Twenty-Five

 

His gave a convulsive shiver and fixated on my face. "I never thought you'd do it! We work together. I'll get done for sexual harassment for this. I can't..." He reached for the fluffy rug and draped it across my shoulders.

I waited, but he didn't finish his sentence.

"First you ask me to take my shirt off, then you panic when I do. And we don't work together any more." I held his gaze.

Aidan closed his eyes. "What if I run into you at another hospital in the future? It's bound to happen one day. I'd never be able to look at you again, without thinking about..."

He didn't look like he was going to finish that sentence, either, so I finished it for him. "Without thinking about my chest hair?" I offered.

His eyes popped open. For a moment, he looked like he was having trouble controlling his face. Then he exploded with laughter. "A moment ago, you said you didn't have any chest hair! Now you tell me you do?"

I spread my arms wide, the blanket hanging down, like a cormorant drying its wings. "Judge for yourself. I can't have you wondering about my chest hair when you're supposed to be working."

Aidan nodded gravely. "Right, then." He swallowed and his eyes travelled down my body.

Is this what it feels like to be Vanessa, with men staring at her boobs instead of her face? This kind of scrutiny unsettles me.

"May I?" Aidan raised his hand, but not his eyes.

I shrugged.

He touched his fingers to my collarbone, tracing along my sternum between my breasts to my stomach.

I held still. "What's your prognosis?"

Aidan looked me up and down, meeting my eyes again. "I don't know. You don't have any chest hair. But you look like a shag on a rock." He started to laugh again.

"A shag?" I asked cautiously. I knew only one meaning of his word and I didn't understand the reference to a rock.

"One of those birds that sit on a rock and stretch out their wings to dry. Don't you call them shags?" He looked uneasy.

"You mean a cormorant? You're comparing me to a cormorant on a rock," I replied carefully.

Aidan swallowed. "Of course. Nothing else."

I don't believe you. "So you didn't just suggest that I sleep with you."

His voice was firm. "No." He wavered, judging my expression. "Unless you want to," he said finally.

I kept my tone level, my expression giving nothing away. "And if I want to?"

Aidan's resolve crumpled. "I need another whiskey. Do you want one, too?"

I was thoughtful. "Yes, I do."