Ignite On Contact (Brotherhood by Fire #2) -Jaci Burton Page 0,55
down to the cafeteria. Since it was after one, the normal hospital lunch crush had mostly cleared out, which suited him just fine. He waited at the entrance for Carmen. His heart did a lurch, as it always did whenever he laid eyes on her. She was wearing her scrubs, which were dark blue and had pockets, and she wore purple tennis shoes. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, and she looked freakin’ sexy as hell. And, sure, every other person in the place dressed similarly, but to Rafe, she was the only one he saw.
She walked through the doorway and came up beside him.
“Did I mention how gorgeous you are today?”
She snorted out a laugh. “You’re funny.”
“Dead serious. Totally hot.”
She shook her head. “No, you look hot. And people are staring at you.”
He glanced around and saw he was getting some looks, especially from women. He hadn’t even noticed. Of course he was in uniform, though he’d left his turnout gear in the truck. He shrugged. “I’ve only got eyes for you, babe.”
“Good to know. Also, I’m having a chicken salad sandwich and some chips.”
He grinned at how she blew off his compliment. “Sounds great to me.”
They loaded up their trays, and Rafe added a bowl of fruit and a candy bar. Carmen had an employee card on her lanyard, so she swiped for both of them.
“Thanks for lunch,” he said.
“My pleasure. Thanks for having lunch with me.”
They found a table and sat. Rafe dived into his sandwich, then took a couple of strong gulps of his ice water. He’d developed a thirst working that scene. It was only after his second cup that he could finally concentrate on his sandwich.
Carmen watched. “A little dry in the throat?”
“We focus when we’re working a scene, and being fully geared up at the end of July makes it hot as fuck out there.”
“Don’t you hydrate while you’re there?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I emptied my water canister on scene.”
She shook her head, then smiled. “Then drink up, dude. I have enough people passing out on me in the ER. I don’t need to add you to the list.”
“Aww, you care. That’s sweet.”
“Of course I care. All my treatment rooms are full today. Do you think I want to deal with having to hydrate you via IV in my hallway? It’ll look bad for my stats.”
He laughed. “I’ll be sure to refill my ice water so I don’t disgrace your department.”
“That’s thoughtful of you.” She sipped her soda and slanted a snarky smile at him.
When they finished, they walked out of the cafeteria and headed toward the elevators.
They got on the elevator by themselves, and Rafe looked all around.
Carmen frowned. “Checking for safety violations?”
“No. I was looking for cameras.”
“As far as I know there aren’t any. Why?”
He turned and backed her against the wall of the elevator, his gaze heated and direct, wanting to make sure she knew his intent. “Because I want to kiss you.”
To her credit, she didn’t shove him away. “You think this is like television, and no one will interrupt us?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. But we’re talking and not kissing.”
Now she did push him away and looked at her watch. Then she selected the button for floor seven. The elevator doors opened on the main floor where the ER was located, then closed again.
He gave her a questioning look.
“Just go with it,” she said.
“Hey, I’m with you on this ride. Wherever you go, I go.”
The doors opened again, and he peeked his head out. The entire floor was vacant. There was an obvious construction site to the right, everything covered by plastic sheeting. But no one appeared to be working up here today. And there were empty, darkened rooms to the left.
She grabbed his hand. “Come on.”
She led him into one of the vacant rooms and closed the door. “I need to be back on the floor in ten minutes.”
He grinned and approached her, lifting the hem of her scrub shirt. “I can do ten minutes.”
“I was just thinking we could kiss.”
“Yeah? I was thinking of a lot more than that.” His gaze shifted to the bed. It was unmade, but it would do.
She laughed. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t have any condoms on me. I’m on the pill, but . . .”
He nibbled her neck as he walked her backward toward the bed. “We can do a lot of fun things besides fucking, Carmen.”