Luca's Bad Girl - By Amy Andrews Page 0,33

to go and check on my patient.’

‘That’s very dedicated of you,’ Mia teased, wishing both he and Carl would leave so she could drag Luca into the nearest dark corner and have him finish what he started, instead of taunting her in secret with those very clever fingers.

But she’d soon learned that two could play at his game and Luca was looking decidedly uncomfortable himself.

‘Of course the delectable Nurse Barry has nothing to do with it,’ Carl added.

Charlie grinned. ‘I’m affronted, Carl.’ And grinned again.

Carl tossed back his beer. ‘Hang on, then, I’ll walk you out.’

They said their goodbyes and Luca and Mia were finally left alone. Luca dropped his mouth to her ear. ‘You’re going to pay for that. Let’s go. Now.’

Mia smiled as his voice, thick with lust, emphasised his accent. A surge of anticipation tightened her pelvic floor. ‘If you can’t take it,’ she murmured, sliding slowly out of the booth, ‘you shouldn’t be dishing it out.’

‘Here you are, Mia. Sorry I’m late,’ Evie said, plonking herself down on the opposite seat, pushing a tray of orange juice, beer and shot glasses onto the table. ‘I’m warning you now, I plan on getting very, very drunk.’

Mia shut her eyes briefly. Damn. Evie.

Luca’s caress had managed to erase all trace of the reason she’d come to Pete’s tonight in the first place. She glanced at Luca, saw lust rippling through the dark chocolate pools of his eyes and felt everything clench. She forced herself to look away.

‘I can see that,’ Mia murmured, as Evie raised the shot glass to her lips.

‘Oh, hello, Luca,’ Evie said as she slammed down the first shot and lined up her second. ‘So glad you’re here. Maybe you can explain to me how the male mind works?’

Luca looked from Mia to Evie and back to Mia again. He’d had a vision of how the evening was going to pan out and this had not been part of it. He watched as Evie threw back her second shot and knew enough about women to know that he had one too many y chromosomes to be a part of this conversation.

He glanced at Mia, who shrugged an apology at him, a small smile playing on her lips. He stroked up the centre seam of her jeans and was gratified to see the smile disappear.

He patted her leg twice. ‘I think I’ll go and leave you lovely ladies to it.’

Mia scooted out and Luca followed her, her rear end at an enticing level before he stood and towered over her.

He nodded at Evie. ‘Goodnight.’

Evie grunted something as she contemplated her third shot and he turned to Mia. ‘I’ll see you …’ he quirked an eyebrow at her ‘… soon?’

Mia watched as Evie downed another tequila. ‘Later.’ She grimaced.

Luca dropped his gaze to her mouth then sighed. ‘Later.’

It was low and raw and whispered along her nerve endings and Mia felt decidedly wobbly as she slid back into the booth, her insides melting.

‘Are you okay?’ she asked Evie, refusing to turn and watch Luca walk out of the bar. Pete had already given her a speculative look as she’d sat—she didn’t want anyone else in the bar wising up.

Evie shook her head. ‘Nope. But I will be.’ She slammed another shot back. ‘Real soon.’

Mia sipped her orange juice. ‘You won’t be in the morning.’

‘Well, I have two days until I’m back on shift to recover.’

Mia pushed the beer towards her friend and dragged the tray with three more shots on it out of reach. ‘You may well need them.’

Evie didn’t protest, just sipped at her beer.

‘Carl was telling me you had a pretty harrowing time in Theatre with Finn. Tell me about it.’

Evie raised her eyes to her best friend. ‘Oh, Mia, it was the most incredible thing I’ve ever witnessed. Finn was … he was … magnificent.’ She sipped her beer again. ‘And then he went and acted like a total jerk.’

Mia nodded. ‘Okay, start at the beginning.’

Three hours later Evie had unburdened and Mia had managed to stagger home with her and put her to bed. She left a jug of water, a glass and two tablets by Evie’s bed for when she woke up feeling like someone was drilling for oil in her brain, her mouth as dry and putrid as the newspaper that lined a budgie cage.

She watched her friend sleep for a moment. Evie really had it bad. She didn’t know it yet, of course, but a man who drove a girl