“I didn’t realize I needed to hear that. I’m glad it’s you who’ll be with me.”

My foot finds his under the table. “I’ll be the perfect nurse and take care of every… single… inch of you.”

His jaw tightens, eyes flashing heat.

“And if you’re a good patient, I might climb into that tiny hospital bed and make you forget you’re supposed to be resting.”

“Take Magnolia three times a day for pleasure. I like that prescription. I’m looking forward to this surgery now.”

Alex unlocks the door, and like always, opens it for me. The moment the penthouse door clicks shut behind us, everything changes.

He shrugs off his sport coat, draping it over the arm of the couch before unbuttoning his sleeves and rolling them up, forearms flexing with each motion. His hair’s a little mussed from the night breeze, and it’s somehow sexier than when we left.

The city glows outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, but all I can see is him.

I toe off my heels, sighing in relief as they hit the floor. My dress whispers around my legs as I cross the room, that silky fabric suddenly too warm.

I glance over at him, and he’s looking at me. No—not just looking. Watching. Like I’m something he’s been waiting on all night. Like I’m prey, and he’s a man who knows how to hunt without rushing the kill.

I reach up and tug the clip from my hair, letting it fall in a slow cascade over my shoulders. The waves loosen, framing my face as I shake them out with a practiced flick, aware—achingly aware—of the way his gaze heats as he watches. Like he’s starving. Like I’m already his.

Because I am.

His voice is low, almost a growl. “Fuck, you’re sexy.”

He crosses the space between us with unhurried confidence, the kind that makes my breath catch. His eyes drag down my body, slow and reverent. But he doesn’t touch me. Not yet.

Instead, he stops just short of pressing against me. His hand lifts, fingers teasing the bare skin of my shoulder, light as a whisper. “You did this on purpose.”

“Did what?” I ask, feigning innocence even as heat pools low in my belly.

His mouth tilts in a lazy, sinful smile. “Letting your hair down and shaking it out like that.”

His knuckle skims down the curve of my arm. “You knew what it would do to me.”

“Possibly,” I say, heart thudding as I tilt my chin up to meet his eyes. “Or maybe I just wanted to see if you were still paying attention.”

His eyes flare. “I never stop paying attention where you’re concerned.”