close, breathing in her scent—she was sweet, honeysuckle and something else, intangible. The flavor of her. That was what I’d missed the last time. I’d never gotten to taste her properly. To feel her come against my lips, thighs shaking on either side of my head.

“You don’t want this,” she said, and pointed at her own ample chest. “You don’t even know what this is.”

“Why, because you’re so misunderstood? Poor Erika, misunderstood nerd in high school, too good for me. Too good for anyone but herself, right? Is that who you are now?” It was harsh, but we were headed somewhere with this. How long would we dance around it for? How long until she realized I was what she wanted, and that was why she hated me? Because she couldn’t stand how much she needed me. And that she could never fully have me. “Misunderstood Erika. Innocent and sweet and—”

“Stop it,” she snapped. “I’m not innocent and sweet and you know it.”

“Do I?”

“I fucked you a month ago,” she yelled, just as the music died down. Everyone in the section turned and stared at us. A couple of guys catcalled.

“Let’s talk outside,” I said, burying my mirth as deep as it could go. The corners of my lips still twitched, though. I took her hand, and we scooched out of the booth and made our way outside. She detached from me and marched ahead.

I caught up to her standing beside the building, between a tree and an alley, out of sight of prying eyes. She folded her arms and leaned back against the old oak, shaking her head. “This is fucking insane. We shouldn’t even be talking about any of this. I work with you now. You’re my brother’s best friend. Marc would shit bricks if he knew we were even having this discussion.”

“What discussion?” I asked. “All we’re doing is talking about why you’re stubborn as shit about everything.”

“I’m stubborn because I’m not going to be a pushover. Maybe that’s the kind of person you’re used to dealing with, but I’m not someone you’ll ever be able to walk all over, Cox.”

“I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you if you were,” I replied, evenly.

“What do you want from me?” she asked. “You want me to tell you I can’t stand you? I can’t stand being around you?”

“I know that already.”

“Then what is it you want?” Her green eyes sparkled by the dim lights cast out from the bar.

I stepped up close and pressed her against the tree, took one of her legs and wrapped it around my body. I braced one arm on the tree above her head, pressed my forehead against hers and inhaled. “What the fuck do you think I want?” I asked. “Huh? What the fuck do you think I want?”

“Noah,” she whispered and bit her bottom lip. She trembled against me. “You’re making this hard.”

“Ha,” I said, and avoided the obvious reply. Instead, I pressed my already-hard dick into the front of her tight black skinny jeans. “Why do you hate me, huh? Why do you think that is?”

“Because you’re arrogant,” she hissed, but licked her lips right after.

I sucked on the flesh of her neck, tasted her again. What would it be like to take her up against this tree? To fuck her raw again and leave her wanting more? “Why else?”

“Cocky.”

“Same thing as arrogant.” I kissed her neck again, taking more time, enjoying the effect it had on her, the goose bumps, the tremors. “Another one?”

“You’re only interested in yourself.”

I faced her then. “I think we both know that’s a lie, given the current evidence resting between us.” I ground my cock against her heat and took her lips then. Claimed them as surely as I had a month ago. Lost my control. Lost my will to do anything but be with her, right there and right then.