Now at Shelly’s office door, Lena turned on her. “Fine, don’t tell me. Just answer one question for me.”

Shelly put her hands on her hips. “What?”

“Was it worthy of a repeat?”

Shelly felt a smile so wicked and smug spread across her face that she almost wished it hadn’t been caused by a man whom she could never keep. “Oh yeah.”

Lena returned the smiled and then turned. “About time,” she muttered as she walked away.

Racing over to the table, Shelly grabbed the phone and unlocked it, to see a message that made her breath catch.

DD:University Hospital. 8th floor. See you at 2.

While her whole body shivered and her thighs clenched, all Shelly could think was, Two o’clock couldn’t come quick enough. Pun intended.

* * *

Josh figured he pretty much broke every single traffic law to get his car parked at the University Hospital parking lot by 1:50 p.m. He glanced at his watch as he raced through the lobby to the directory board.

He’d mulled over the decision to call Shelly all through Sunday. He’d gone back and forth on the pros and cons of having this kind of a fling.

Sure, he’d heard all the time of people who had friends with benefits. But are we even really friends?

As far as Josh could tell, he and Shelly had friends in common, but as far as two individuals went, they hardly knew anything about one another.

One thing he was certain about was the fact that he’d told Mason a huge “hell no” to dating her, which worked perfectly since she had made it clear she wanted to keep things a secret.

So, of course, it all made perfect sense that he was now standing in the lobby of her place of employment, searching for her name, so he could go upstairs and get his sex on.

Finally, he spotted “Dr. Shelly Monroe, Pulmonologist, Level 8.” Good, the computer site was right. He made his way over to the elevators and stood with five other people.

One lady turned and looked him over quickly. When her eyes met his, she gave him a shy smile. Josh winked at her and watched a blush spread all across her cheeks. He grinned as the elevator pinged and they got in along with the others. They were both at the back of the crowd, and she kept sneaking glances at him. Each time he caught her, he smiled, and she blushed.

She was cute in a soft way. Her dark brown hair was held back by a black headband. Josh noticed she was fiddling with the strap of her purse as she looked at him, and he figured it was some kind of nervous gesture.

See, Josh thought, this is the kind of woman you are supposed to want, not the dirty-talking man-eater upstairs. However, when the elevator stopped at Level 7 and the young lady beside him moved to get out, Josh watched her go with only one thought. I’ll never be able to do what I’m about to with a woman like that. Wouldn’t that be a damn shame? After all, he had a feeling what was about to happen was going to blow his mind—literally.

* * *

Shelly glanced at her desk clock as it flicked to 2:03 p.m. He hadn’t shown. She hadn’t expected to feel so disappointed. It wasn’t as though they were an item—or ever going to be.

Sighing, she sat back in her chair, rocking it as she tapped her pen against the desk. She was in such a funk about it that she was about to call McKinney and tell him she needed to cancel their date tonight. Then, her office phone buzzed. Sitting up straight, she dropped the pen and answered over the speaker.

“Yes, Amy?”

“Dr. Monroe, there’s a Joshua Daniels here to see you.”

Shelly sucked in a breath and looked at the clock. 2:05 p.m. He was late, but there was no way in hell she was turning him away. She wanted this, and she wanted it now. Clearing her throat, Shelly buzzed her assistant.

“Send him in, Amy.”

Letting go of the intercom button, Shelly sat back in her chair with her legs crossed and her eyes on the door, waiting for him to enter.

She knew she had the advantage, and she planned to use it. Feeling her heart start to hammer inside her chest, she waited in dead silence, straining to hear the moment he was close. Then, there was a soft but firm rap against the wood. Choosing to stay silent, she watched as the handle turned, the door opened, and then—Holy hell, there he is.

The man was the very definition of sex. His hair looked as though he’d run his hands through it, and several long brown strands had escaped, falling forward into his face. He was dressed in jeans today—worn torn jeans that were faded and well-loved by the look of the washed denim. Up top, he was wearing a long-sleeved navy flannel shirt that was unbuttoned and hanging open over a white tee that molded over every delicious muscle of his chest. On his feet were workman boots, and for some reason, this hard-working handyman look was really pushing all of Shelly’s buttons in exactly the right way.

