Beat of the Heart Read Online Free PDF Page B

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    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,
    he was having way too much of an effect on me in such a short amount of time. It was time to send him
    packing. “That’s a very sweet sentiment, but now can you see why I’m not able to take you up on your
    offer?”
    “Actually, I think that’s all the more reason for you to go out with me.”
    With a sigh, I shook my head. “I’m sorry. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my
    patients.” Side-stepping him, I grabbed a chart and powerwalked away from him. The whole way
    down the hall until I disappeared into room 410, I could feel his heated gaze searing into my back.
    Part of me wanted to whirl around and tell him I’d love nothing more than to go out with him. But the
    more dominant side of me—the one who was still licking its bloodied and beaten wounds—wouldn’t
    let me.
    After putting more distance between us and making a few rounds, I returned to the station to find
    Dee waiting for me. By his expression, I knew exactly what he was going to say, so I held my hand
    up. “Please, don’t go there.”
    “Oh girl, I’m so going there.”
    “Dee, he is the last thing I need right now.”
    “Bullshit. He is exactly what you need and then some.” When I stared down at my shoes, he gently
    pulled my chin up so I would be forced to look at him. “Mimi, he was a hot piece of male flesh who
    was totally and completely jonesing for you. He just worked harder for a chance at your snatch than
    I’ve ever seen a guy—straight or gay.”
    I smacked Dee’s hand off my chin. “ Snatch ? You know I hate that word. And I don’t think gay
    dudes are working hard for the….,” I gulped before whispering, “ snatch .”
    “You are such a difficult, stubborn ass!”
    “Guys like him…they don’t date women like me.”
    “Oh, and just whom do they date?”
    “Stick figures with no souls—you know the type, size zeroes with fake tits who make great looking
    arm candy.”
    “Please, lawd in Heaven, tell me you just didn’t turn that guy down because of your damn self-
    esteem issues? Must you make a stop in negative town, rather than booty town?”
    “Dee—”
    He wagged his finger in my face. “Uh, uh. Don’t pull that one on me. I know AJ wanted you in all
    your thick, junk in the trunk glory.”
    “Whatever,” I grumbled.
    “Mimi, you need something—better yet, someone—to get you out of this funk.”
    “You call the aftermath of having your entire world implode around you, leaving you symbolically
    bloody and barely breathing ‘a funk’?” I demanded.
    Dee’s shoulders sagged a bit. “That was six months ago. Dev’s moved on, and it’s time for you to
    move on, too.”
    “It all makes sense up here,” I said, tapping my head. “But it just doesn’t seem to get here.” I then
    covered my heart, which ached beneath my fingertips.
    “Hell, I’m not saying you need to marry the dude and pop out ten children. I’m just saying he could
    be a good distraction—a way to help you see you’re a beautiful, amazing woman that any man would
    be thrilled to get to bang.”
    Although I tried fighting it, the corners of my lips curved up at Dee’s final words. “Thanks for the
    compliment that was in there…somewhere.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    “We should probably get back to work now, don’t you think?”
    “Oh, I think you’ve definitely got some work cut out for you.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    Dee stared