Tease Me by Melissa Schroeder Page A

relationship.
    But that wasn’t going to work now
because he was in love with her.
    Shit.
    He was in love with her. She
was beautiful and smart, dedicated to her job and too much of a
know-it-all for her own good. Even knowing that, he loved her.
Hell, he even loved the fact that she was always trying to tell him
what to do. For once, he wanted to take things to another level and
she didn’t.
    And because it hurt him more than he
would ever admit, he struck out.
    “ I thought you had more
respect for yourself than that,” he said.
    “ What the hell does that
mean? It’s okay for you to run around with women, but someone you
know isn’t allowed to do the same thing…even with you.”
    He opened his mouth to argue, but her
cell buzzed. She picked it up and sighed.
    “ Yes, sir.”
    He watched her and knew that she was
being called into work again.
    “ I will be there ASAP. No
problem, sir.” Then she hung up. “I have to go into
work.”
    “ Yeah, I gathered that. I
thought they would at least give you a little more time
off.”
    “ I’ve been gone for almost
twenty-four hours. Plus, this is considered an emergency. Another
wave of stomach flu has taken out a few more of the
nurses.”
    He wanted to tell her she had to stay
there and they had to decide what to do about this, but there was
one thing he understood and that was duty. She was needed at the
hospital and he couldn’t stand in the way of that.
    “ Well…”
    She looked unsure of herself and that
wasn’t Tess. He knew she didn’t want to leave him
either.
    “ Go,” he said as gently as
possible. They had things to work out, but he knew she needed her
mind on work.
    She nodded and rushed back to her room
to get ready for work. As he sipped his coffee, he realized he
couldn’t stay at her house. It made things too…familiar. He needed
some distance, they both did. Somehow, he was positive that would
help. It might help her see their relationship differently. He
hadn’t really courted her…to use an old fashioned term. With time
and distance, he might be able to figure out a way to get her to
understand his feelings.
    When she came back out, Bran felt his
heart turn over. Damn, now that he realized how much he loved her,
he wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to seeing her. Even now his pulse
was dancing some kind of funky two-step and he felt
lightheaded.
    And she wasn’t even dressed sexy. A
pair of green scrubs and no makeup. She gave him a wary
smile.
    “ Hey, I was thinking of
moving out.”
    Her smile faded.
    “ No, don’t look like that.
I just…I think we need some time and you’re getting called in so
much.”
    She nodded but didn’t look like she
believed him. “Well, I guess I’ll talk to you later.”
    When she turned to leave, he knew he
couldn’t let her go without touching her one more time. He grabbed
her by the wrist and pulled her closer to him.
    “ Not so fast.”
    “ Bran…I have to get to
work.”
    Even as she said it, he heard the
yearning in her tone. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. He
could build on that and prove to her that they were meant for each
other. He tugged her into his arms and kissed her. Bran had meant
to keep it easy. Tess had to get to work and he had things to sort
out. But the moment his mouth touched hers, he was lost. He closed
his eyes as he slipped his tongue between her lips. She sighed and
leaned into him.
    Moments later, he was pleased he was
the one who pulled back first. Her eyes were still closed and her
lips were still wet from his kiss.
    “ Hey, Tess, better get to
work.”
    She opened eyes and he wanted to
cheer. Bran could see the need there in the depths of them and he
knew if he pushed it, he might get her back in bed before she went
in. He wouldn’t do it, but it was nice to know she was affected by
the kiss as much as he was.
    “ Well, I guess I should
go.”
    She walked toward the door, then made
a disgusted sound and turned back to get her purse and keys.