Jamie

 

I felt my heart hammering away in my chest. My body felt flushed, hot and sticky, even beneath the thin scrubs I wore. Despite everything in me telling me that he was an asshole—and he was, no mistaking it—I couldn’t seem to resist the call of his full lips. I told myself it was a combination of tiredness and a serious dry spell that made me let him touch his mouth to mine again.

 

But I doubted it.

 

It was the third time I’d let him—well, sort of let him—kiss me tonight. Or was it morning? Either way, it was a very short amount of time between kisses, and I probably should have been a lot angrier than I actually was about this one.

 

But it was hard to do that when he was right. I had been dreaming about him.

 

I’d passed out on the chair, exhausted and stressed out. I only meant for a catnap, but I guessed I’d been sleeping longer than planned—long enough to have one hell of a hot dream. It had been just shy of a porno, and it starred a certain motorcycle riding badass. In the dream, it hadn’t mattered that he was also a pain in the ass. No, in the dream, the only thing that had mattered was the way he was trailing kisses across my body, leaving a trail of fire in his wake.

 

In that dream sort of way, I’d been dressed one second and naked the next, as his mouth slowly made its way down the length of my body. He’d been about two licks and an open-mouthed kiss away from pleasuring that aching, unattended core that was dripping with need when I’d woken up.

 

And if that didn’t leave a girl frustrated, I didn’t know what would.

 

It was that frustration that spurred me forward, that parted my lips and let his tongue slide into my mouth for the third time in mere hours. It was that lingering dream that had me arching my back up towards him, straining for a deeper kiss and more attention. And it was that frustration—I swear, it was only the frustration—that had my hands winding around his strong neck and shoulders to pull him closer.

 

But as frustration gave way to a deeper need that hadn’t been sated in years, I remembered what it felt like to be really touched by a man. I remembered the last time it happened, who it had been with, and why it had been so damn long.

 

It was like ice water being poured over my head.

 

I jerked back suddenly from the kiss, and my hands gripped his shoulders only to push him back. Clay’s smarmy, charming face flashed before my eyes, and I wanted to kill something.

 

In that moment, Pax didn’t seem like such a bad choice for the killing, either.

 

“Fuck, baby, come back,” he growled at me, sounding a little frustrated himself. “I know you want me.”

 

And it was true. In some small, unimportant way, mostly due to intense sexual frustration bred from mistrust and too long between sessions. But frustration wasn’t reason enough to let this man get my panties down. I didn’t have to be a genius to know he didn’t do relationships. He’d already told me he was only in it for the pussy.

 

Not the sort of guy to bounce back with.

 

“Get off,” I told him firmly, proud of myself for keeping away from that breathy tone that tried to come out instead.

 

For a second, I thought he wouldn’t listen, maybe even try to force himself on me. But then he surprised me by cursing loudly and pulling away. I blinked a couple of times in shock, then looked up at him standing there in front of the chair. He was breathing heavily, running his hands through his hair roughly, and I could see the sizable bulge straining against the zipper of his jeans.

 

A shiver of want ran through me, even as I tried to shove it away.

 

“I think…I think I need to go,” I stuttered out, forcing myself up from the chair. I ran a shaking hand over my hair to smooth it down and tried to slow the rapid beats of my heart.

 

He shot me a dark look, clearly still not happy with my insistence to leave. Or maybe he was still pissed about the whole not wanting to drop my panties for him thing. It was hard to tell in that moment.

 

“We’ve been over this,” he told me in a low growl of a voice. “It’d be better for Kato—”

 

I cut him off. We had already been over this, that much was true. But the sudden need to get the hell out of here was pretty strong, and my reasons for staying were pretty damn weak. “You can’t just keep me here,” I told him, clenching at the fabric of my scrubs. “If Kato needs someone to take care of him, call a doctor. That’s what normal people do.”

 

I started to move around him towards the door, but he easily stepped into my path. That stopped me quickly because I had no intention of letting him getting ahold of me again. And I definitely wasn’t going to let him kiss me again.

 

No. Fucking. Way.

 

“I’m not calling a doctor.”

 

Again, the sense that he was doing something illegal and this whole accident thing wasn’t an accident ran through my mind. Why else would he be so adamant? Not that I thought he was going to open up and telling me what was going on just because he stuck his tongue down my throat.

 

Making a frustrated sound in my throat, I actually did stomp my foot. I didn’t even care that it made me look like a child. I was tired and frustrated—both mentally and sexually. “That’s your problem!” I told him, feeling a little like a jerk because I knew Pax wouldn’t call anyone, and the one that would suffer was be Kato. “I have work. I have a home and a life.”

 

Okay, that last part was a total lie. I didn’t have time for a life. I was working crazy hours at the hospital and getting tiny bouts of sleep at home in the meantime. Really, it was a miracle that I had enough time to eat, much less do anything else.

 

He waved off my argument like it was an annoying fly buzzing around his head. “Call in to work. You wanna tell me they want a sick person working at a hospital?”

 

I blew out a harsh breath. “I can’t do that! I need this job. I need the money. Not all of us live in a fucking mansion!”

 

He raised a single eyebrow at me but didn’t seem very concerned by my statement. “You can afford a day,” he told me.

