All Chained Up by Sophie Jordan

little higher. Thank you.” She placed the cuff around his bicep, her fingers cool against his flesh. He watched her as she went about the task of taking his blood pressure, pumping the bulb several times. She was close enough for him to smell pears again, and even though her hands were cool, her body radiated warmth. The cuff released with a hiss of air. “Good BPI,” she murmured, moving to type his numbers into the laptop sitting on the nearby stand, her gaze trained on the screen, focusing with such intensity that he knew she deliberately avoided looking at his face.
    It was a wonder his blood pressure wasn’t through the roof, considering the dirty direction of his thoughts. His pulse thrummed at his neck and his skin suddenly felt like it didn’t fit his body.
    She turned back to him, this time holding out a thermometer. “Open your mouth, please.”
    He parted his lips and tried not to jerk when he felt her thumb brush his bottom lip as she placed the thermometer inside his mouth. Her face flamed bright red and he knew touching him sure as hell wasn’t deliberate on her part. They both held still, two frozen statues as they waited for the damn thing to finish its reading.
    It beeped and she quickly pulled it out from his mouth. “Ninety-­eight point two.”
    Again, as hot as he was feeling from his interaction with her, it was a wonder he wasn’t running a fever. He really had a problem being this close to her, which only made him think about every other poor bastard she came into contact with here. All the others who struggled with low impulse control. Which was essentially everyone.
    â€œCouldn’t get enough of this place, you had to come back so soon, huh?” he asked softly. Her hands shook a little as she presumably typed in his temperature.
    She was still frightened. Of him. This place. Maybe both? He didn’t know and the source of her fear didn’t matter. Fear was fear. “Why are you here?” he demanded, inexplicably angry but wise enough to keep his voice low. He would feel a whole lot better if she quit. Not that it mattered how he felt. Not that she cared.
    Her gaze snapped back to his face. Flags of red stained her cheeks. He’d never seen a woman blush so much. Even before prison, girls were always comfortable in his presence. You weren’t a criminal then.
    Yeah, there was that.
    â€œYou don’t want to be here.” He sent a quick glance around the infirmary as if assessing their surroundings. “God knows I wouldn’t be here if I could help it.”
    â€œ Couldn’t you help it?” Briar quickly countered, suddenly finding her tongue. “I mean, you made whatever decision that landed you in here. It’s about choices, isn’t it?”
    He shook his head and felt a flash of annoyance. She didn’t know him or what he had done. Or maybe she did. Had she gone home and nosed around on the Internet? His crime was no secret. It was open for public consumption. He swallowed back a snort. He was giving himself too much credit. She probably went home and had sex with her boyfriend without giving him another thought. She was just a judgy little shrew. Nothing more, nothing less.
    He shrugged as that bitter pill washed down his throat. “Self-­righ­teous little thing, aren’t you? Gotta tell you. It’s been a long time since anyone thought I was worth the trouble of a lecture.”
    There went that blush again. “Forget it. It’s not my place.” She inhaled. “In answer to your question, I’m here because it’s my job. And speaking of my job,” she said pointedly. “Can we get back to the matter at hand?”
    God, she was so correct and proper. She had the stern nurse act down to a T. And it hit him like a punch to the gut. Who knew he liked that type? That he would ever think it was so fucking hot? She held up a light and checked his eyes. Her breath