Beat of the Heart (5 page)

they get mere seconds.” She made a tsking sound in the back of her throat. “Pity.”

My mouth gaped open, and instead of a witty, maybe even scathing, come-back, I could only open

and close it, like a dying fish out of water. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been rendered

completely speechless by a female outside of my mother and abuela.

Mia eyed me one final time before turning to Frank. “Mr. Patterson, I’ll be back to check on you on

the hour,” she replied before quickly side-stepping me and stomping out of the room.

When the door closed behind her, Rhys and Frank howled with laugher. “Holy shit, dude! I can’t

believe what she just said to you!” Rhys exclaimed, wiping the tears from his eyes.

I stared momentarily at the closed door before a smile spread across my cheeks. “Now, that

gentlemen, is the future Mrs. Resendiz, right there.”

As soon as I slammed the door shut behind me, my thinly veiled composure evaporated and

mortification replaced it. At the sound of muffled laughter from Mr. Patterson’s room, I hustled down

the hallway, wanting to put as much distance as I could between myself and what had just happened.

But as hard as I tried, AJ’s words, coupled with the image of me giving him a rubdown, kept playing

over and over in my head. “Jesus,” I grumbled. Rubbing my eyes, I wished more than anything I could

bleach those images out of my mind forever.

I skidded into the nurse’s station, mowing into Dee. “Oomph,” he muttered, as multi-colored

paperwork scattered through the air like confetti. “Damn girl, where’s the fire?”

“In AJ’s pants,” I muttered.

“Huh?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. I’m sorry. Lemme pick these up for you.”

“Why is your face so red?”

“I said, it’s
nothing
. Just drop it, okay?” I bent over and started sorting the papers.

Dee harrumphed before crossing his arms over his chest. “Don’t tell me Mr. Gordon in 409 asked

you for another sponge bath? Cause you know I’ll go down there and tell him
I’ll
take care of

whatever he needs. I’m sure that’ll shut his perverted, old ass up!”

I rose up off the floor. “That’s not it.”

With a skeptical look, Dee took the paperwork and tossed it onto the desk. “Well, something sure

has you riled, Mimi.”

“Okay, fine. You want it, so here it is. I’m totally mortified because I knocked a drink onto one of

Mr. Patterson’s visitors.”

Dee shrugged. “What’s so embarrassing about that?”

“Well, I panicked and started cleaning him up—”

“Once again, not a crime considering our profession is to help people.”

I rolled my eyes. “Would you let me finish?”

“Fine, fine.”

“Anyway, of all places, the drink fell in the guy’s lap and—”

Dee gave me a contemptuous snort. “Mia Martinelli, how many times have I told you not to molest

the guests of hospital patients?”

“Wait, what?” I questioned, trying to process his response.

“You know your little drink spill routine is just a ploy to get to rub up on some hot dude.”

My eyes widened. “Dee, what the hell is wrong with you? I just told you I was mortified, and now

you’re acting like I’m some crotch grabbing pervert?”

A throat cleared behind me, and I whirled around. “Oh shit,” I muttered, before I could stop myself.

With an ‘I can melt your panties at twenty paces’ smirk, AJ stood at the door with his hands shoved in

the pockets of his holey jeans. While the front was still damp, they were no longer tented like when I

left him. From his expression, I could tell my little tirade hadn’t had a lasting effect on him at all.

Pointing at Dee, I said, “Just for the record, he is being a total ass right now.”

AJ chuckled. “Yeah, I know.” He took a tentative step forward. “I wondered if I could talk to you

for a minute?”

Grabbing a chart, Dee batted his eyelashes at AJ. “I’ll just duck in the medicine room real quick,

Mimi, and let you and sweet cheeks have some privacy.”

As he sashayed away from us, AJ’s brows furrowed, and he blinked a few times in disbelief. “Is it

just me or does he remind you of—”

“Lafayette on
True Blood
?”

AJ’s dark eyes widened. “Holy shit, yes!”

“Yeah, he gets it all the time.” With a laugh, I added, “Most of the time, he uses it to scam free

drinks or get closer to a guy he’s scoping out. People never seem to be disappointed that it’s not

really the actor—I mean, that guy doesn’t act like LaFayette in real life anyway.” When I realized I

was rambling, I pinched my lips shut. It had been a long time since any guy had gotten me rattled

enough to run my mouth like an idiot.

“You a fan of the show?” AJ asked.

“Oh, yeah, I adored it—well, until the whole sixth season and Billith.”

AJ snickered. “I couldn’t agree more. I used to be pretty much obsessed with it, but yeah, I couldn’t

get it up for the last two seasons. Now I’m more a
Walking Dead
and
Sons of Anarchy
fan myself.”

