Page 40 of Seduction

I pursed my lips as I pondered his question. I faintly recalled him mentioning it, but I’d thought he was being ironic.

“You really don’t sleep?” I asked then yawned.

“Rarely,” he said.

“Are you a vampire? Because that would explain your unusually good looks.”

He chuckled, something I’d never seen him do before, or at least not very much.

“No, but thank you, I think.”

I chortled. “You’re welcome. Then are you haunted by something?”

Silence lingered between us.

“We’re all haunted by one thing or another,” he said.

Dr. Sparrow was a master at evading a direct question. I was developing feelings for the guy and was standing on a very important threshold when it came to choosing to fall into a new relationship with a very secretive man or get away from him as fast as I could. So far, I was leaning toward taking a chance on him. But I needed him to start telling me the truth and fast.

“But what areyouhaunted by?”

Again, silence hung in the air until he said, “A lot.”

“Could you be more specific?”

His hand slid from my thigh and into my pussy, and I seized his wrist.

“No,” I said breathlessly. “I want you to pleasure me but not at the expense of you being completely honest with me.”

He withdrew his hand and flipped onto his back. I turned to face him.

Dr. Sparrow stared at the ceiling for a long while. I had been trained to listen, so I knew to give him space to tell all he could.

“I like you, Penina. I don’t want you to stop seeing me.”

I snorted softly as I jerked my head. “Are we seeing each other?”

“You’re here, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but I don’t even know what this is between us. And you still haven’t answered my question. Why can’t you sleep? What’s haunting you?”

Again, silence.

“As I said, a lot,” he finally replied.

I took a moment to consider his answer and compare it to the strained look on his face. His eyebrows were furrowed, and the skin between his eyes was puckered. Whatever he was remembering was causing him distress.

Gliding my hand across his strong chest, I said, “I have a lot going on in my past too.”

He turned to watch me curiously, and I took his expression as an invitation to continue sharing.

“I always feel I need to prove I’m worth more than the life my mother dragged me through. That feeling never goes away. All I can do is bury it, but it’s still there. We neurosurgeons are at the top of the food chain.” I cracked a tiny smile. “I mean, unless you’re asking a cardiothoracic surgeon.” I raised a finger pointedly. “Orthos and plastics have egos the size of Jupiter too.”

His gentle smile matched mine.

“I can’t tell you my past, Penina.”

“Then you’re hiding from it?”