Summon Dorn (Archangels Creed) (8 page)

She gave a barely audible moan of distress and discreetly returned the hair to cover her ear.
"It'd be…kind of rude to just show up at the cafeteria with another guy."

No more rude than your boyfriend going to lunch with another woman
. Lucian itched to say the words, but she might jump to the jerk's defense. "I found that burger place around the corner you told me about. Let me take you there."

Lucian couldn
't believe he was being so ballsy. Maybe it was because he knew she thought him gay, which somehow made things feel safe. Or maybe it was because he felt clean being in the same air she breathed.

"
Okay, sure. Sounds…sounds nice." The hesitancy filling her voice said she wasn't at all sure how nice it would be. Maybe it had something to do with his black T-shirt, leather jacket, and jeans that had seen better days. Shit, he forgot about the portion of his tattoo that showed above the neck of his shirt. Hell, he was worlds apart from the kind of guy she was no doubt comfortable being with.

"
What time do you take lunch?" He pulled out his phone and slid it open. "It's 10:40." The moment felt surreal, as if he watched from a distance and someone else occupied his body.

She cleared her throat and glanced away.
"Twelve sharp. Do you want to meet in the downstairs lobby? By the front doors?"
Right by the Security Station
remained unspoken, but Lucian was sure it hung there silently.

He met her gaze briefly.
"That works for me." One more glance at his brother's corpse-still body and then he turned and left without another word. It was as rude as it was awkward, but the problem was he couldn't say anything.

Holy crap, had he just asked a woman out? He forced himself to walk to the floor
's restroom. Could he make it before he spewed the morning's coffee all over the floor? He hit the outer door with a stiff arm. Shit, the door opened out. He grabbed the handle and dragged the door open, then nearly lost his thumb as it jammed in the handle when he tried to let go.

Finally inside the restroom, he hid in a stall and made the sign of the cross. His hands trembled like a school boy
's as he prayed desperately for courage, strength, wisdom, grace, and whatever else came to his panicked mind. He clenched his eyes. If only he had his razor he could release a little of the panic choking him. He sat on the toilet and put his head in his hands, focusing on breathing until he brought his pulse under more control.

It
's just lunch at a burger joint for crying out loud. Broad daylight. What was he so worried about? Jessie was every bit as intimidating as a church mouse. Plus she thought he was gay. Wouldn't hurt to just let her think that for the time being. Unless she asked directly, he wouldn't lie.

Lucian washed his face and headed out of the men
's room at a far more normal pace. Once in the corridor, whispers and female giggling came from somewhere further down behind him. He turned around and peered down the narrow passage, spying a single door at the end on the left. A locker room? A kitchen?

Suspicion slowly pulled him toward what sounded like some kind of intimate play. Fifteen steps later, he
looked into a sort of kitchenette and locker room combination, with a couple of vinyl couches in the middle. In the far corner he spotted that prick from earlier crowding a scrubs-clad female up against the back of a row of lockers. Jessie?

Lucian ignored the twist in his stomach, not wanting to even contemplate why that should bother him. Finally, the punk moved a little to reveal short blonde hair. Lucian sighed with relief
only for several shades of anger to follow. Then relief again.

He turned and walked out, realizing he
'd gone from being jealous to relieved, to furious in her behalf, then thrilled. If she knew what her
boyfriend
was up to, wouldn't that be a deal breaker? Exactly perfect in his mind because Jessie was far too good for the jerk. And beautiful.

Chapter Eight

Somehow Jessie made it through her rounds without killing a patient. Thankfully she wasn't administering pain medication or anything that required strict focus. She had Lucian on the brain since he'd walked out of his brother's room. Lucian's voice, Lucian's lips, Lucian's eyes.

Lucian
's lips.

God, those lips. They made you want to do things. Naughty things. And she was having lunch with him. Could she pull it off without making a fool of herself? Why did she have to be so stupid around guys? Especially cute ones. It
never
failed, she'd go all chatterbox and like a popsicle in the sun, their interest melted away, right before her eyes. She could always tell when she'd reached the dreadful moment where they gave her an exit line, all which amounted to,
I really need to go and never speak to you again.
Her boobs lured them in, her mouth drove them out.

She came to a mental abrupt halt.
Dammit! He was gay!

Her lovely,
he's so into me
balloon lost all its hot air, the sad little whiny sound shriveling up her ego. How could she forget that?  To heck with it. Gay or not, it was nice to have lunch plans with a cute guy who seemed to see past her bra size.

In the lounge, she took a second to put on a little lip gloss and smooth her hair back into the restraining braid. The stuff had a life of its own and never failed to crawl out of
whatever binding she put it in to form little waves around her face that she constantly had to tuck behind her ear. Todd pointed out that her ears were too large, so she had to try to find a way to hide them at the same time. She decided she was as presentable as she could get in her blue scrubs, and headed to the main entrance.

Lucian waited with his back against the wall near the door.

Jessie's heart thudded to a standstill.

His head was lowered like he was deep in thought. Doggone if he didn
't look just like one of those guys on the cover of a magazine.

And she was about to have lunch with him.

Lucian turned like he'd sensed her hungry stare. The full impact of his appearance hit her. Worn jeans rode low on narrow hips and clung to heavily muscled thighs. A black bomber jacket shrouded broad shoulders and hung open to frame a tightly stretched T-shirt covering a ripped chest and flat abs. But the real heart stopper was that tattoo she saw peeking above the neckline of his shirt. She was dying to know what it was. More like dying to
see
it without the obstruction of his darn shirt.

