IT WAS JUST before six when Paige pulled into the hospital staff parking. Her shift didn’t start until seven but apparently good—okay, spectacular—sex gave her a massive burst of energy that left her tingling all over and raring to start the day.
Or maybe it was the full-blown freak-out she’d been heading for ever since she’d awakened wrapped in delicious heat and Ty’s amazing man scent. Just the sight of him, sprawled face down across her bed, gloriously and edibly naked, had given her such a rush that she’d been tempted to jump his bones. Again.
Fortunately the cool bathroom air had cleared her head of all the intoxicating pheromones temporarily rendering her stupid.
Standing on the cold tiles, getting her breathing under control, it had seemed like a good idea to head into work early to avoid any awkward morning-after moments.
She sighed. Okay, so she’d panicked and run. Big deal.
It was over; she could finally get on with her life without obsessing about the sexy guy next door: blah-blah-blah. Besides, Ty wasn’t the kind of man to get stupid over someone like her and wanting more was just...stupid, okay. It was stupid. She got that.
Yeesh.
He was just one of those hot temporary flings every woman deserved to experience at least once in her life. At the advanced age of thirty she’d finally done it. Yay.
Just then she caught sight of her reflection in the rear-view mirror and did a double take. Yikes. She was wearing a sappy grin that just screamed... Paige Carlyle Got Lucky Last Night. And that wouldn’t do. So she promptly scowled to erase all evidence—along with memories—of the past eight hours.
See, she told her reflection smugly. Easy as that.
Mood lifting at the very adult way she was handling things, Paige got out and stretched all those aching muscles she’d forgotten she had. It also made her realize how hungry she was.
In fact, she was starving. So, instead of heading for ER, she walked through the automatic doors and hurried down the passage to the cafeteria. It was still early and the tables were mostly empty.
Grabbing a tray, Paige ordered coffee, a couple of pastries and then, because her breakfast looked unhealthy, added an apple just as her phone buzzed.
It was a text from “kick-ass grl”. Turn around, it said, and when Paige turned, she saw Frankie holding up the far wall, booted feet propped on the chair beside her.
Paige quickly paid for her breakfast and headed over.
“How was your date?” Frankie asked casually the instant Paige got close. “The one I had to find out about from the waitress at Surf ’n Turf, by the way, because my best friend doesn’t tell me anything.”
Paige shrugged casually, hoping her expression didn’t give her away. “It was more like a...favor.”
She mentally rolled her eyes at the lie.
“Right,” Frankie drawled. “A favor. Like having dinner with a sexy surgeon on vacation is a favor.” She snorted and waggled her eyebrows. “So did he do you any...um...favors?”
“What? No!” Paige spluttered in protest, covering her pink face by sliding into the opposite chair. She glared at her friend. “Get your mind out of the gutter, will you? It was a mutual dinner favor. My refrigerator was empty and he...well, he needed someone to have dinner with so people wouldn’t feel sorry for him.”
Frankie snorted her opinion of anyone feeling sorry for Ty Reese. “And after?”
“After?” Paige asked innocently, reaching for a stick of sugar. “What after?”
Out the corner of her eye she caught Frankie’s narrow-eyed scrutiny and tried not to look as guilty as she felt. After a short pause the other woman’s eyes widened and her feet hit the floor with a loud thud. “You did it, didn’t you?” she accused. “You finally did it.”
Startled, Paige paused in the process of dumping sugar in her coffee. “Did what? What did I do?”
“Not what,” Frankie snorted, pointing her finger reproachfully at Paige. “Who.”
Heat climbed into her face and Paige grabbed the to-go coffee to hide behind. “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”
Reaching across the table, Frankie nudged Paige’s hand down and snorted. “Oh, yes, you do.” Her eyes sparkled with laughter. “You did Ty.”
Gasping, Paige made an attempt to shush her but Frankie smirked and chortled, “And by the look on your face, spectacularly too.”
Paige hissed at her to be quiet and darted a guilty look around at the other patrons. “Dammit,” she muttered, turning back with a scowl only to find Frankie grinning like a loon.
“So-o-o-o-o,” her friend said, drawing out the single word into about a million syllables. “Spill everything, Dr. Cutie. I need details.”
