Chapter 5-y
T he hours ticked by slowly and I was both elated to see him doing well and put down at the fact I had no idea what to do with him.
I mean, I knew what to do with him. But that was my sex-starved brain talking and not my highly educated professional one.
While he slept, he looked like some preternatural being. Splendid as an angel with perfectly carved features, a strong chin, straight nose, and cheekbones that could cut glass.
I already knew his lips were soft, yet firm, and the color of his irises were impossibly saturated, the blue so deep it rivaled oceans.
Even with bandages and scars marring his skin, I was impressed by his contoured physique. Smooth ivory skin stretched taut over the rippling muscles that covered his long frame.
He had dozens of tattoos carved into his skin. The line work was simply gorgeous. He had one prominent design on his chest, a snake circling what I thought was the sun, but it could have been the moon, with flowers all around it.
The flowers should have made it look feminine, but it didn’t. In fact, they only seemed to enhance his blatant masculinity.
Beneath it were the words No Bad Days . I liked the sound of that. A grin whispered across my face, and I was tempted to trace the letters, but I refrained.
Barely.
His brows furrowed in dreams, the tension knitting across his forehead as though he were locked in some private struggle.
I couldn’t help but wonder if he was hurting—physically, or just mentally.
Poor man. He needed rest. I mean, even in sleep, his mind couldn’t seem to escape whatever haunted him.
The thought made something in my chest tighten, a quiet ache I couldn’t quite name.
Like I cared about him. This stranger who quite literally barged into my life.
Suddenly, the lines on his face eased, and his features softened into the calmness of sleep.
I watched in quiet fascination as the worry melted away, replaced by something peaceful, almost boyish.
And once again, I was struck by just how breathtaking he was—handsome in that effortless way that could steal your breath when you weren’t looking.
He had the kind of face you could get lost in, studying each angle, each curve, as though it held answers to questions you didn’t even realize you’d been asking.
I’d seen handsome men, but none of them drew me the way he did.
I shook my head, trying to clear it of all those silly, girlish fantasies.
It didn’t matter if he looked good or not. The man was a patient, not a prospective date.
Focus, Shelly.
It really had been too long since I’d gone out with a man. Almost a year, now that I thought about it.
The last guy who’d asked me out was a colleague, and I’d turned him down faster than a cat could blink. As for my attending’s blatant and inappropriate staring, I just ignored him.
I’d worked at hospitals for years and there was no way I was getting into the revolving door of workplace romances that so many of my colleagues engaged in.
Aunt Agnes might be a cold-hearted bitch, but there was one saying she had I’d never forgotten.
Don’t shit where you eat.
That was one of those golden rules too many people ignored.
I was a damn good doctor and whether I chose surgery or pediatrics or whatever for my specialty, I was not going to, and I would never ever, shit where I ate.
That way led to disaster, and I’d had enough of that in my life.
Still, it had been a very long time since I went on a date or said yes to a simple booty call. Had a little friends-with-benefits, no-strings sex.
Maybe that was why I couldn’t stop thinking about Ono’s brilliant blue eyes when he looked at me, or how stunningly soft his lips were when he’d kissed me.
Shit.
Daydreaming about my patient was not a good idea. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, a little meditation might help clear my head of those ridiculous thoughts.
“What’s got you frowning over there, Bellezza?”
Ono’s rich voice filtered through the room, hitting me right in the gut like a sucker punch.
I blinked my eyes open, donning a professional mien as I walked to his side and lifted my stethoscope to listen to his chest and heartbeat.
Yes, I pointedly ignored his muscles, kept my gaze from wandering to the tattoos covering his torso I was dying to ask about and touch.
He had more on his back that started high on his shoulders and wrapped around his chest and stomach, going all the way down to where, I had no idea.
The ink disappeared beneath the elastic band of his boxer briefs only to reappear further below where each leg ended. I spied some more body art on his thick thighs and calves, but I didn’t get a good look.
He wasn’t wounded there. It would be weird if I were to suddenly start checking out his legs.
