Chapter 27 #2
He trailed off for just a beat before he cleared his throat. “They might all hate me now, but they’ll love me when my testing equipment starts saving more of their patients. Once the benefits start coming in, they’ll understand it was worth it.”
As I stared up at him, I realized that he looked so sure.
So convinced that time would smooth the rough edges and that the outcomes would justify everything he was doing now.
Something in my chest caved in on itself at how confident he seemed, a profound sense of sadness blossoming deep inside at the fact that while he was clearly not the asshole I’d thought he was, nothing was going to make him change direction—because he truly believed the ends would justify the means.
I dropped my gaze to the marble beneath our feet.
“We’re talking about work again.” I shook my head, the words tumbling out before I could stop them.
“I don’t mean it like an accusation. It’s just, uh, maybe we can never escape it.
It matters too much to both of us, and we don’t agree on how to run things. ”
Another silence stretched between us, heavy and uncomfortable this time. I looked up at him again, forcing myself to say the thing that had been sitting in my gut all night. “Does that mean whatever this is between us is doomed from the start?”
His face softened, something real breaking through the polished certainty he wore like armor. “I really hope not, but I also don’t think it needs to be.”
He took a step closer to me, only stopping when he was close enough that I could feel his heat. He smiled. “Can we just stop talking so much and let our actions speak for us for a while?”
I didn’t trust myself to answer, so I nodded. His hands came up to my shoulders, his thumbs pressing gently into the tight muscles there. I hadn’t realized how tense I was until the warmth of his touch sank in and something inside me loosened. I exhaled, my head tipping forward slightly.
“That feels nice,” I murmured.
His thumbs kept tracing those slow, lazy circles, like he could keep doing this all night. “You carry everything up here. All the time.”
His hands slid down my arms, then back up, his fingers grazing my neck and sending a shiver straight through me. The conversation dissolved, replaced by the quiet crackle of awareness between us.
He leaned in, his mouth brushing my temple and my cheek, not quite kissing me but teasing. Testing. My heart thudded harder with every near miss.
“Do you have any idea how crazy you make me at the hospital?” he murmured, his lips hovering just off my skin.
I laughed weakly. “How? I haven’t done anything.”
“That’s the problem,” he said. “You walk past me like I don’t exist. Like I’ve never touched you.”
His mouth finally found mine in a slow, deliberate kiss that made my knees buckle.
It felt like he was taking his time on purpose, like restraint was part of the point.
Just when I leaned into it, craving more, he pulled back.
I made a small, frustrated sound that bubbled up before I could swallow it.
He smiled against my mouth. “See?”
His hands skimmed my waist, his thumbs brushing just under the hem of my shirt before retreating again. Every nerve ending in my body lit up, hyperaware and aching in the best possible way. I held his gaze, trembling as he pulled me closer.
“Who knew you were a sadist?” I whispered.
“It’s called control,” he corrected, kissing along my jaw and my neck, then backing off just as my hands fisted in his shirt. “I spend all day, every day not touching you. Let me enjoy this.”
I leaned into him when he kissed me again, melting under his touches and just letting myself feel good instead of worrying. For just a few hours, I would let myself forget about all the reasons this was a bad idea and just be with him.
His hands returned to my shoulders, then slid down my back, his fingers finding the hem of my shirt and tugging it off, but even as he undressed me, he kept teasing, backing off and drawing this delicious, torturous line between us.
I could feel how much he wanted me, the evidence solid and undeniable against my lower belly, but he didn’t give in.
“Tell me to stop,” he murmured as he laid me down on his bed, still fully dressed even though I was completely naked.
I shook my head, breathless and wanting. “Don’t you dare.”
Sullivan crawled onto the bed with me, kissing me again while letting his fingers go everywhere except where I desperately needed them.
I was starting to understand that he fully intended on teasing me within an inch of my life tonight, but somehow, as maddening as it was, it was also exactly what I needed.
The worries were still there. I knew they would come back full force tomorrow, the hospital, the future, and the very large possibility that this couldn’t last. But for now, wrapped up in him, I let myself believe that even if it didn’t last forever, it was real.
And for tonight, just for now, that was enough.