Free Lightning Strikes Part 2 (36 Hours) by Mary Lynn Baxter

attack.”
    “Why didn’t you say something?”
    “I was getting around to it.”
    “One of these days, I’m going to strangle you.”
    “Hey, you sure you won’t tell me who you were dreaming about? I betcha it wasn’t dear old Gordon.”
    Amanda was at the door. She stopped and swung around, her face marred by a frown. “What makes you say that?”
    “Hey, I’m not blind, either. Since Noah’s been in your camp, so to speak, you’ve been different. When you two are in the same room, you can cut the tension with a knife. Besides, I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
    “You’re imagining things,” Amanda snapped.
    “Am I? Don’t think so. He’s not over you, though for the life of me, I still can’t figure out why he hauled out of here.”
    “Well, you can waste your time on that if you want to. But I’m not. I have Gordon now. He’s the one I want.”
    “Sure.”
    Amanda gritted her teeth. “I’m leaving before I say something I’ll regret.”
    Seemingly unoffended, Doris smiled. “Don’t get your dander up, okay? I just want you to be happy.”
    “Well, I am.”
    Doris merely grinned, then waved her hand. “Go on, get out of here.”
    Amanda walked out the door, then upped her pace toward ER, her mind in an uproar. She couldn’t believe she’d fallen into such a deep sleep. And when she’d awakened, she’d actually felt sick that Noah hadn’t been with her for real. She couldn’t count the times he’d used his tongue to wake her up in the mornings.
    She had to corral her thoughts, dammit, stop thinking about Noah and sex, which at this point were one and the same. She made a growling sound in her throat. Was she that desperate for a man? Of course she wasn’t. But if she had been, Gordon was more than willing to accommodate her.
    As if she could outrun her troublesome thoughts, Amanda walked faster. “What’s happening?” she demanded to Jerry, the orderly supervising the desk.
    “Nothing at the moment.”
    “What do you mean by that?”
    Jerry shifted uncomfortably. “When you didn’t answer your phone, Dr. Howell took over.”
    “Oh, he did, did he?”
    “Uh, yes, ma’am. He’s in trauma one.”
    With a blaze in her eyes, Amanda strode across the hall.
    * * *
    “Dummy, huh?”
    Noah’s eyebrows knitted together, making his features appear harsher. “I guess I’ll never live that one down.”
    “Probably not,” Amanda said, trying to keep a straight face while she and Noah stood in the corridor outside the hearing range of the patient and his mother.
    “You look rested.”
    Her heart skipped a beat. Amanda felt her face turn a scalding red, the dream still too fresh on her mind. “What makes you say that?”
    “I saw you.” His tone was low and strained.
    This time her heart stopped beating. She swallowed with difficulty. “You…you saw me.”
    “I came into the lounge, and you were sacked out like a light.”
    Amanda blew out her breath, hating the direction her thoughts were veering. “You—didn’t…I mean—” She couldn’t go on. Her voice simply faded out under his close scrutiny.
    “I didn’t what?” His voice was low and thick.
    “Er…never mind.” She licked her lips. “Look, thanks for covering for me.”
    He sighed. “Even if the ‘dummy’ is eating me up?”
    She knew he was trying to draw a smile to her grim features and, at the same time, lessen the tautness that hung between them. However, it didn’t work. She had to get away from him, horrified that he had been in the room while she’d dozed. What if she’d cried out his name when she’d been in the throes of that passionate dream?
    “Maybe kids aren’t your thing.”
    She hadn’t meant anything by that statement. Or had she? Anyway, the remark triggered a startling reaction. His face lost its color, and for a split second, he looked as though she’d kicked him in the gut.
    “That’s a fair assumption,” he said without emotion.
    Suddenly an unexpected rage flew