I mean, that would be considered taking advantage of a patient who was in no fit state to stop me. And there were lines I wouldn’t cross, even if curiosity burned inside of me like a blazing inferno.
“Your airway is clear. Heart sounds good. How do you feel?” I asked, ignoring his question.
“I feel like I just got shot,” he replied, but there was a teasing grin on his face.
“You sure did, Tough Guy. Three times.”
“Three? Shit. No wonder I feel like crap.”
“Surprised you even noticed,” I answered his teasing grin.
“So, how’s it looking, Doc?” Ono asked and carefully stretched, making the sheet I had pulled up to his waist slide down past his hips.
My eyes dropped, and I practically drooled on him. The tight boxers he wore seemed to get even tighter beneath my stare.
I cleared my throat, pulling my stethoscope off my neck and folding it before replacing it on the side table.
I turned back to his face, trying to ignore his knowing smirk.
Still, I had to swallow before I answered.
After all, it would probably not be a good idea for me to say something like it looks big and totally capable to me .
Yeah, that was probably not a good idea.
“Uh, well, you’re a little pale, but that’s to be expected. If you let me call an ambulance, I can have some blood brought or better yet, get you moved to a facility where you can be thoroughly examined Mister?—”
“Call me Ono, Doc. And no. No ambulance. But if you give me my phone, I can make a call and get you whatever you need to fix me delivered. You can treat me here, right? I’ll pay for your time?—”
“It’s not the money, but why would you want to stay here?” I asked.
“You’re in no danger, Doc. I swear. Look, I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m a friend of Sammy’s.”
“Sammy Ramirez?” I asked, and he nodded.
“I thought I recognized you.”
“Good. I hate to be rude, but I’d have to punish you if you just let some fucking stranger in here like this, Doc.”
Punish me? Why did that sound hot?
I ignored that and pulled the sheet back up over his hips and belly, covering that monster dick I couldn’t stop picturing.
“Well, you are a stranger. But I get it. It is probably best if you don’t move.”
“You’re not scared?”
“I won’t lie. I was freaked out. But if you know Sammy, then I guess you know I am familiar with certain lifestyles,” I hedged.
“Lifestyles, Doc?”
It wasn’t polite to discuss things like that, and really, I had no idea what affiliations Ono had. But I could guess, and I let him see that in my expression.
“I’m no criminal,” he said, brows narrowed at me.
“The people who shot you?”
“Okay, fine. I guess I know some bad people,” he murmured, and I thought I saw shame cross his features.
“I am not judging you, Ono.”
I meant that. I wasn’t judging him for whatever got him shot. People did things for all sorts of reasons, and I was reserving my judgement for a time when I might learn his.
“Look, I’m assuming you can’t just call the authorities or have your location made public, the simple truth is, I have the next few days off. So, you’re in luck. If you make that call, get a few things, I can definitely treat you here. Stranger or not, I’m a doctor and it’s my duty,” I said, surprising myself.
“Good. Um, before you go, Doc, there’s something,” he said, and I moved closer, curious if I missed something, wondering if he was in pain.
But I should have known better just from the kind of man I suspected him to be.
Ono’s brows narrowed once more as he caught my hand and pulled me down until my face was level with his.
My breathing increased, chest rising and falling as the line between patient and something else blurred.
He used the hand on his uninjured arm to hold me captive and my heart ran away with me, beating hard, like a drum inside my chest.
My eyes widened, and I swallowed as he pierced me with his electric blue gaze.
“We’re not strangers. I’ve slept in your bed,” he whispered.
Then he kissed me, hard, letting go sooner than I wanted him to.
His entire body seemed to vibrate as he slumped back against the pillow, both of us breathing heavier than before.
“Now, bring me the phone, Doc,” he said, dipping his chin.
I nodded and left the room, holding my fingers to my still tingling lips.
The good news was, now that I had something else to focus on, the flu symptoms I’d been suffering with seemed entirely to dissipate.
The bad news was I now had a dangerous man staying inside my house, recovering from actual fucking gunshot wounds, which could only have been made by some pretty bad guys.
And worse than that, I was stupidly, seriously attracted to him.
FML.