Page 32 of Seduction

“They do?” I asked quietly.

He cracked a smile. “You like rounds.”

“I do.” I could hardly believe he’d noticed.

“You’re sexy. Very sexy.”

I was having a hard time breathing evenly as we stared at each other with fire and desire.

Then he shifted abruptly in his seat. “Penina…” he said as if he’d realized he pronounced it too gracefully earlier and wanted to take it back. “That’s an odd name. Do you know how you got it?”

I sniffed bitterly. “Yeah, that’s what you call the glob in your belly you never wanted or liked from the get-go.”

His sexy smile transformed into something more sympathetic. “I’m sorry to hear that…”

When he trailed off, I could tell he wanted to call me Penina again but thought better of it.

I raised a hand. “It’s okay. Really. I’m being overly fatalistic this evening, which isn’t my style unless I’m past the point of exhaustion.”

Dr. Sparrow smiled. “I don’t like my name either.”

I jerked my head back. “Jake Sparrow? That’s the name of a leading man in a hospital soap opera.” I hoped my smile showed him that I was being witty, but he looked off as if he was in misery. “Or not.”

Suddenly, he put his smile back on. “So, Penina, how do you like your dinner?”

I was thankful that he’d changed the subject. “It’s delicious. You’re a good cook.”

He scratched his forehead nervously. “Thanks, but it wasn’t difficult.”

I narrowed my eyes thoughtfully. “But aren’t you exhausted? You’re at the hospital and in surgery more than any attending I’ve ever known.”

Again, that look of despair returned to his face. I suspected he was thinking about something, and whatever it was hadn’t come from a happy place.

“Sleeping’s difficult for me, Penina,” he said in a strained voice.

“Oh.” My body went rigid, and even though I wanted to eat another scallop, I felt immobilized by his admission. Not only that, but the way he’d said my name still made my heart flutter. I could hear him call me by the name I used to hate until he spoke it for the rest of my life.

“I want to make love to you,” he said finally.

I blinked, surprised. Then I looked down at my plate, constraining a smile. “You waste no time getting to the point, do you?”

“You can say no,” he said.

I didn’t look up because the level of my desire wouldn’t let me. If I saw his face, I would toss my plate across the table, rip my clothes off, and laid my naked body before him, presenting myself as the night’s dessert.

“Yes,” I said as I lifted my face. “Yes.” I needed to repeat it just in case he had any doubts how much I meant it.