Rolling over in bed, Robert picked up his cellphone. Squinting to get his eyes to focus properly, he saw that it said 2:14 a.m. He’d come home after dropping Brooke off and done some chores until around eleven, his normal bedtime. He’d been lying wide awake ever since, replaying his date with Brooke over in his mind and wondering how the accident victims were.

Corky, who’d been sleeping on the other side of the bed, groaned when Robert sat up and stretched. He put his glasses on and then patted Corky’s back.

“Sorry, buddy. Go back to sleep.”

As soon as he got up, Robert heard frantic scratching coming from the bathroom down the hall. Sketch liked to sleep in the bathtub at night. The nosy critter usually woke up out of a sound sleep if he heard Robert moving around.

Thinking that a walk might help tire him out, Robert donned a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved gray T-shirt. Sketch came waddling into the bedroom, grunting in greeting.

“I’m not doing anything interesting,” he told the skunk.

Sketch nibbled on Robert’s big toe a moment and then waddled back to the bathroom. Robert smiled as he followed him down the hallway. He passed Sketch and headed for the mud room off the kitchen. The place was jam-packed with animal crates and other pet equipment.

His orange and white bobtailed cat, Hugo, glared at him from atop a stack of crates.

“Oh, it’s okay for you to keep me up, though,” Robert said at the cat’s cranky expression. “How’s it feel?”

Hugo squeezed his green eyes shut and turned his head, giving Robert the cold shoulder.

Robert shoved his feet in his beat-up sneakers and snagged his key ring from the hook by the door. As he left the house and locked up, an idea came to Robert and he changed his mind about a walk. Instead, he got in his SUV and headed for town.

* * *

“Maybe this was a stupid idea,” Robert muttered to himself as he took the five-dozen donuts and big box of coffee he’d bought at Donut Joe’s, the local donut place in Cooper’s Creek.

Would Brooke think that he was pressuring her or something? He sighed as he walked up to the sliding doors of the ER entrance and waited for them to open. Passing through them, he smiled at the ER clerk.

“Hi. I have a delivery for you guys,” Robert said to the woman whose badge read Kimmi. “Well, I mean, no one ordered it. I heard about the pile-up and thought you guys could use a little pick-me-up.” Oh, my God. How idiotic does that sound?

Kimmi smiled. “You’re the rock climber, right?”

Robert blinked. “Uh, yeah.”

She smiled, her blue eyes twinkling as she rose from her desk. “Come through the triage room here to the left. I’ll let you in from my side.”

Robert went to the door she’d indicated and nudged it open with his foot since his hands were full. He wondered how Kimmi knew who he was.

She opened the door on the other side of the triage room and he walked into the ER. His stomach clenched when he saw Brooke coming out of a patient room.

“Look who’s here,” Kimmi called to Brooke in a sing-song voice.

Brooke’s eyes went wide and she gasped. “Coffee! Sugar!” Rushing over to him, Brooke relieved Robert of the box of coffee. “You are a godsend, Robert Chambers. And you must have ESP. Come with me.”

Robert grinned as he followed her down the hallway, relieved that she was happy to see him—even if it was only because he came bearing gifts.

Brooke led him to a breakroom and had him put the donuts on a table. She sat the box of coffee down and opened one of the donut boxes. Picking up a chocolate frosted one, she took a healthy bite out of it and close her eyes in bliss.

A crumb of icing rested on her bottom lip and Robert wanted to kiss it away.

“I’m starving. This is just what I needed.”

Robert resisted the urge to shuffle his feet. “So, you don’t mind that I showed up?”

She looked at him like he was crazy. “Mind? Why would I mind a sexy man showing up with caffeine and sugar just when I need it the most?”

He laughed and turned a little pink at being called sexy. “Good. I’m glad.”

“I hope you’re not expecting lady-like manners right now because I’m eating this one and another one,” Brooke informed him.

Robert shrugged. “Go for it.” He located a stack of Styrofoam cups and grabbed one. “Were there any fatalities?” he asked.

Brooke sighed. “No. A couple of close calls, though. Good thing that Doogie Houser was on tonight, though.”

