"Because I"m climbing in that bed with you, and you can"t be naked or I will be an a.s.shole." He looks almost angry.
"Turn around," I murmur. When he"s facing the other direction, I quickly unzip and step out of my dress and pull the t-shirt over my head. I"m not wearing panties, but the t-shirt is long enough that you can"t see so I don"t care. "I don"t think I can take my sandals off without falling over."
Will turns to me and his eyes soften. "You look so young right now."
"I"m sure I look like s.h.i.t, but okay. Sandals?"
"Sit." He kneels before me and takes my shoes off, and then tucks me into the bed. He unb.u.t.tons his shirt, lets it fall off his shoulders and drapes it on my desk chair. Holy muscled body, Batman.
"Your place is nice," he mutters.
"Hmm." I close my eyes to block out the delicious image of a mostly-naked Will. I hear the zipper of his pants and the rustling of him stepping out of them, and then the bed dips as he crawls in beside me. He turns me away from him, and pulls my back against his front.
"Sleep."
"Why are you still here?" I ask sleepily. I should demand that he go, but d.a.m.n if this doesn"t feel good.
"I don"t know," he whispers.
~Will~ She instantly falls asleep, tucked against me, her breath slow and even. Why am I still here? Good question. I got her home and in bed safely, she"ll just sleep it off and be fine in the morning, albeit a bit hung over. But lying here with her feels right, and for the first time in a long, long time I feel protective over a woman that I"m not related to.
She"s different. She doesn"t care about my job or my family connections.
And she told me no. That was new.
I smile and kiss the top of her head, enjoying the smell of peppermint in her hair and the way her soft hair feels against my nose. She sighs deeply and wiggles against me, pushing that tight, round a.s.s against my groin. Her t-shirt rides up and I can feel her a.s.s.
Her warm, naked a.s.s.
f.u.c.k me.
This little hazel-eyed woman has a body made for s.e.x, a sharp wit and a killer smile. The dimple in her right cheek is f.u.c.king adorable. It"s too bad for me that she"s forever frowning at me.
I wonder what it will take to make her smile more, and trust me. Because I"ve got to see her again.
Meg whimpers softly and turns in my arms, burrows her face against my chest and wraps her arm around my waist, hanging on tight. I brush her hair off her cheek and kiss her forehead before falling asleep myself.
h.e.l.l yes, I"ll see her again.
Chapter Three.
Two weeks later "Meg, there"s a call for you on extension forty-six hundred."
"Okay, Jill, thanks." I set the chart I"ve been doc.u.menting medication doses into in its slot at the nurses" station and pick up the phone.
"This is Meg."
"Megan McBride?" a polite female voice asks.
"Yes, can I help you?"
"I hope so. This is Susan Jones. I"m with the Seattle football public relations office."
Oh, h.e.l.l. My stomach flips over and my upper lip begins to sweat.
"h.e.l.lo."
"I"m calling on behalf of Will Montgomery. He would like to accept your invitation to come up to your department at Children"s and meet your staff and patients."
I rub my forehead with my fingertips and bite my lip. "Okay. I can make arrangements for that."
"Great. He"d like to come up on Wednesday."
"Of this week?" My voice is much squeakier than normal, but I can"t help it. He wants to come to my job in two days?
"That"s right."
I sigh in resignation. The kids will be so excited; there"s no way I can say no.
"Okay, what time?"
"Around one O"clock?"
"Okay, we"ll be expecting him."
I hang up and stare at the phone. f.u.c.k me. Will Montgomery is coming here in two days. It"s been two weeks since the moment in the restroom. Since my colossally embarra.s.sing drunk display.
Since waking up the next morning, naked, in my empty bed.
I really need to ask him how the h.e.l.l I ended up naked. If my blurry memory serves, I climbed in bed in a t-shirt.
And then, to cap off an incredibly confusing evening, Will had my car delivered to my townhouse the next morning so I didn"t have to take a cab to go collect it from the hotel.
Sweet? Maybe.
Yet, not a word from him since then. Of course, he"s a busy professional football player, and it"s football season, and maybe he"s just not interested in me after the way I laid the b.i.t.c.h-act on.
I couldn"t blame him if that were the case. Not to mention, I did make it clear that I would never, ever be intimate with him.
I"m an idiot.
And now he wants to come to my job and meet my patients. It"s probably just a ploy to get some publicity. He"ll undoubtedly bring some press with him, have his photo taken with sick kids, and it"ll make him look great on Channel 7 News.
Arrogant a.s.s.
"He"s here. Security just called up." Jill grins and does a little dance. She and I have worked together since day one. She"s a pretty pet.i.te blonde with dark brown eyes and a voluptuous figure. She"s also happily married and has three kids, but not averse to flirting with hot football players.
Who can blame her?
"Okay, I"m going to walk out to the elevators and meet him. Remember, act surprised."
She winks at me and I walk over to the elevator lobby. I gave my kids" parents a heads up about today"s guest so they could come and take photos and meet the athlete themselves, but I decided to make it a surprise for the kids.