Jessie gulped when the Greek god with bright green eyes and glowing golden skin smiled at her. Made her want to look behind her. How could that smile be meant for her? And his eyes, good heavens, his eyes, framed by ebony lashes, n
ever once dropped to her breasts.

Gay.

Her heart sank. Okay, she
really
needed to quit forgetting that. He made it easy when he looked at her that way. Almost like he liked her. Didn't they say gay guys make the best friends? She'd just be grateful for that much.

He pushed off the wall with languid grace, resembling a big predator stretching in the sun.
"Ready?"

Jessie hoped her smile wasn
't too beamy. "Absolutely." The next several moments were filled with trying to keep her heart inside her ribcage while his warm palm rested at the small of her back, gentle pressure guiding her to his car and into the passenger seat.

Lucian insisted on paying for lunch, another shocker for Jessie. When was the last time a guy paid her way? She realized the sad answer to that was never. Even with the boobs, no guy had wanted her enough to spring for a burger and soda.

"So, what do you do?" Jessie carefully swallowed the final bite of her hamburger, grateful for no embarrassing food mishaps.

He shrugged a shoulder and adjusted his hips in the seat. Leather creaked, causing Jessie
's gaze to hone in on the movement.
Oh my God
. She jerked her eyes back to his Greek god face, trying to forget the size of his bulge. Wow. He flashed her the most timid look then. "It's…not really anything to talk about."

"
Oh. Come on, try me." She put her elbow on the door's armrest. "Can't be that bad. I start IVs and insert catheters for a living. Compared to that, nothing is unmentionable."

He grinned a little.
"Don't laugh but...I work at the library."

Oh wow.
"The library, no, that's a cool place to work. You had me thinking you were an undertaker or cleaned septic tanks or something. You like it?"

The grin came again, much more relaxed.
"Oh man, I love it. Love the smell of books. Love books period."

Jessie turned in her seat a little, more curious than ever.
"Really! Like what? I love romance, particularly paranormal and contemporary. Course, I'm a girl." No shit Sherlock. She allowed herself a little smile at the secret profanity.

"
I love all books, all genres, really. I'll read anything. Well, almost. I've found a few that were just so badly written I couldn't follow them."

"
But surely you have a favorite something?" Jessie held her breath, conscious of the trust he placed in her by sharing something so important to him. At least that's how she chose to regard it.

He flashed her another
it's embarrassing
grin. "I like the classics the most. Right off the top of my head?" He squinted one eye. "Edwin A. Abbott, John Quincy Adams, Aesop, Sherwood Anderson, R. D. Blackmore, William Blake, G. K. Chesterton—"

Jessie gasped a laugh.
"Okay,
wow.
I barely recognize a single one of those and something tells me the list continues?"

He grinned full out, showing that dimple.
"Yeah, I'm afraid it does. Goes on and on."

Jessie watch
ed him, liking him. Liking when he looked at her. Mostly she looked, because he was so nice to stare at. The only imperfection in the whole image was the network of pale, fine scars that criss-crossed his forearms. They had the distinctive look of self-harm scars and none were fresh, so apparently he'd dealt with whatever made him need that outlet. Despite overwhelming curiosity, she forced herself not to ask. If he wanted her to know, he'd tell her. "You know, don't get mad, but I'm kinda glad you're gay. Makes it much easier to talk to you."

He gave a hesitant chuckle.
"About that…"

"
Yeah, about that. I'm pretty bad about running my mouth, as you well know." She sighed.

"
Nah."

"
Oh please." She straightened in her seat and slurped at her drink. "Calling you beautiful and gay, I mean who does that?"

He chuckled.
"It was a first for me."

"
Ha." She angled a look at him. "You mean strangers don't tell you that every day? Now there's a surprise. Don't worry, gay is fine."

"
And beautiful?" Laughter made his voice even richer and enhanced his accent.

She barked a laugh.
"Um. Yeah. Beautiful is definitely fine. You're fine. Oh crap, as in…okay fine. Not that you're not…oh good grief, my mouth is worse than the energizer bunny."

Lucian
's heart-stopping laughter shut her jabber jaws.

She gawked shamelessly at him.
"Okay, wow, add beautiful laugh to that."

He looked at her fully, seeming entirely perplexed with her.
"You say…the most—"

"
Stupid things, I know."

"
No, actually, the most interesting. Incredible." He looked down and shook his cup, rattling the ice.

It was as though he
'd shot sunshine directly into her veins. She'd never received such an amazing compliment. Seemed like a compliment anyway. The sexy tilt of his lips said he liked it at least. Dang good enough for her.

"
What else do you like to do Mr. Lucian?"

He slid strong, capable looking hands over the steering wheel and took a deep breath.
"When I'm not reading, and often while I am, I'm working out. Or working, of course." He glanced at her. "And you? What do you like to do…Miss Jessie?"

Her heart went all
twittery at the sound of her name wrapped in his accent. Sounded almost Spanish. "I read romance novels, do crossword puzzles. I like to jog." Spoken aloud, her life sounded as pitiful as it was. "Though I…mostly do the jogging thing in my mind."

A heartbeat later, he laughed outright.

"What?" Jessie found herself smiling again, liking the deep melody of his voice. Clear and strong, yet silky. The kind of voice you wanted to hear turned down low, right in your ear.

"
I just know what you mean. I remember a time when working out took place mostly in my head, in my grand plans of fitness. Once I started though, it became addictive." He grinned. "Now, if I don't work out twice a day, I feel like I've missed church."