Page 35 of Come Back To Me

I turned my head as much as I could without startling Kyle. He was sound asleep, his chest moving in perfect rhythm.

“Alex?”

“You two know each other?” Natalie looked between me and Alex, and he grinned, showing off his teeth. He somehow looked better than he had the night before. I noticed the deep brown of his eyes, the strong set of his jaw, and the inexplicable way he filled out…was he wearing scrubs? We hadn’t done a whole of talking at the club, so it was no surprise that I had no idea what the guy did for a living. And to be fair, I didn’t think I’d ever see him again, least of all at the hospital where I volunteered.

“We met last night,” replied Alex. I looked back at Natalie, whose brow was lifted in question.

“Maddy and I went to a club in Denver last night, and I ended up hiding in the bathroom,” I inhaled, feeling my cheeks go warm, “Turns out it was the men’s bathroom. Alex was inside and…” My words trailed off, and I heard Alex chuckle while he walked closer.

“There’s a story there,” said Natalie, “which you” — she pointed at me — “will fill me in on. After I get some sleep.”

My stomach sank somewhat. I didn’t like the idea of leaving just yet. Natalie surprised me, and asked Alex, “Will you stay with Kenzi for another thirty minutes? You’re on lunch right?”

Before I could protest - I wanted to protest, right? I mean, it was a little weird - Natalie stood, and Alex started taking off his shirt. Wait, what?

“Yeah,” he replied easily. “I have some free time.” He winked, and my face felt as if it were on fire — he totally caught me staring at his bare chest, and hoo boy, what a chest it was. But why the hell was he stripping?

“I’ll see you later, okay?”

I nodded at Natalie, and she kissed my cheek before leaving me alone with Alex. I watched as he lifted another newborn from an incubator — a little girl, judging from her tiny pink beanie — and cradled her to his chest before grabbing a wrap-around blanket. He settled in the recliner, like he’d done it a million times before, and chuckled again.

“You’re staring,” he murmured, looking down at the baby in his arms, and then back at me. I was still a little dumbstruck, but I shook it off.

Play it cool, I told myself.

“Sorry,” I resumed rocking Kyle gently, “I’m just surprised to see you. I didn’t know men did Kangaroo Care.”

It was the first time I’d seen a man in the NICU, most of the time it was women, but damn, the man looked good, all bare-chested with a baby.

Ovaries = BOOM.

“Well,” sighed Alex. “I do it when I have some free time. I’m a second year OB/Gyn resident, so it makes sense for me to hang with the babies.”

I felt bad for not knowing that. I mean, the guy had been nice enough to put me to bed last night without expecting anything. That was a rare quality in someone so young. Turns out, chivalry wasn’t dead.

Which reminded me…

“Thanks for last night.” I blushed. It sounded like I was suggesting something else… “For getting me into bed.”

Alex pinched his lips, stifling a laugh, and I realized what I’d said. “I mean, for putting me in bed. Alone. And then leaving.”

Earth, swallow me. NOW.

This time Alex laughed, and I blushed harder. I had a serious case of foot-in-mouth disease around this guy.

“I’m starting to think I make you nervous,” he said, saying aloud what I’d been thinking.

“You do.” I busied my hands with the wrap-around blanket covering Kyle. “I didn’t think I was going to see you again.”

“Did you want to see me again?”

I hesitated, but for what reason I didn’t know. I did want to see Alex again. He was nice, and funny, and ridiculously good-looking. So what was holding me back?

“Way to wound a guy’s ego,” he muttered light-heartedly.

“Sorry, you just caught me by surprise, that’s all.”

“No shit,” snorted Alex. “I didn’t exactly anticipate having a beautiful girl walk in on me while I was taking a leak.”