Was he wrong? Had he imagined how this woman looked at him? How he caught her watching him? He’d bet his Hummer that she wanted him, too. So, why was she playing hard to get? Was there more going on than met the eye?
Grant didn’t like games. Lord only knew, he’d played enough of those over the past few years with Ashley. But he liked Joni in a way that made him want to know more, that made him unwilling to let this go until he understood her rejection.
Which perhaps made him the world’s biggest fool.
Because the right thing to do, what he should do, was lift his finger off the door-closed button, see her to her car, and forget about the pretty little nurse he thought about more often than not.
But that wasn’t what he did.
Instead, he took advantage of how close they stood to each other in the elevator and, keeping one finger on the door closed button, with his free hand he lifted her chin.
“Fine. You don’t want to date me. I’m not your type. Asking our co-workers about you prior to asking you out was a bad thing. But what about this?” he challenged.
She stared up at him with huge eyes. Her generous chest rose and fell in rapid, heavy breaths.
“If I kissed you, Joni, would that be a bad thing, too? Because I really want to kiss you and have wanted to for weeks. If that’s not what you want, if you don’t want me to kiss you, tell me to stop now.”
Her pulse hammered at her throat. Her breath warmed his skin in fast little pants. She swallowed hard. Her lips parted as if she was going to speak, but not a word came out of her mouth. Instead, her eyelids closed, and a thousand emotions flashed across her lovely face all at once.
Ever so slightly her chin relaxed against his fingertips. Her lips parted another fraction. Her eyes remained tightly closed. Her breathing deepened.
She wasn’t saying no. Her body language screamed, Yes. Oh, yes. He hadn’t been wrong.
She wanted him to kiss her.
Which meant what? That she was playing hard to get? That she was stringing him along? Toying with him as Ashley had done?
He started to pull away, to cut his losses and put Joni out of his mind, or at least try since he hadn’t had much luck up to that point. But her eyes opened and there was such vulnerability in their sea of green that he tumbled in.
Tumbled in and covered her mouth with his, not one bit surprised at the immediate explosion of sensation weakening his knees.
The moment Grant’s lips touched hers, Joni was lost.
Lost in wonder and excitement and awe.
His mouth brushed over hers with a feathery touch that was soft yet masterful. Gentle yet demanding. Hungry yet restrained. All Grant.
She didn’t understand his interest in her, not really, but his kiss was so sweet, so tender, so hot that she couldn’t pull away. Couldn’t do anything except embrace the emotions flooding through her at the simple joy of his mouth conquering hers.
Of their own accord her fingers found their way into the golden brown waves of his hair, pulling his head closer to deepen the kiss. Her hand flattened against his cheek, loving the smoothness that was broken only by the hint of late evening stubble. Loving how his long, lean body pressed against her, so strong, so capable, so absolutely delicious.
And the way he smelled. Oh, my!
She inhaled deeply, dragging in his masculine scent the way she’d wanted to when she’d bumped into him earlier. Never had a man smelled better. Or tasted better. Never.
She wanted to fill her senses with him, to let his intoxicating presence drug her to all reality.
Which had her taking a dazed step back. Only there was no where to go because she already pushed into the hand railing. Panic clogged her throat, widened her eyes, stiffened her body.
What was she doing? She started to ask herself a thousand questions, but Grant’s fingertip covered her lips. The gentle touch sent just as many shockwaves throughout her body as the taste of his lips had, as the feel of his strong body pressed against hers had, as the masculine musk of his scent had.
She wanted him. Right here, right now, in this elevator, she wanted him. That terrified her, made her feel out of control, something she’d sworn she’d never be again.
“Shh, don’t.”
Don’t? her mind screamed. Wasn’t it a little late for don’t? They had.
Now she knew what she really needed not to know.
That he was everything that cocky smile promised.
That where Grant was concerned, she was going to have to up her guard or she was going to fall for him whether she wanted to or not.
That she might have thought he was like Mark, but she’d been wrong. Grant made Mark look like kid’s play and the doctor she’d considered her future had tattered her heart and her whole life, almost pushed her into a well of despair that drowned her.
“Don’t over-think what just happened. Just enjoy the moment.” He flashed that lethal smile. The one that said he knew exactly what she was thinking, feeling, wanting, all of which involved him touching and kissing her a whole lot more. Enjoy the moment? Who was he kidding?
She geared up to blast him for having kissed her but before she made a single sound, she stopped.
How could she blast him? He hadn’t forced her. No, he’d given her opportunity to stop him, and she hadn’t. Instead, she’d closed her eyes and waited for him to kiss her.
Why hadn’t she stopped him?
He ran his thumb along her jaw, leaving a tingly trail of awareness, reminding her exactly why she hadn’t stopped him. Not that she’d known he had magic fingers, exactly, but chemistry had gotten the better of her.
“If not before, I’ll see you Friday night.”
She blinked, confusion adding to the mix of swirling emotions. “I’m not going out with you.” At his fading smile, she rushed on, “I’m sorry if I misled you by not telling you not to kiss me. I should have, but I …” What could she say? That she’d been curious? Full of desire for him? That she had a mile-long masochistic streak and after five years of celibacy he made her want to throw caution to the wind with a single kiss? “But nothing’s changed.” Everything had changed. His kiss had turned her world upside down and inside out. She’d never look at him again without recalling how he’d curled her toes with his kiss. “I don’t want to have a relationship with you outside our professional one at the hospital.”
She really didn’t want to have that one either. Too dangerous. She needed to stay far away from him. But unless she transferred out of the ICU, she’d have to deal with him on a regular basis. She loved working in ICU. She’d lost one job she loved because of a man, she wouldn’t lose another.
“I know.” But his eyes said otherwise, that her rejection confused him as much as he confused her. Probably just that he wondered how someone who was such a plain Jane would have the audacity to turn someone like him down. “I meant that I would see you at Hearts for Health on a non-date outing where we will both just happen to be,” he pointed out, all apparent innocence.
“Oh.” She searched his face for sarcasm, but only saw the ever-present twinkle in his eyes. The one that said he read minds and liked what she was thinking. He probably knew exactly the effect his kiss had had on her. Great.
He grinned and tweaked her nose. “Look, I’m sorry if I pushed more than I should have with the kiss, but I couldn’t help myself. You have that effect on me.” Another flash of the sexiest smile she’d ever seen. “I’ll behave Friday night. Just give me a chance to get you past whatever makes you think you shouldn’t go out with me. I promise I can change your mind.”
He couldn’t