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“Beautiful dog,” Evan said.

“Thank you.”

An awkward silence stretched between us. As I stared down at Lucy, I could feel Evan staring at me.

“How are you holding up?” he asked after a while.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Fine, I guess.”

“Have you ever had a patient die?”

I swallowed. “No—not on my watch. I’ve seen it from afar, but…”

“Never as close as what almost happened today.”

I nodded.

“Well, you can take comfort in knowing that she’s going to be fine. Your quick thinking saved her life. That’s something to be proud of.” He rubbed my back in what initially started off as a comforting gestured before he began to trail his fingers along my spine. I fought not to arch my back at his touch. He then lightly brushed my hair, and then returned his hands to his own lap. “Well…I just wanted to make sure you made it in safely, and that you were all right.”

I felt a panic rising inside of me. There was a tone of finality in his voice, but I didn’t want him to leave yet. Lucy too, must have noticed his tone, she got up and retreated to the back of the apartment, where her bed was located, ready for a nap after the day’s excitement.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Evan motioning to get up. I placed my hand on his knee and he paused.

“Are you in a hurry?” I asked.

It took him a moment to answer, but when he did, he shook his head. “No. I just don’t want to overstay my welcome.”

“Let me be the judge of that then,” I said with a shaky smile. My emotions were a rollercoaster, and the one thing I knew for certain was that I didn’t want to be alone.

I also couldn’t seem to remove my hand for Evan’s knee. He covered it with his own hand, and if I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I felt a spark of electricity.

He was just too handsome for his own good…

With my other hand, I brushed through his hair. He leaned in at my touch, and kissed my forehead. And then my nose…

And then he stopped, his mouth just inches away from mine.

I rested my head on his shoulders, breathing in the scent at the crook of his neck. And then I kissed his neck, unable to stop myself. A low groan sounded from Evan’s throat.

“Tessa,” he whispered.

But I couldn’t resist him. I couldn’t keep my hands off him. Whatever he had to say would have to wait, I hungrily cut off his words with a kiss, pleased to see that he had no objections about returning it.

CHAPTER 16

Tessa

The next moment, he pulled me to him and kissed me, taking my breath away as our tongues worked their way into each other’s mouth. His hands slid down my back and cupped my ass, pulling me flush against his body. He was already hard for me, and I couldn’t resist grinding against him, desperate to feel him.

“Tessa,” he muttered in between our kisses, still kissing me wildly. “You have no idea how much I wanted you. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

I encircled my arms around his neck and kept kissing him, so happy to hear this but at the same time scared. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. All I’d been thinking about these days at the hospital was him and everything he made me feel, and I couldn’t get used to it at all.

“I just want you so much,” he murmured into my skin. “I wanted to do this slowly, but I can’t.”

“This?”

“Yes. This.” His eyes were filled with lust, and his erection was clearly visible through his scrubs.