“I shouldn’t even be here,” Rafe said.
“You know the protocol, Rafe,” Carmen said, giving him her standard nurse stare. No one ever argued with her stare. It was pretty fierce.
Rafe, apparently, wasn’t fazed by her glare.
“Whatever, Carmen. I’m fine.”
“Sure you are. Let’s get you out of that turnout gear.”
He grinned. “Getting me naked. Now we’re talkin’.”
She laughed and shook her head. “Can you sit up?”
“Yeah, sure.”
She held out her hand. He grasped it and sat up, much too fast for her liking.
She noticed he winced, and then he wobbled on the table a little.
“Head hurt?”
He reached for his forehead, cradling it in his hand. “A little. Damn backdraft caught me unaware, and the door knocked me backward. And out cold, I guess.”
She’d known Rafe and his brothers since they moved next door to her four years ago. Rafe helped her all the time with her grandfather. Over the years, they’d grown close, and the thought of him being hurt made her hurt.
She helped him unlatch his jacket and slide it off. “You’re lucky it wasn’t worse.”
He shrugged out of his coat, and Carmen couldn’t help but admire his broad shoulders encased in his tight T-shirt, something she shouldn’t be noticing right now.
“Can you stand so we can get the rest of your turnout gear off?”
“Yeah.”
“Hold my hand.”
His lips curved, revealing his amazing smile. “Carmen, I never knew you were interested.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Up. Hold my hand.”
He took her fingers and dropped his suspenders, letting the pants fall while he stepped out of his boots.
The hottest man she knew was undressing in front of her. At least partially undressing. Even in his T-shirt and standard uniform pants, standing this close to him made Carmen feel things she hadn’t felt since—
Longer than she’d like to admit. Which she wasn’t going to think about, because right now Rafe was a patient. And that’s all he was to her.
“Come on, climb back into bed. Shirt off.”
“See, you flirting with me like this makes my head feel a lot better.”
She shot him a look. “At least your sense of humor is still intact.”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “Always.”
He pulled his shirt off, and she refused to notice his wide shoulders and muscled chest, or the very interesting tattoo on the back of his right shoulder.
Okay, she did notice the tattoo, the Maltese cross with the three fists and the words “Brotherhood by Fire” surrounded by flames. She wanted to ask. She didn’t. He was hurt and she was his nurse and it was none of her business. She got him into a gown and hooked up to the machines so they could chart his vitals, all of which were ridiculously normal. She checked his eyes, which were dilating normally as
well—a very good sign.
Amy, one of the nurses, brought her the fluid bag, so she started the IV. Rafe didn’t even flinch when she inserted the needle, which wasn’t a surprise. The guy was tough. She wet a washcloth with warm water and brought it over to clean the soot and grime off his face.
“I didn’t know a bath was included,” he said, his warm brown eyes studying her the entire time.
Heat sang through her body. Normally, cleaning a patient was an emotionless task. She did it because it was part of her job. But with Rafe it felt . . . different. Intimate. Unnerving.
“I thought we might want to clean off some of this residue from the fire.”
“A nice hot shower would feel really good right about now.” She swept his thick dark hair away from his forehead and finished cleaning his face. Such a gorgeous face, too, with angular lines and a very strong jaw. “Can’t do that for you, but does this feel better?”
He reached up and wrapped his fingers around hers. “You touching me feels good.”
That heat she felt earlier was replaced by an incredible tingling sensation that settled somewhere in the vicinity of her sex.
Whoa, girl, back up.
Which she did. “Okay, I can actually see your face now.”
He smiled, as if he knew exactly the effect he had on her. She needed to remind herself that Rafe Donovan was a patient, and her neighbor, and that nothing was ever going to happen between the two of them.
Ever.
No matter how many times she’d fantasized about him.
CHAPTER 2
RAFE’S HEAD FUCKING HURT.
But the rest of him felt damn fine because Carmen Lewis was the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. Black hair wound into a bun at her neck, full lips, beautiful smoky hazel eyes, curvy in all the right places, and the woman was smart. She was the perfect package. Living next door to her was hard enough. But having her leaning over him, washing his face, breathing in her scent—what was that? Hand sanitizer? How could hand sanitizer be so hot? And having her hands on him? Now that was torture. Even gloved up, her hands made him feel better. All he wanted to do was draw her closer and kiss her. He saw the way her incredible eyes went dark with desire when she got near him, the way her breathing stilted and her lips parted when he put his hand over hers.
He knew when a woman was interested, and Carmen was definitely interested. And then she backed away like he was a hot stove and she’d just burned her hand on him.
So she was wary. The question was . . . why? They were in the wrong damn situation for him to ask that question.
“How’s your head?” she asked.
“Huh?” He’d been watching her gorgeous ass as she had her back turned to him and honestly wasn’t paying attention to what she’d been saying.
“Your head, Rafe. How’s your head?”
“Oh. It hurts.”
“Any queasiness?”
He grimaced, trying to quell the nausea that kept rising up like a rocky sea. “No, I’m good.”
She cocked a brow, as if she knew damn well how he felt. “This isn’t tell-a-lie time to get out of here fast, Rafe. I really need to know how you feel. If you hide things from me or from the doctor, it could affect your diagnosis.”
He blew out a breath. “Fine. Kind of queasy.”
“Okay. I want you to lie still, and no getting up without buzzing for help. Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I appreciate the cooperation. No going to sleep, either.”
“I’m too wired to sleep.” Though he wasn’t sure if the adrenaline rush was from the fire or from having Carmen so close to him. Both, maybe?
Before she could leave the room, Rafe’s brothers, Jackson and Kal, appeared in the doorway. He was glad to see them, though he wasn’t going to tell them that.
“Hey, Carmen,” Jackson said. “Okay if we come in?”
“Sure. I’d like someone to keep him company anyway while we wait for the CT scan.”
Kal smiled. “We can do that.” He pulled up a chair next to Rafe, grabbed the remote to the television and turned it on, scrolling through until he found a football game.
Jackson stepped out to talk to Carmen for a few minutes. Rafe watched the two of them in conversation. Carmen’s hands moved as she talked. Then she tucked a loose hair behind her ear, nodded and grasped Jackson’s arm as if to soothe his worry before walking away.