 

Like you would fucking know, I thought angrily. But instead, I said, “I have student loans to pay, not to mention rent and a little thing called food. Missing days is going to screw all of that up.”

 

Pax considered me for a long time. He tilted his head to the side, pursing his lips together. It looked like he finally made a decision, and I thought that decision would allow me to get the hell out of there.

 

It wasn’t.

 

“What if I make you a deal?” he asked me mildly.

 

I glanced over at the door, then back to him, narrowing my eyes suspiciously. “What kind of deal?” If it didn’t involve me leaving immediately, I decided I wasn’t interested—until he spoke.

 

“Stay here for as long as I need you.” I opened my mouth to tell him hell no, but he continued on in a slightly louder voice, talking right over me. “And I’ll pay you three times your regular salary at the hospital for that time.”

 

My jaw dropped. Three times? Did this crazy man have any idea how much money that was? I didn’t make anything like the doctors did, but I made enough to do a little better than just survive. And three times… I thought of how much money that really was and how that could help me pay off a good chunk of that student debt.

 

I eyed him suspiciously. “Do you even have that kind of money?” Sure, I’d accused him of having it already, but I reminded myself that the house had belonged to his parents, so maybe he didn’t have all that much on his own.

 

He grinned lazily at me. “Honey, I’ve got plenty.”

 

Plenty. Enough to pay three times my salary? Maybe. He might balk at the number I threw at him, which would give me reason enough to get out of here. But what if he does have the money? I wondered.

 

On the one hand, that was an awesome thing. Money was always good. But I had to think long term. What if I ended staying here too long and having to call into work for that whole time, ultimately leading the hospital to fire me? Could he get me my job back? I highly doubted it. And I didn’t think he’d be able to get me a new one, either. So what was the point of taking him up on his offer if it only bought me a very short term boost in income?

 

Shaking my head, I said, “But the hospital—”

 

He cut me off. “Three times your salary,” he repeated, then added, “and a guaranteed job at my…company if you feel like maybe the hospital isn’t working out anymore.”

 

My eyebrows shot up at the sound of that. Immediately, suspicion set in. “And what exactly is your company?” I hadn’t forgotten that I suspected him of illegal dealings.

 

He sighed. “Hellrider Incorporated. It covers a lot of small areas of business, one of which happens to necessitate a capable doctor.” He motioned towards the mudroom. “And if you prove yourself with him, I see no reason why I couldn’t hire you full-time.”

 

I blinked at him. Hellrider Incorporated? How was this motorcycle riding, rude asshole the owner of a company? And how could it possibly be making enough to hire a full-time doctor?

 

And why would it need one? I tacked on at the end.

 

“I’m not sure I like the idea of working for you,” I muttered.

 

To my surprise, he let out a booming laugh. “Oh? Are you sure? Because I’ll bet you’ve got a naughty little fantasy in that head of yours that involves your boss taking you over his desk at work.”

 

Tingles of desire shot through me, raw and hard. It might have been a little fantasy of mine. But that didn’t mean I was going to admit that to him. Grinding my teeth to keep myself in check, I lifted my chin and said, “Is everything that comes out of your mouth crude?”

 

He grinned at me. “Tell me you don’t like it, and I’ll stop.”

 

“I don’t like it,” I said flatly.

 

“I don’t believe you.”

 

Making a strangled noise, I tried again. “Can we get back on topic? What if I lose my job and don’t want to work for you?”

 

His grin faded, and he turned serious. He considered my words seriously, which I grudgingly appreciated, and after a moment said, “I’ll get you a job at a different hospital. I can’t guarantee that you won’t have to move depending on where it is, but I know some people. If that’s the way you need to go and you lose your damn job, you have my word that I’ll get you another one.”

 

I stared at him for a long time. Was he being serious? Could I trust him? He was such an asshole, rude, and more than a little crass. But his offer was enticing. I just didn’t know if he could hold up his end of the bargain.

 

I was still on the fence when he took a step closer to me again. I should have taken a step back from him again, but I didn’t. Instead, I let him step close enough so that I could feel his body heat radiate towards me, his breath smelling like cinnamon gum as he spoke in a deep, sultry voice that I grudgingly admitted I enjoyed. “Stay. I’m good for it. I’m good for whatever you need, baby.”

 

That shouldn’t have convinced me. If anything, it should have had me punching him and heading for the hills. But I was broke, and despite the brain in my head telling me that I needed to steer clear of this hot mess, he was sexy. Very sexy. And my body liked the hot, liquid feeling it got when he was around me.

 

It couldn’t hurt to stay for a little bit, right?

 

And before I could talk myself out of what had to be a moronic decision, I nodded my head. “Deal.”

 

He had one of the guys in the house run out and get my cell phone. I had to wait for it to charge, but when it was full, I called in to work, letting them know I had a really bad case of the flu. They didn’t even question it; I’d never called out before.

 

Pax led me upstairs then to one of the many rooms in the house. It had a king sized bed, a vanity, and a closet that was probably bigger than my apartment. The bathroom was right across from me.

 

I turned to thank him, but he was already leaving. Over his shoulder, he told me, “I’ll have someone pick you up some clothes. Unless you want to run around naked.”

 

He didn’t turn so he didn’t see the red tint to my cheek as my mind supplied some dirty details to go with me running around naked…