NYC Angels Flirting with Danger - By Tina Beckett Page 0,49

be coming for you if you do.”

Jason had underestimated his sister.

Brad was rapidly discovering just how strong Chloe was. She was a great nurse, compassionate, efficient and capable as hell. Even if he hadn’t had an ulterior motive in hiring her, she’d be a great catch for any hospital. Or for any man.

Anyone except for him.

As if summoned, she came out of one of the exam rooms, a file folder in her hand. She gave him a little wave and a smile.

Was it his imagination, or was there a little bounce to her step that hadn’t been there two weeks ago?

Maybe there was. But that sexy little blush was still there, as strong as ever. All she had to do was look at him and her face lit up like a set of red Christmas lights.

He was almost sure that Layla had figured something out. And maybe even Cade.

That, on the other hand, gave him no pleasure at all. He’d made a huge mistake with Katrina and had paid dearly for it. He thought he’d learned his lesson, but maybe not.

But this wasn’t a real affair, right? Emotions weren’t involved. Not that they’d been involved with Katrina either. At least, not on his side. Sex was sex, and nothing more.

There were times he wondered if his parents had messed him up for good. Left him with a hole where his heart should be. Deprive a kid of love for long enough, lock him away where he can’t be seen or get into trouble, and maybe that organ shriveled down to a useless hunk of flesh, good for nothing except pumping blood from one place to the next.

Chloe plunked the file into a holder outside one of the rooms and made her way over to him, bumping her shoulder against his arm. “How’s it going?”

The playful tone seemed to heighten his recent misgivings. His lips tightened. “Let’s keep our personal and professional lives separate, shall we?”

He knew he’d hurt her the second she took a step back, her teeth nibbling on her lower lip. “Sorry. No one’s around, and I just thought …” She squared her shoulders. “It won’t happen again.”

Jason’s words came back to haunt him: “She’ sal-ready been hurt by one asshole. Don’t make it two.”

“Hey.” He reached for her hand, only to have her take another step back.

“I have to get back to my patient, Dr. Davis.” The cool tone and her use of his title drilled home the fact that he couldn’t hold her to one standard while holding himself to another. In other words, hands off while at the hospital. It seemed to have worked a little too well, because her cheeks weren’t pink at the moment, they were as pale as ivory. She wasn’t thinking about the way they’d passed their morning before coming to work.

And he doubted he’d be passing his evening that way either.

Aware of Brad’s eyes following her progress, she headed for the exam room. She knew he wanted to keep things quiet at work, so why had she gone and done something so stupid? Because it was hard for her to compartmentalize things the way Brad evidently could. He could make love to her by night and then coolly go about his day as if nothing had happened.

And really it hadn’t. Not for him anyway.

Just as she touched the door, the phone at the nurses’ station buzzed.

Damn. So much for a quick exit. Ignoring him and moving back to the central desk, she picked up the phone. “Prenatal, this is Chloe.”

“Hey, Chloe. Guess who?”

The blood drained from her face at the sound of the voice on the other end of the line. “Travis?”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Brad’s head swivel her way. She put her head down and stared at an open chart, hoping he’d just go away. Why did the men in her life have to end up being jerks? Although somehow Brad’s words had wounded her much more than Travis’s ever had. Something she didn’t want to dissect at the moment. “Why are you calling me?”

“Why do you think? I made a mistake. I want you to come home.”

This time, rather than the show of tears he’d put on the last time he’d gotten caught, there was an almost sneering quality to his voice that made her skin crawl. As if he knew something she didn’t. “You can talk to my lawyer. We’re through.”

Hopefully Brad had already gone off to see a patient or something.

“Not