Paige scowled. “What are we, twelve?”
“Of course not.” Frankie snickered, looking cool and sophisticated even in her paramedic jumpsuit. “Not unless twelve-year-olds are having spectacular sex with hot surgeons. Besides,” she continued, clearly enjoying Paige’s discomfort, “it’s about time you did something stupid.”
“What?” Did Frankie read minds now too?
“Yep. Because getting involved with Ty?” She shook her head. “Stupid.”
“Who said anything about getting involved?” Paige muttered irritably. “Besides, I told you it wasn’t a date.” Her face grew hot at Frankie’s derisive snort. “And how the heck can you tell, anyway?” she demanded huffily. “It’s not like I’m wearing a neon sign that says ‘Paige Carlyle got some last night’.”
Frankie’s brow arched. “Maybe it’s the hickey on your neck and the deer-in-the-headlights look.”
Paige slapped one hand to her neck and the other to her eyes. “I do not!” she gasped, horrified that despite her efforts to appear as though everything was fine...it apparently wasn’t even close.
Frankie reached into her shoulder bag and withdrew a compact mirror. “You most certainly do,” she drawled, grinning when Paige grabbed for it. “You were also wearing a sappy grin when you walked in and no one smiles at the crack of dawn unless they got lucky.”
Horrified, Paige fumbled the compact and finally got it open. Fortunately there was no sappy grin, but there was a hickey—no, two dammit. And then—Omigod!—she saw a third, on the upper curve of her breast when she pulled at the neck of her T-shirt.
“I do,” she gasped, trying unsuccessfully to cover the damning evidence. “I totally do. I look like a...” She gulped and snapped her mouth closed.
Frankie leaned closer and prompted, “You look like a what?”
“Like a starved woman,” Paige said firmly, grabbing a pastry and shoving it in her mouth. She was absolutely not going to discuss how she looked in case she started freaking out again.
“Satisfied and pretty darned smug, you mean.” Frankie chortled. “If I wasn’t so envious, I’d say good for you.” Paige made a sound of distress and after a couple of beats Frankie leaned forward, all signs of amusement gone. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Paige,” she said quietly. “Ty is...”
She swallowed the pastry without tasting it. “Bad. Yep, got that.” But so good at being bad. She hadn’t thought she’d prefer Frankie’s teasing but the sudden turn the conversation was taking had turned her stomach to lead because the truth was...she didn’t know what she was doing.
Oh, boy.
She’d thought she could easily handle a casual fling, but she was beginning to suspect that she wasn’t wired that way. It might have something to do with her childhood, but Paige tended to want the impossible. She wanted permanence and Ty...well, he was the last thing in permanence. She knew that.
She really did.
“He’ll leave and—”
“Break my heart. Yes I know.”
Frankie’s expression was a mix of affection, exasperation and concern. “I just don’t want to see you hurt,” Frankie said quietly.
“I’m not going to get hurt, Frankie,” Paige sighed, reaching over to squeeze her friend’s hand. “I know what I’m doing. Really.”
But Paige didn’t know what she was doing and it was all Tyler Reese’s fault. Damn him. With his deep bedroom voice...and sexy blue eyes...and hot, hard body...
Oh, my lord, Paige thought in dismay. I’m in trouble. Big, bad, sexy trouble.
* * *
Ty woke to the sound of banging and for several moments he wondered where he was. That was until he’d got a whiff of Paige’s seductive scent and went instantly hard when memories of the past eight hours flooded back in a rush of images.
He rolled over but even before his hand slid to the spot where he’d last seen her, he’d known he was alone. And some idiot was banging on the front door.
Grabbing a towel from the bathroom, he stomped down the stairs and yanked open the front door with a snarl on his lips.
Nate leaned against the wall, looking cool and wide awake as he studied Ty over the top of his aviator shades.
“What?” was Ty’s surly demand to the other man’s arched brow. He hadn’t had much sleep but should’ve been relaxed after all the physical activity of the night before. Waking up alone hadn’t been nearly the relief he’d thought it would be. In fact, he was feeling like a one-night stand—only in reverse because he was usually the one to bail before morning.
“Good morning to you too,” Nate said holding up a food bag and a tray of to-go coffee.