Robert depressed the lever on the spout of the box of coffee and the hot brew flowed into the cup. “Who?”

“This hotshot new doc,” Brooke replied after swallowing the last of her donut. “He’s a real-life Doogie. Only twenty-one but he has medical degrees in several specialties, including ER medicine.”

“Wow. Sounds like he would come in handy. Cream and sugar, right?”

Brooke smiled as she picked up a powdered sugar treat. “How did you know?”

“I remember from dinner at Emily’s house,” he said.

Brooke paused with the donut halfway to her mouth. “That was months ago. You really remember that?”

“Uh, yeah.” He finished fixing her coffee and handed it to her. “There you go. I couldn’t sleep, so I thought maybe you guys might like a snack”

Brooke took a sip and cocked her head. “Robert, why aren’t you married?”

Completely thrown, Robert stared at her a moment before blurting, “Probably because I’m boring as hell.”

Her eyes widened. “Boring? There are a lot of things I’d say about you, but boring isn’t one of them.”

“Really?” He stuck his hands in his front pockets.

She motioned at the food he’d brought. “You’re thoughtful, brave, know how to treat a lady, and you’re intelligent.” She gave him a suggestive once over. “Plus, you’re hot enough to melt asphalt in that rock climbing outfit of yours. There’s nothing boring about you, Superman, and whoever said you were was a damn moron.”

Robert wondered if he was still at home in bed dreaming because he’d never had a woman compliment him like that before. “You forgot to mention loyal, responsible, and punctual,” he teased.

“All good things to have in a man,” Brooke said before biting into her second donut.

He folded his arms and leaned against a row of wall lockers. After watching her eat for a moment and being jealous as hell of her donut, he asked, “How about dinner at my place tonight?”

She rolled her eyes. “You cook, too?”

“Uh, define cook.”

She laughed. “That thing you do with the stove and oven.”

“By that definition, yes, I cook. If it comes with instructions, I can make it,” he said. “How do you feel about Hamburger Helper?”

Brooke put the back of the hand that held her donut to her lips as she giggled and Robert laughed. Her giggle grew into a belly laugh and then she snorted. She put her drink on the table so she didn’t spill it as a laughing jag seized her.

Robert loved her laugh and the way her dark eyes sparkled. “I mean, I sort of jazz it up, but I start with that.”

Brooke waved a hand at him. “Shut up. Don’t talk.”

“I’m really handy with canned meat, too. Kate loves my Spam Surprise.”

Brooke’s knees buckled and she sat down in a chair as a fresh wave of laughter hit her. “Please,” she gasped, holding her stomach.

Grinning, Robert fell silent and let her get herself under control.

* * *

Brooke’s lungs burned from lack of oxygen. Finally, her laughter subsided and she could breathe again. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry. I’m really punch-drunk and I laugh at the strangest things when I’m so tired.”

“It’s okay. My culinary skills really are a joke, so laughing is appropriate,” Robert said.

Brooke polished off her donut, gulped her coffee down, and stood up. “I’m sure they’re not as bad as you think. I’d love to come to dinner.”

That adorable smile of his curved his lips. “Great. Come at six and I’ll show you around my place.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing all your fur babies.” She moved closer to him until they were so close she could feel his body heat. “Especially the ones of you.”

She loved the way he blushed when he grinned.

“Thanks. Well, I should get out of your hair. I hope you can go home soon. You must be exhausted,” he said.

“You’re not in my hair, but I do have to get back to work.” She rose on her tiptoes and pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek. The scents of leather and citrus teased her nose and she wondered what kind of cologne he wore. It smelled heavenly. “Thank you so much for the treat. You are super sweet for doing that.”

“You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.” His gaze rested on her mouth a moment before he met her eyes. “Until tonight.”

She smiled at the way he raised an eyebrow and gave her a slight bow. “Until tonight.”

He chuckled and left the breakroom. She followed him out into the hallway and watched him walk away. “No man’s ass should look that good in jeans.” He turned a corner, and was gone from sight.

Brooke grabbed another cup of coffee, took it to the nurses’ station with her, and started on the mountain of work that awaited her.