She lay on her back staring up at the ceiling.
It was almost two and Anjali was wide awake.
She flung back the covers and decided to see if Dr. Madison was awake and could give her a pill. She’d decided not to take the other one and returned it.
Stupid move.
She pulled on a thin cotton robe over her sleeveless nightgown and slipped out of the room.
Dr. Madison’s room was down the hall, and she quietly turned the knob, peeking inside. One of the small bedside lamps was on, and she could see by the soft glow that the woman was sleeping peacefully. Anjali decided to do a quick check for the pills.
The door opened behind her and Scott poked his head in. He didn’t seem surprised to see her. “I thought I heard you,” he said.
Heard her? She knew for a fact that she hadn’t made a bit of noise. “Did you have your ear pressed to the door or something?”
He entered the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. He was wearing a faded Stanford T-shirt and flannel pajama bottoms. “Are you angry with me?
“No,” she said angrily.
“Yes you are and I want to know why.”
“Can we have this conversation somewhere else?”
“Why are you mad at me?”
“I’m not mad. Besides, why do you care? You went off with Jane. The two of you scampering across the lawn, arm in arm.”
“I’ve never scampered in my life and I’m not interested in Jane.” He moved closer to her. “I thought you had a thing for Coulter.”
“Everybody has a thing for Coulter.”
“Do you?”
“No, I don’t.”
Scott reached out and took her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. Behind them, Dr. Madison snorted and turned over in her sleep.
He slid his hands up until he was holding her by the soft part of her arms. “You know how I feel about you.”
“I don’t make a habit of reading your mind.”
He wrapped her in his arms. “You’ve done it before.”
Her arms slid around his waist, and she pressed her cheek against his chest. “I have not.”
“Well, I’ll tell you then. I like you, Anjali.”
“More than Nana Wilder?”
She could feel him smile. “Definitely more.”
His fingers stroked her cheek before sliding under her chin and tilting her face up. She closed her eyes, and his mouth was on hers.
His mouth was much warmer than his hands.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. And his lips went from warm to hot and he deepened the kiss until he might as well have been sucking the air from her lungs.
He was sweet and gentle and so warm that all she wanted to do was crawl inside him.
Dr. Madison giggled in her sleep, and Anjali pulled away. “Scott.”
“Hmm?” He was kissing her neck.
“Dr. Madison?”
Instead of answering, he started kissing her again. It took every ounce of effort she had to tear her lips away. “We should go.” She wasn’t going to continue making out with Dr. Madison’s snoring nearby.
Scott eased open the door. She slid past him, took hold of his hand, and pulled him down the hallway and into her room.
The door was barely shut when he wrapped her in his arms, holding her so tightly, she felt the breath escape her lungs.
She reached up and kissed him hard. And then eased back and rubbed his bottom lip with her thumb. “Sorry, did that hurt?”
“I don’t know. Do it again.”
Smiling, she nuzzled her face against his shoulder. “I need to catch my breath.”
She could feel his lips against her hair as his hands slid inside her thin robe.
“I was jealous of Rhett Uglee,” he murmured in her ear as his hands continued their caress. “When you started seducing him.”
“I was not seducing him. I was pretending to be interested so his dead lady friend would show up.”
He laughed softly, and she slid her hands into his thick hair.
And then she kissed him hard.
She had her breath back.
And she didn’t want to waste it talking.