Chapter Five
Jade
I parked my white Prius in the employee lot and started toward the hospital entrance, still a little rattled about the very vivid dream I’d had starring Brian O’Shaughnessy.
It’d started with us at prom, but we were the adult version of ourselves.
Yet, it wasn’t weird we were there. He looked sexy as sin in his tuxedo, and the way he’d stared at me made me feel like the most beautiful woman in the ballroom.
Then suddenly we were in our bedroom—I wasn’t sure how I knew that, I just did.
But our house was his current Craftsman home.
I was riding him in our bed, and he was verbalizing what a great job I was doing.
Of course, I woke up before we reached the high point.
Normally I’d try to fall back asleep and pick up where I left off, but the realization that I’d just had a sex dream about Brian had me too flustered. So instead, I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling while I tried to figure out what the heck was going on in my subconscious.
I rolled out of bed and attempted to put it out of my mind as I went through my routine: a two-mile walk, followed by breakfast (although it was really lunchtime), then some light housekeeping as I listened to a podcast. Normally, it was a true-crime one, but I decided that considering recent events, I would switch it up and listen to one of Mel Robbins’ episodes.
I’d been successful at putting the dream out of mind until I got in the shower. As the warm water sprayed my body, it was easy to imagine it as Brian’s touch.
I allowed myself five seconds of that fantasy before turning the faucet to cold.
The freezing water didn’t do anything to get the dream out of my head.
I’m sure it’s just that I’m relieved he’s okay after getting shot while saving my little sister.
Yeah, that was it.
It wasn’t because I really wanted to hook up with Brian. Or live with him, like I was doing in my dream.
Okay, yes, I was attracted to him. But I was attracted to a lot of people; it didn’t mean I wanted to date them.
And I definitely did not want to date Sergeant O’Shaughnessy.
So why was I so pissed when I set my backpack down at the nurse’s station in ICU and was told Brian had a change of heart and didn’t want me to be his nurse after all?
****
Brian
The steady stream of visitors had worn me out, so I was dozing with my eyes closed when I heard the door open with gusto. All day, people had softly opened it, then knocked gently before entering.
Not this time.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
Ah, the voice of an angel.
She didn’t give a shit that I had my eyes closed.
Was it wrong that her feistiness made my dick move?
I slowly opened my eyes to find Jade standing at the foot of my bed with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her beautiful face.
“Well, I mean, I got shot and had emergency surgery on my femoral artery…”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about, Brian Michael O’Shaughnessy.
Don’t be an ass. Oh, too late.” She took another step closer and hissed, “Do you have any idea what having a patient specifically request I not be his nurse does to my professional reputation? Especially after I specifically asked to be his nurse as a favor to my sister?”
No, I hadn’t thought about that.
I’d just thought about her seeing my limp dick, and I wasn’t having any of that. Especially after my request for pajama pants had been denied.
“I’m sorry. It doesn’t have anything to do with what I think about your abilities.”
Her green eyes flashed. “What does it have to do with then?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer that, so I just stared at her. Her cheeks were pink from what I was sure was anger. She’d probably get even madder if I mentioned how fucking gorgeous that made her.
She tapped her foot and demanded, “Well?”
“I’m not allowed to wear underwear!” I exclaimed in a rush.
Jade pulled her neck back and narrowed her eyes, like she was confused. “So?”
“So, you don’t need to see my junk!”
She stood there with her mouth agape. “Are you kidding me? You don’t want me to be your nurse because I might see your dick? Are you worried if I catch sight of it, I won’t be able to help myself and will attack you?”
“Of course not.”
She rolled her eyes, turned on her foot and headed toward the door.
“As a nurse, I see plenty of penises, Brian,” she said as she reached for the handle, then paused to rake her gaze from my head to my toes.
“And from what I’ve heard from the girls you’ve dated, yours isn’t that impressive.
” Her mouth formed an “O,” like she’d just had an epiphany.
“But you wouldn’t have had to worry. HIPAA prohibits me from telling anyone what I see in the hospital. Your secret would’ve been safe.”
With that, she opened the door and breezed into the hall with a smug smile, having gotten the last word.
Dammit.
Because of her sassiness, my dick was now at half-mast. I had half a mind to call her back and prove her wrong.