Ty scrubbed a hand down his face and demanded, “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to save you from the big bad Navy SEAL that was waiting on your doorstep, looking like he was ready to use his government-trained assassin skills.”
Ty looked around. “What SEAL?”
“Hey,” Nate said, sounding insulted. Probably because he thought he was big and bad. “I was actually talking about the one looking for his sister.” He offered Ty a large covered disposable coffee cup before adding, “Dr. Paige Carlyle. I can just imagine his reaction at finding some naked dude answering her door.”
Nate laughed at the look on Ty’s face and Ty folded his arms across his chest and spent the next few moments rethinking his views on physical violence.
“You should see the look on your face.” Nate snickered, clearly enjoying Ty’s predicament.
“I’m tempted to wipe that smirk off yours,” Ty growled, wiping his hand down his face. “But I’ve just had surgery.”
“Like you could,” Nate finally managed. “Relax, T. I sent him to the hospital. To see his sister.” He grinned when Ty’s eyes widened. “A good thing too or he’d have made mincemeat of you.”
Ty wanted to say he could take care of himself, but his hand was in a cast and he didn’t think his shoulder would withstand a Navy SEAL attack. Especially after discovering Ty had slept with his sister.
“What are you doing here?” he asked instead. “I thought you were working.”
Nate shrugged. “One of the guys wanted to trade days, so I thought we could go sailing. I knocked at your door and called your phone but you didn’t answer. So I decided to try here.” He chuckled. “After I sent the SEAL away. Imagine my surprise when you actually opened the door, because the last time I asked, you said she was a pain in the ass. You were here because you needed peace and quiet and didn’t need any annoying distractions. No matter how cute they were.”
Ignoring him, Ty looked up at the sky. It was clear, but in typical Pacific North West spring fashion, the wind coming off the strait was freezing.
Dressed in only a towel, he was freezing.
“You want to go sailing? In this weather?”
Nate looked out at the morning and turned back with a raised brow. “What’s the matter? It’s a perfect day for sailing. If you’re too much of a California wuss to handle a little fresh breeze, I totally understand.”
With a growl, Ty pulled Nate inside. “Get in here, dammit. Before the neighbors call the cops.”
“Yeah,” Nate drawled, stepping over the threshold. “I can see why they would.”
Pausing in the process of shutting the door, Ty demanded, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means there’s a naked man in Dr. Cutie’s house again.” He pulled off his shades. “Why exactly are you in the cute doctor’s house instead of next door? Where you have a perfectly good shower of your own?”
Ty slammed the door and turned, almost colliding with Nate, who’d stopped dead. “Never mind.” The other man chuckled, catching sight of the bits of clothing scattered across the entrance floor. “I can totally see what happened.”
Ty shoved him aside and bent to gather up the discarded clothing. “Yeah?” Ty demanded. “Maybe she had intruders last night who left a mess. Ever think of that?”
Snickering rudely, Nate hooked his shades in the neck of his T. “What I think is that you clearly have a thing for Dr. Cutie. If I’d known, I would have introduced you to her brother. You know, meet the family and all.”
“I don’t have a ‘thing’ for anyone and she doesn’t like to be called cute,” Ty snarled irritably, beginning to pull on his clothes. And he was not meeting Paige’s family, for God’s sake. Jeez Louise, they’d only known each other a few weeks and most of that time he’d managed to avoid her.
He most definitely did not have a “thing” for her. Or anyone else, for that matter.
He found a teeny little pair of baby-blue panties covered with white daisies and shoved them in his pocket because Paige didn’t need Nate looking at her underwear.
“We’re not a thing.” Nate’s expression was a mix of pity and amusement. “What?”
His friend shook his head. “You poor stupid sap. Look at you defending your lady and hiding her skivvies from your best friend.”
“She’s not my lady,” Ty denied quickly, and then winced at the knee-jerk response. And because he felt guilty he growled, “And you’re no longer my best friend.”
Nate looked unconcerned. “Then you won’t mind if I ask her out, because word is she’s a lot of fun.”
It took a couple of beats for Ty to process that but when he did, he rounded on Nate with a protesting snarl.
