Okay, so maybe she was a klutz, but surely he could see that it was his fault for being so gorgeous? It was not a reflection of her medical skills as a whole.
Besides, it had been days since she had dropped anything. Maybe even an entire week. Annoyed that he could laugh when she had spent the weeksuffering,she crossed her arms. “I know I’m a little klutzy. That’s true. But it’s not true where it counts, in the OR.”
Eyes dropped to her chest in a completely inappropriatemanner for the hospital. Not that it had ever stopped him before. “You’re not clumsy in the bedroom, either.”
Nor was she going to be seduced by his sensual voice. He had a hell of a nerve to even try after their last conversation, which concluded with him telling her to get out of his house.
Though a part of her couldn’t help but thrill that he still wanted her.
Josie rolled her eyes at him. “Except when I brought your bike down on top of me.”
“That was in the hall, not the bedroom. And besides, you had a good reason.” He smiled. A smile she didn’t trust, full of teeth, and confidence, and shared lust-filled memories. “Your shorts were around your ankles.”
They were in the hall, people passing them left and right, and he wanted to talk dirty to her after effectively blowing her off seven days earlier. Swell.
His idea of returning to just co-workers didn’t exactly mesh with hers. She had never once felt the need to dissect her graceless bedroom maneuvers with Dr. Williams, and she didn’t want to with Houston, either.
Of course she had never actually performed bedroom maneuvers with Dr. Williams. While she certainly had with Houston, bedroom or not.
“I need to see a patient. Excuse me.”
Josie started past him, hot with annoyance and that pesky little desire that always managed to crop up whenever Houston was around.
He touched her arm, stopping her. “Tomorrow you’ll be operating and I’ll be assisting you. You’ll have ample opportunities to prove to me how capable you really are.”
“What? You mean I won’t be working with Dr. Liu? I’ll actually be doing the surgery with you?” Her voice squeaked a little at the end, and she clapped her mouth shut.
Finally.Her chance for vindication, to prove to him that she wasn’t a malpractice suit waiting to happen.
He nodded. “But I’ll be next to you watching your every move, so don’t get too excited.”
Without realizing she did it, her gaze dropped to his bandaged hand. He tucked it behind his back, his expression defiant.
“Are you ready to be back?” She cursed the words the minute they were out of her mouth. Being ready wasn’t the issue for Houston. Being in control was.
“I mean, standing on your leg for a three-hour surgery... it will be painful.”
His tone was icy. “I can handle it. They were just puncture wounds, for God’s sake. Why does everyone insist on treating me like I’m incapable of monitoring my own health?”
While she supposed he had a valid point, Josie was irritated. She wasn’t just anyone and she didn’t deserve his anger. And he needed to realize that people caring about him wasn’t an insult.
Before she could stop herself, she spoke. “Maybe because some people would consider a man who chooses to stand for three hours on an injured leg to be careless with his own health.”
His mouth fell open. Then he gave a tight smile while she considered all the ways he had already implied thatshewas incapable, since he was the only surgeon unwilling to let her slice. It was about time he realized what it felt like to be second-guessed from here to Christmas.
“My brain is functioning just fine. It’s my body I’m having trouble controlling.” Those roving eyes went to her chest again and he gave a soft laugh. “Damn, I just see you, and I want you.”
“I know the feeling,” she said ruefully, sneaking a peek at his khaki pants, enjoying the outline of his cock against the crisp cotton. Between her anxious libido and her overzealous appetite for ice cream as a replacement for the sex she could no longer have, her body was running the show lately.
“Stop that,” he murmured, stroking his thumb across her arm. “I can’t get an erection on my first day back.”
He could kick her out of his house, but he couldn’t control that he still wanted her. And Lord, did she want him right back. He had been right. Being friends was a stupid idea.
“Tomorrow, then?” she asked, leaning a little closer to him.
Houston shook his head and dropped his hand, his mouth squeezed shut tightly like he was holding back a frustrated laugh. “God, I don’t know how to do this, Josie. I don’t know how to go back to being professional and distant with you.”
Don’t. Just don’t.What was so hard to grasp about that?