He stepped into the office and shut the door behind him, waiting silently for some sort of cue from her.

Finally, when she’d looked him over thoroughly, she stated, “You’re late.”

She watched as he brought his arm up and looked at his watch, and then he dropped it back down by his side and sauntered into the room.

“Not by my watch.” He moved around the chair that sat facing her, leaning across the desk. “Want to check, Doctor?”

She reached out and grabbed his thick wrist, tugging him further over the desk. He placed his other hand flat down on top of the glossy surface to brace himself as she looked at his watch. It did in fact show 2 p.m. Raising her eyes to his, she saw him quirk up an eyebrow.

“What was my punishment going to be?” He paused as she sat back in her chair.

He straightened and took a seat on the opposite side of the desk.

Shelly looked at him, sitting across from her, with his legs spread and his hands resting on his jean-clad thighs.

“I was going to send you away,” she said bluntly.

He seemed to think that over, and then nodded once. “Sure, you were.”

Shelly cocked her head to the side, and then stood. She watched his eyes track her as she rounded the desk and came to stand in front of it. Leaning back, she rested her butt up against the edge, looking down at him.

“You don’t think I would’ve?” she questioned, letting her eyes fall down to those spread legs and the expanding bulge in between. “My time is very valuable, especially around here.”

He tilted his head to the side, those deep brown eyes sliding down her scrubs before they came back up to rest on her face.

“Oh, I believe it. You’re a doctor, and this is a hospital. Of course, you’re valuable. Makes me wonder though if you brought me down here to tease or to deliver?”

Shelly had to hold back a smile at his direct question.

So, he thinks I’m a tease, does he? Well, he’s in for a rude awakening then.

Keeping her eyes on him, she leaned over to the side, pressing a hot pink–manicured nail to the intercom button.

“Yes, Dr. Monroe?”

Smiling the sexiest smile she had in her arsenal, Shelly let her eyes fall to his crotch.

“Why don’t you go and have lunch now?” she said to Amy.

Shelly saw his thighs bunch and raised her eyes to meet his hot ones.

“Are you sure?” Amy asked.

Without taking her gaze from his, Shelly pushed the button again and answered, “Yes. It’s slow, and I won’t be going back up to the units until around three.”

There was silence as they sat in her office, the air crackling with tension, and then the intercom buzzed.

“Okay, I’ll be back by three.”

Standing up and away from the desk, Shelly answered, “Very good.”

Then, she stepped forward until she was beside Josh’s chair. “Don’t you move a muscle.”

* * *

Josh sat glued to the seat.

He couldn’t have moved if the building was on fire, and he had a feeling in about two minutes it very well could go up in flames. He knew one thing for certain. He was on fire, and the reason for that was currently walking to her office door to—click—lock it.

Taking a deep breath, Josh closed his eyes and tried counting backwards from thirty to calm down. He’d known the minute he stepped in and saw her, sitting behind her big wooden desk in her sky-blue scrubs and lab coat, he was screwed.

The woman was so unbelievably gorgeous that it almost hurt to look at her. She literally looked like a Barbie doll and was absolutely flawless, except for all of her stupid notions about rules and secrets.

Today, she had pulled her hair half up and tied at the back of her head, leaving the rest of it to fall down to her shoulders in a straight line. Those amazing blue eyes of hers popped out even more with the scrubs she was wearing, and her curvy little body tested the boundaries of the flimsy fabric, somehow managing to make even them look unbelievably hot. A diamond in the rough, he thought. The lady was a diamond, and as he sat there trying not to explode before she even touched him, he thought he was most definitely the rough.

He felt her walk back toward him. As she moved by the chair, she reached out and dragged a perfectly pink-manicured nail across his shoulder. She walked in front of him and stopped between his thighs.

Looking down, she asked softly, “Aren’t you going to undo your pants?”

Josh swallowed. Shit, this is really going to happen. She is really going to get down on her knees and give me a blow job in her office at 2 o’clock in the afternoon! Hell, maybe there is a plus side to this sex-with-no-strings deal.