His ex-friend merely snorted. “Yeah, thought so,” he drawled. “You so have a thing for the cute doctor. Relax. The guys say that, as fun as she is, they don’t get to see her skivvies.” Ty’s shoulders tensed at the news that the coasties were discussing Paige. He was about to point out that Nate was gossiping like a little girl when his friend added, “Guess they’ll be interested to know she wears teeny blue ones covered with little white daisies.”
In the process of pulling his shirt over his head, Ty’s head snapped up to find his friend looking enormously entertained at his expense. “You do that,” he told Nate, “and I’ll kick your ass all the way to Canada and back.”
Instead of answering, the other man simply grinned and dumped the bag of food onto the entrance table while Ty finished yanking on his clothes.
It was only when they were on the boat, heading out into open water, that Nate called out as he steered into a large swell, “So, if Dr. Cutie isn’t your lady, what is she?”
Ty pretended not to hear. Besides, he didn’t know what Paige was other than sweet and sexy...oh, yeah, and hot. She was also smart and funny and surprisingly vulnerable beneath that sassy tough-girl exterior. And just thinking about how she looked when she came had him fumbling the ropes and cursing.
She wasn’t his lady, he insisted silently. She’d made that abundantly clear by sneaking out without saying goodbye. Yet something—he didn’t know what—wanted more than one night. More than—No, dammit, he snarled silently. I don’t want or need anything from—
“Look out!”
He looked up as the boom swung at his head, and ducked just in time to avoid being dumped into the icy ocean. He straightened and a voice in the back of his head warned, Excellent advice, buddy. You’d be smart to heed it.
* * *
When Paige knocked off work a few days later, clouds, dark and heavy, lashed the seaside town with rain while high seas pounded the shore.
Within seconds she was soaked and had to go scrambling around in the rising water to retrieve her keys, which had slipped from her cold fingers. When she finally got her car open, she sat shivering and dripping all over the interior, wondering if she should stay put or risk the drive home.
As promised, Harry had negotiated a good deal that hadn’t resulted in her selling a kidney or wiping out her savings; but the mechanic had warned Paige to be careful about driving in wet conditions until the engine had been completely overhauled.
She rolled her eyes. Yeah, right. She’d put it on her list right after the entry that said: Stop thinking about you know who.
Deciding to leave the decision up to Bertha, she turned the key and exhaled gustily when the engine turned over.
“Okay,” she muttered. “Home it is, then.”
The streets were deserted. Water gushed across the roads, turning them into fast-flowing rivers, and she was forced to grip the steering wheel when Bertha abruptly hydroplaned across an intersection. Now, instead of shivering with cold, she was shaking with terror and sucking in air like a vacuum cleaner.
She was halfway home when rain turned to sleet, pinging against her roof like tiny missiles that turned her windshield to slush and the road to an ice rink. By the time she parked in front of her house she was a wreck.
She hurried up the path to her front door on wobbly legs, only to discover that everything was in darkness. Clutching her shoulder bag as ice dripped off her nose, Paige fished out her house keys with stiff fingers...and sneaked a peek at the adjacent unit before she could stop herself.
She hadn’t seen Ty since “The Night”, as she’d dubbed it, and considering it would take her about a decade, maybe longer, to forget the way she’d thrown herself at him, she was quite happy to keep it that way.
She didn’t know what she’d expected but it wasn’t seeing the front door standing wide open. What the heck? She paused. Surely he hadn’t just walked out and forgotten to lock up? Or maybe he couldn’t because something bad had happened.
Hurrying across the space separating their front doors, Paige peered around the frame, half expecting someone to leap out and scare the bejesus out of her. When nothing happened, she sucked in an unsteady breath and ventured inside.
Dim light from the marina made its way through the sitting room sliding doors but other than a lot of dark shapes Paige hoped were just pieces of furniture, the place was empty.
Maybe. Hopefully.
“Ty?” she called, moving to the bottom of the stairs that led to the second floor. “Tyler?”
Not wanting to be like the brainless bimbo in a slasher movie, Paige retraced her steps thinking that maybe Ty had gone to check on the connection box. In that moment her worst nightmare—and all those horror movies she’d watched with Frankie—materialized as a huge hulking shadow, backlit by a raging storm, appeared in the doorway.
Paige opened her mouth to scream and a deep familiar voice demanded, “What the—? Paige?”