Finally, the elevators open and I can just stare. He"s brought four of his teammates, all dressed in blue jeans and their team jerseys, pushing carts full of gifts, baskets wrapped in bows and cellophane, full of their team gear; hats, jerseys, pajamas, flags... you name it. They have stuffed animals and games, too.
I look up into Will"s bright, happy blue eyes and I can"t stop the grin that splits my face in two.
He"s spoiling my kids!
"Hey, you"re the prettiest nurse I"ve ever seen." He offers me that c.o.c.ky grin and follows the other guys out of the elevator. They are all so tall and broad, making me feel tiny next to them.
I look down at my simple blue scrubs and laugh. "Right because scrubs and ponytails are all the rage these days."
He leans down to kiss my cheek and whispers in my ear, "Hottest nurse I"ve ever seen."
Well, then.
I clear my throat and Will introduces me to his teammates; Jerrel Sanders, Thomas Jones, Kip Sutherland and Trevon Wilson.
They are all incredibly polite and look a little nervous, hands in their pockets, shuffling on their big feet, looking about the hospital corridor.
"Thank you so much, all of you, for coming. I haven"t told the kids you were coming; I wanted it to be a surprise. But the parents know, so they could bring their cameras and stuff." The guys all nod and I look around the lobby. "No press?"
Will"s face sobers. "No, no press. This isn"t a photo-op, Meg. We"re here because we want to be."
"How did you talk your PR lady into that?" I ask, surprise ringing through my voice.
"She works for us, not the other way around," he responds simply and grabs a rolling cart full of goodies for my kids. "Lead the way."
I lead the guys into the corridor, a wide smile on my face, and wink at Jill who is standing at the nurse"s station, her arms folded around her middle.
"Let"s start with Nicholas. He"s played football until this past winter when he got hurt on the field and it was discovered that he as osteosarcoma." The guys all frown with concern. "Bone cancer," I murmur and knock on Nick"s door.
"Yeah," I hear him call.
I crack the door open and shield his view from the guys behind me. "Do you have a sec?"
His eyes light up and he grins at me. He"s got such a crush, it"s cute. "I always have time for the hottest nurse here."
I open the door wide and step aside so the guys can move into his room, and Will leans down to me on his way by and whispers in my ear, "See? Hottest nurse."
Nick pales, his jaw drops, and then he starts to laugh. "Oh, my G.o.d!"
"Hey, man." Will approaches him first and offers his hand to shake. "It"s a pleasure to meet another player."
"I"m not playing anymore," Nick murmurs.
"Once a player, always a player, dude." Will grins and sits next to his bed. "What position did you play?"
"Quarterback," Nick responds shyly, not able to look Will in the eye. Nick"s hair is gone, and his once strong body looks weak in the large hospital bed.
"Were you good?" Will asks.
"f.u.c.k yeah, it was only my junior year and I had offers from USC and Florida State," he says proudly.
"d.a.m.n, I"m sorry, man."
I step out of the room and let the guys chat it up with Nicholas, give him gifts and just make his day.
h.e.l.l, make his whole life.
About an hour later, the players file out, smiling and joking with each other and with Nick. Will offers me a sweet, sad smile. "We need to talk later," he mutters.
I frown and c.o.c.k my head to the side. Talk? About what? I don"t have time to question him.
"Okay, guys, if you"re comfortable splitting up for a while, there are a lot of kids anxious to meet you. I have extra nursing staff on hand today to lead you around and introduce you to kids and their parents."
"Sounds great," Sanders responds and offers Jill a c.o.c.ky grin. "Lead on, sweetheart."
They each grab baskets full of gifts and follow my staff to various parts of the department, and I laugh as I hear whoops and cries of excitement coming out of the rooms.
"This is awesome, Will. These kids will remember this for the rest of their lives. Thank you."
"My pleasure. I"m gonna stick with you, if you don"t mind. Where to next?"
Okay, the man is good with kids. He"s kind and a good listener. He has patiently posed for dozens of photos, flirted with my girls, made the guys feel like he"s their buddy, and just been generally awesome today. All five players eventually made it to every room and talked with every patient. Now, we"re all gathered in a common area that we have set up for families, where they can come and rest. It"s recently been remodeled, and it proudly boasts about two-thousand square feet of plush leather couches and recliners, an enormous big-screen television mounted to one wall, tables and chairs near outlets for laptops and plenty of s.p.a.ce to spread out.
Now the oldest patients who are able to leave their rooms are scattered around the s.p.a.ce, at the suggestion of Kip, so the kids can ask questions and have a little more time with the team before they leave for the evening.
They"ve already been here for a staggering five hours.
"Meg, I need some help with an IV in room twenty," Dr. Sanchez whispers to me so she doesn"t interrupt the Q&A session.
"No problem." I follow her back to the room and help her, and then when I return to the lounge, I stay out of sight so I can listen.
"So, do you have a girlfriend, Will?" A pretty sixteen-year-old patient named Liza asks with a shy smile.