“You have time for a coffee?”
If it got them away from the prying eyes and ears of their coworkers then she’d make time.
“If we make it quick.” She glanced at her watch as if she was doing him a favor by agreeing. At least, she hoped that’s how it came across. Every instinct within her told her to not let Ty know how he’d blown her away the night before, to protect herself. “Let me finish my assessment and I’ll be right with you.”
Hands shaking, heart thumping, blood raging through her vessels, she examined the baby, entered in her notes and new orders, then headed out of the NICU. For coffee.
With the man she’d touched all over with her mouth.
With the man who’d touched her all over with his mouth.
Best she forget. He probably wanted to take her out so he could make sure she knew last night meant nothing.
“Or something,” Linda reminded her of her earlier comment with a grin when Eleanor walked by the smug nurse.
Eleanor’s face flamed, but she kept walking, not meeting her coworker’s eyes.
Yeah, the sooner she got the coffee break over with the sooner she could forget the previous night had happened.
At least, she hoped she could forget.
* * *
Ty ordered two coffees, grabbed a couple of sweetener packets and cream and sat down at a table.
“Hey, Dr. Donaldson,” a cute little brunette from the surgical floor greeted him, stopping at his table and smiling prettily at him. “You want some company?”
Automatically he grinned at the woman, but he shook his head. He gestured to the second cup of coffee. “I’m meeting Dr. Aston.”
Looking disappointed, the woman nodded as if she understood. “Maybe next time.”
Although usually he would have flirted back with her as naturally as taking his next breath, Ty didn’t say anything, just stirred sugar into his steaming cup of coffee. He hadn’t even called her darlin’. What was up with that?
“We can do this later if need be.”
He glanced up and knew exactly what was up. Ellie and the night they’d spent together. The amazing, out-of-this-world night they’d spent together.
Her face was red, her gaze wouldn’t meet his and she sounded agitated. A new wave of frustration hit him.
“Why would we need to do that?” He took a deep breath, reminded himself that patience was a virtue even if his had felt in short supply from the moment he’d awakened and realized she was skipping out on him.
She gestured in the direction of the departing woman.
He pulled out the chair next to his. “Have a seat.”
She sat. Not in the chair next to his but in the one directly opposite. He almost laughed at her bullheadedness. Any moment he expected her to cross her arms and glare at him in her stereotypical fashion.
If he knew what the hell he’d done to deserve her antagonism, it would be one thing, but as best he could recall, the night had been amazing all the way around.
With care, he slid the cup of coffee across to her along with two packets of sweetener and one cream.
Surprise flickered across her face. “You know how I take my coffee?”
His lips twitched. “We’ve had coffee together several times over the past week. I pay attention to details.”
She tore the packets of sweetener open and poured the contents into her cup. “You’ll get no argument from me on that one.”
“Meaning?”
She popped the top of the creamer, her face blazing red. “I’d think it obvious. You knew how I take my coffee so you must pay attention to details.”
She made a production of stirring, then taking a sip. Ty had to force his gaze away from her mouth to keep from staring, to keep from remembering where that mouth had been during the night.
Why had she been leaving that morning without waking him? Why was she acting as if she was angry with him? Had she not felt the same things he had?
“About last night,” he began, but she held up her hand.
“Don’t worry about it.” She took a slow sip of her coffee as if to stress her next point. “Last night was no big deal.”
Ouch. He studied her pale face, trying to read her thoughts, but, as she had for most of the morning, she held her emotions in check. Her face was a blank slate.
“You’re sure?” He wasn’t. Every aspect of the night had felt like a very big deal. Like something new and wonderful.
“Positive.” She set her coffee cup on the table, looked into his eyes, but quickly glanced away, toying with the empty sweetener packet papers. “We drank too much champagne and got caught up in the celebration.”
Sounded feasible to him, except that nothing similar had ever happened before and he hadn’t had that much champagne.
As he searched Eleanor’s eyes, her claim didn’t feel right. Just as the blank expression on her face didn’t feel right. Not after having seen her so alive just a few hours before. He wanted a glimpse of her smile, just to see if he’d imagined how his pulse reacted. He wanted to touch her to see if he’d imagined how his body responded to her skin against his.
“Okay, so we drank too much and got caught up in the moment.” He didn’t buy it, but he’d go with the flow for now. “You were leaving without waking me. Why?”
What was wrong with him? Mornings-after were no big deal. At least, they never had been before.
“If we hadn’t gotten called in to the hospital, I would have made you breakfast,” he added with a grin, but the gesture didn’t feel natural.
Just as she hadn’t in the delivery room, Eleanor didn’t respond to his grin other than to get pink splotches on her otherwise pale face. “Is that what you usually do? Cook breakfast for your...guests?”
He had cooked breakfast for women before. Several times. But never at his place. He didn’t have women at his apartment. Going to their place kept things simpler. Easier to walk away when it wasn’t your place you were leaving. He had brought Eleanor to his apartment, made love to her in his bed and she’d been the one who’d been going to walk away. He hadn’t liked that one bit.
Ty sighed. He’d had a great time the night before. Not just the sex, but the entire evening. Truthfully, he wouldn’t mind a repeat—several repeats. Obviously, she wasn’t of the same mind. She’d seemed to enjoy herself well enough, but maybe the champagne really had been why she’d relaxed and smiled so freely at him.
It seemed she wasn’t overjoyed that she’d spent the night with him. Actually, she was acting as if he’d been one big disappointment all the way around.
That was a feeling he was all too familiar with.
Well, hell.
“Breakfast?” Ty downed the rest of his coffee in one gulp, not caring that the hot liquid scorched his throat, then stood and answered her question. “Not always, but at least you got a cup of coffee out of the deal.”
LEANING BACK IN her chair and staring at the computer