She gave a strangled gasp and lurched backwards. It was only when her butt hit the floor that she realized her legs had given way.
The next thing Ty was crouched over her. “Paige,” he demanded, reaching out to tuck dripping black strands behind her ear, “what the hell happened? Answer me, dammit. Where are you hurt?”
No way was she saying her butt. That would be mortifying, especially if he demanded to examine it. “Just p-peachy,” she finally gasped, her breath hitching on a giggle that bordered on hysteria. Great. Looking like a drowned, terrified rat was so not how she’d imagined their next meeting. “Y-you,” she babbled, wrapping her arms around her knees because she was suddenly shaking like she had dengue fever.
“Yeah. Me.” He frowned and wrapped his fingers around her wrist to check her pulse. When she continued to giggle helplessly he nudged her chin up to peer into her face.
The next instant his searching blue gaze had her trembling for another reason entirely. One that was as unwelcome as it was unsettling. For some reason she sat, frozen by the expression in his eyes, the heat pumping off his body and...and the memory of—Nope. So not going there.
“I’m fine,” she insisted, shoving his hand away and scrambling to her feet. She wrapped her arms around her body and edged away. “I’ll just... I saw your d-door open and thought...uh, never mind.” What she’d thought was ridiculous so she headed for the door, her teeth chattering from a combination of cold and reaction.
“Hey, wait up. Where are you going?”
“Since you’re okay, I’ll... I’ll... I need to go.” Far away. From the delicious heat pumping off his body and the dreams that had plagued her the past couple nights. Just thinking about them gave her a hot flash.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he growled, pulling her back around and clearly having no problem facing her. But then he probably did this all the time, she thought darkly.
“There’s no power. I was trying to fix the problem at the outside box but I can’t see what the hell I’m doing.” He disappeared for a minute and returned with a couple of towels. “This storm literally came out of nowhere,” he continued, running one towel over his hair and holding out the other. She took it and immediately buried her face in the thick terry cloth. “Just before the power went out the radio said the storm’s being driven by the collision of a warm front from California and a huge polar cell pushing its way south.”
Paige peered out into the icy storm and shivered as the wind sent sleet angling in under the porch roof. The only way she could make out the houses across the street was from the faint glow of lights through the gloom.
Moving to the end of the porch, she looked around the side of the house. Marina lights swung crazily in the gusting winds, and Paige could scarcely see the boats and yachts lurching around at their slips. What she couldn’t see was Harry’s lights.
“Are we the only ones without power?”
She leaned out further and would have taken off in the wind if Ty hadn’t grabbed the back of her scrubs and hauled her back.
“Get back from there before you get soaked,” he growled. “And I think so. Although...now that you mention it I think the Andersen house was in darkness. Is Harry away somewhere? Or is their house also on this circuit?”
Really worried now, Paige nibbled on her thumbnail. “I’m going to check on him,” she announced, a bad feeling cramping her belly.
“I’ll go,” Ty began, but Paige shoved the towel at him and hurried down the stairs. She heard him curse and mutter something about stubborn females as she ran into the street. She barely felt the additional moisture, only swiping irritably at the bits of sleet dripping into her eyes as she raised a hand to knock on Harry’s door.
By the time she realized no one was going to answer, Ty was a large comforting presence beside her, trying the handle while she peered in through the panes beside the door.
“Don’t panic,” he said gruffly. “I’m sure he’s okay. Maybe he fell asleep in front of the TV.”
“It’s not like him,” she murmured, her stomach cramping again at the thought of something happening to the old man. In the eight months he’d been her neighbor she’d come to love the retired widower like a grandfather.
She couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him.
Shaking now from more than cold, Paige hurried round the house to the stairs leading to the deck. The wood was slick with ice and she nearly took a header into Harry’s window box.
Pushing open the sliding door with shaking hands, she was both relieved and frightened when she found it unlocked and the house dark and silent.
“Harry? Mr. Andersen, it’s Paige. Are you okay?” Please be okay, she prayed frantically, hoping he’d be sitting in his chair, startled out of sleep.
What she found had her heart squeezing in her chest. “Harry?” She rushed over to where he lay in a heap on the floor, dropping to her knees beside him. “Harry, can you hear me?”