“Oh my God, those are awesome shows, too.” I stared at AJ in disbelief for a moment. Was I

actually making small talk with the guy I’d just accidentally molested? I hadn’t talked to any guy—or I

guess I should say straight guy—since Dev had left me shattered. Shaking my head, I snapped out of

my daze. “So what is it exactly that you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Oh yeah, that. I wanted to see if you’d like to have dinner with me sometime?”

My brows shot into my hairline. “After I just verbally berated you like that? Not to mention the

physical thing.” When AJ nodded, I snorted. “I must’ve made one hell of an impression cleaning you

up.”

He grinned. “Your talents are quite impressive, but I’d like to experience the full range of your…

napkin abilities.”

“I think you’re getting a little presumptuous, don’t you think? You only asked me to dinner.”

“That’s true.” AJ scratched the stubble on his chin. “But to prove my intentions are honorable, I’m

still offering dinner—
just
dinner.” With a pointed look, he added, “And maybe some third base

action if the mood strikes us.”

I laughed in spite of myself. “Tempting, very tempting. But, no thanks.”

“You drive a hard bargain, Ms. Martinelli, but I’m willing to take the third base action off the table

for dinner and maybe a good night kiss—with or without tongue.”

“No.”

Crossing his arms over his broad chest, he tilted his head to one side, surmising me quizzically.

“Fine then. No dinner with its somewhat provocative undertones. How about just a drink after you get

off?”

“Sorry, but I’m not interested in dating at the moment.”

AJ’s dark brows furrowed in confusion, and I could tell he wasn’t used to getting rejection from a

female. Undaunted, he pursed his lips in a smirk. “I get it. You’re a little gun-shy about dating a

musician, or you’re career minded, or some other shit is telling you to say no. But I can work with

that.” He snapped his fingers. “Coffee it is!”

“AJ, really—”

He held up a hand. “Yeah, I get it. I now can see where coffee might be a little loaded for an

outing. You know, with caffeine being an illicit, addictive substance, so maybe I should switch gears.

Ice cream’s pretty innocent. How about that?” His gaze honed in on my mouth as he closed the

distance between us. “After all, who can say no to some sugary sweetness? Maybe add some smooth

whipped cream topped off with a ripe cherry?”

His voice had taken on a deeper edge, a more seductive tone, which caused my resolve to

momentarily fade. Instead of being focused on giving him the brush-off, I suddenly envisioned him

lying buck naked on a bed while I licked ice cream off what I imagined were his perfect abs. Beads

of sweat broke out along the base of my neck. I fought the urge to fan myself.
Get a grip, Mia
. “Um,

no.”

“How about I take you to the party in my pants?”

“Look, I…wait, did you seriously just use a line from
Anchorman
on me?”

AJ gave me a teasing wink. “I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention.”

I huffed out a frustrated breath, blowing away a few errant strands of hair from my face. At his

earnest expression, I held up my hands. “Listen, I’m really flattered by all your offers, but I’m just not

ready to date again.”

“Again?” AJ questioned.

Dammit. How could I have let that slip? Glancing away from him, I stared over at the desk. “It’s

just this year hasn’t been the best for me in a lot of ways.”

“So, let me make it better by taking you out and showing you a really good time.”

Dee sidestepped us on his way out of the medicine closet. “Trust me, sweet cheeks, baby girl needs

a good time in the worst way possible.” He paused to run his gaze from AJ’s head down to his feet.

“And you look like just the hot ticket she needs to clear away the vajayjay cobwebs.”

AJ busted out laughing while I screeched, “Dee, you faccia di merda!” I smacked him on the arm.

Hard.

Pursing his full lips, Dee ignored my rant and bodily harm. “You can curse at me all you want in

Italian, but the truth is the truth.” He eased closer to AJ, lowering his voice. “You see, our girl has

closed up shop ever since she caught her dickhead fiancé banging one of her friends.”

It was at that moment that if looks could kill, Dee would be toe up in the floor, writhing in agony

with a slow death. I could not believe he had just told my most intimate details to a perfect stranger,

especially someone like AJ.

While I debated making a run for it, AJ’s amused expression turned sympathetic. “Damn, I’m sorry,

Mia. I had no idea. That fucking blows.”

I shrugged, trying desperately to play off my heartache. “What can you do? Shit happens.” My

voice cracked betraying my emotions. Oh yes, I was going to kill Dee for dredging up my past in front

of AJ. Yes, maybe slow torture would better serve him.

With his eyes boring into mine, AJ stepped forward. He swept a strand of hair out of my face.

Tenderly, he ran his fingers over it before tucking it behind my ear. “Mia, he must have been fucking

blind, not to mention stupid as hell, to have had you in his life, most of all in his bed, and then gone

looking somewhere else.” He gave a quick shake of his head. “His loss, cariño.”

The intensity of his stare, along with his husky tone, caused my breath to come in rapid pants. Okay,