Free Treacherous (The Wolf Pack Series) by Maureen Smith Page A

knowledgeable, well prepared, and you work great under pressure. I wish every nurse at this hospital was as skilled as you are.” Celeste warmed with pleasure. “Thank you, Grant. That really means a lot, coming from a surgeon of your caliber. I think you bring out the best in everyone who works with you.”
    He chuckled. “You don’t have to flatter me just because—”
    “I’m not flattering you,” she said earnestly. “Everyone knows what an amazing surgeon you are. I’ve been a fan of yours ever since the day we shared a crowded elevator together. You didn’t notice me standing in the corner, but I noticed you. You were talking to another doctor about the technological advances that were coming to MR imaging. The excitement and passion in your voice gave me goose bumps. The first time I got to be part of your surgical team was one of the most exciting days of my life.”
    By the time she’d finished gushing—there was no other word for it—Grant’s expression had softened. He reached out, gently cradling her cheek in his hand.
    “You don’t know how much it means to me to hear you say those things, Celeste.”

    She stared at him, her heart knocking against her rib cage. He was so close that she could count every strand of his thick, curly eyelashes. Every instinct screamed at her to get up and leave, to put an end to this dangerous mating dance before things went too far.
    But she couldn’t move.
    Worse, she didn’t want to.
    “I’ve been trying so hard to resist my feelings for you,” Grant confessed, low and husky. “But it’s a losing battle. I want you, Celeste, and unless my instincts are totally wrong, you want me too.”
    She opened her mouth to offer a denial, but nothing came out.
    Taking her silence as confirmation of her feelings, Grant leaned forward and slanted his mouth over hers.
    Instant heat suffused her body. After only a slight hesitation, she wrapped her arms around his neck and parted her lips. His hot, velvety tongue stroked hers, making her shudder with need.
    Deepening the kiss, Grant moved between her legs. When she felt the hard bulge of his erection, she wrenched her mouth free, gasping for breath.
    Grant stared at her, chest heaving. “Celeste—”
    “That was a mistake,” she whispered hoarsely, fumbling for her tote bag on the floor. “I have to go.”
    “No, you don’t. Please—”
    Scraping back her chair, she lunged to her feet and started across the room on wobbly legs. She’d just reached the open doorway when Grant called out to her,
    “How long can we keep this up?”
    She stopped in her tracks. Her heart was hammering so hard she thought she’d need a defibrillator at any moment.
    “How long can we go on fighting our attraction to each other?” Grant continued, ragged frustration edging his voice. “Months? Years? How long, Celeste?”
    She turned slowly to face him. He was gazing intently at her.
    “I’m married,” she whispered.
    “Not happily,” he countered. “If you were, you wouldn’t be here.” Her face flamed. She couldn’t even deny what he’d said, and they both knew it.
    “Look,” Grant murmured, taking a step toward her. “You don’t have to make any decisions tonight. But these feelings we have for each other aren’t going anywhere. The sooner we deal with them, the better off we’ll both be.” Celeste’s pulse was pounding. “And how do you propose we…deal with them?”
    Grant said nothing, but the smoldering heat in his eyes left no doubt what he wanted from her.
    An electric moment passed between them.
    Holding his gaze, Celeste let her tote bag drop to the floor.
    A heartbeat later Grant was there, shoving the door closed as he crushed his mouth to hers. She kissed him back with equal fervor, needing him more than her very next breath.
    They staggered backward, landing against the door. She hooked her leg over his hip and wantonly ground against him, seeking to assuage the ache between her thighs.
    His hands