Invitation

  INVITATION

  Christina Hoffman

  Visit Christina Hoffman at www.christinahoffman.com

  And at amazon.com/author/christinahoffman

  Copyright © 2014 by Christina Hoffman

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing, 2014

  ISBN: 978-0-9960967-0-6

  Cover Design: Michele at The Book Cover Studio

  Proofreading/Formatting: Renee Lewin Book Design and Publishing

  Thank you to Colleen at https://www.facebook.com/thebooklender, for her support and generosity

  For everyone still looking.

  Dear Reader,

  Welcome to the world of Smart and Sexy, where we prove that Heat can still be Sweet.

  Thank you so much for purchasing this book. I know how precious time is these days, and I thank you for spending some of your moments enjoying this story.

  This book is a work of fiction, and in the interests of the story, I have left safe sex practices out of the lives of these characters. In your own life, though, please remember to always protect yourself and others when enjoying intimate company.

  Wishing you peace, pleasure and love,

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FORTY

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  CHAPTER ONE

  I can't even blame it on the booze. There wasn't any, or at least there wasn't any for me. I was with Chloe, my bodyguard. Okay, she was my friend, but a really overprotective friend who knew all about what I’d been through and wanted to make sure it never happened again. So, no alcohol.

  But, what she and I hadn't counted on was him being there. There I was, minding my own business, putting in my time at the Med School Social, more than ready to head home for some studying, then Chinese food and a movie. And suddenly, him.

  I was inhaling when I caught sight of him, but my breath just stopped. It felt like being punched in the chest. I kept telling myself, look away, look away! But it was impossible. I was paralyzed. His beautiful face and magnificent body were magnets, and my eyes were locked on them.

  I hadn't felt this kind of physical attraction since, well, ever. I had never felt like that. I had stayed away from men for two years. I was pretty much terrified of them, to tell the truth. But there he was. Unavoidable and irresistible.

  I saw him in profile. Oh, that hair. Thick, almost curly, falling into his eyes. The kind of hair you need to gently push off of his face right before you kiss him. Or, the kind of hair you grab really hard right before you're about to...

  But, I'm getting ahead of myself. The point I'm trying to make is that my mind very clearly saw all the dangers ahead and was saying, “Turn around, go, get out of here! Before it's too late.” But then he turned around to look right at me, and it was already too late.

  We held each other's gaze a second longer than politeness required. Something inside me went click, and for the first time in almost two years, I felt young and alive, and really, really turned on. Every part of me suddenly woke up, and all the best parts started to tingle. I was breathing harder. My lips were parted slightly, already begging to be kissed.

  It was overwhelming. I was out of practice. No, actually, I had never had the kind of practice you would need to stay controlled in a situation like that. I think maybe you can have a soul mate for your mind, and also one for your body. And my body was saying “Get me over there right now!”

  But I was still too afraid. I smiled a little and turned away.

  I had to stay at the party for at least a little while, to look sociable. I wandered over to the food table and stared at the snacks. It was already picked over; medical students love free food. All that was left were the usual crackers-and-cheese combos, and they were already stale. Nothing looked very good, and I found that my throat was too tight to eat anyway.

  I was formulating a plan for escaping without the other students or the teachers noticing when I felt the air move behind me. It was the softest of breezes, a caress against my bare shoulders. Then, a hand on my back: an electric shock to my body, which was wildly pleasurable. I gasped and spun around. Right into the arms of...

  “I'm Liam.”

  Liam. Right into the arms of Liam. Oh, he was even more beautiful up close. My hand rose all on its own to push that wonderful floppy hair from his face. I stopped suddenly, embarrassed, but he caught my wrist, and held my palm gently to his face. The world fell away. All I could see was him. All I could hear was our breathing. I looked into his eyes and knew.

  “Want to get out of here?” he asked, and of course, foolish, foolish woman that I am, I said, “Yes.”

  I had seen him a week earlier, on my first day at the hospital. I'm a medical student and had just finished the lecture part of things where we sit around learning about chemical reactions and body parts. That was over, at last, and we were moving on to seeing real live patients in the hospital.

  The orientation was step one in getting us ready for our new roles. We each got a short lab coat and a tour of the locker rooms. We picked up our I.D.’s and complained about the pictures.

  I'm not exactly sure why I first noticed Liam. Since the bad thing happened, I keep my head down and make eye contact with almost nobody. I wear my hair in a tight bun at the nape of my neck and my clothes are dull and loose.

  On that particular day, I was trying very hard to concentrate. I was excited to be starting work in the hospital, but I was also terrified. There was so much to take in and remember. People’s lives were at stake. My head was already reeling after only two hours of the orientation. The last thing on my mind was men. So, who knows why I took that second look as he walked by our group.

  Well, actually I do know why. He was gorgeous. Ridiculously gorgeous. Dark wavy hair, just slightly overgrown so he looked like a happy surfer who'd tumbled out of bed. Smiling eyes. Sparkling, mischievous, movie star eyes. A little bit of stubble, likely because he had been on call all night. The rest of him looked pretty much immaculate. He wore light wool pants and a sky blue shirt, which matched his blue eyes and fo
rced you to notice them. No tie, but the white lab coat made him look professional enough.

  I was dedicated to maintaining my nun-like lifestyle, but, seriously, it was impossible not to stare at him. Even Chloe noticed him. She looked at him, then at me. She shook her head lightly and whispered, “No”. I laughed a little because she sounded like a mom telling a toddler that she couldn't have any candy. Which was pretty much what was happening, so I guess Chloe nailed that.

  She was absolutely right. I didn't want any trouble. Certainly not that awful, frightening feeling of falling in love. No time-consuming romance. I certainly didn’t want another setback like I’d had before. Even a plain old tiny heartbreak could set me back, and put me way off course in my career.

  No, I didn't have the time or energy for any distractions. Nothing. Just work and school.

  So I tried my best to ignore the stunning resident with the black hair, and focused instead on the tall blond giving us the orientation spiel. This was much easier because I felt no attraction to him at all. He was really handsome, too, but something about him seemed mean, or maybe arrogant. It's hard to remember exactly what I thought of him that first time, because the memory is so clouded with all that came after. I'll just say he was a tall, slim blond who should have caught my eye, but didn't.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Liam and I made our way through the crowds of people at the party. As we walked, I sent Chloe a text, so she wouldn't worry. I wasn't about to talk to her in person; she would have spent an hour convincing me that leaving with Liam was a terrible idea.

  At the front door, we bundled up in our raincoats and scarves, and headed outside. It was March in Seattle, so it was grey and wet and cold. “Coffee?” he asked.

  “Sure.”

  “We’ll go to my favorite place.”

  We scurried down the street. It was too cold outside for romantic dawdling. Just as I was becoming truly frozen, Liam stopped in front of a door and opened it. “After you.”

  We walked into the café and made our way through the clusters of people to the counter. Liam looked back at me as we stood in line. “What can I get you?”

  I wasn’t used to dating and was, in many ways, new to the whole scene. I was so charmed by this person, this mature real life man, offering to pay, that I forgot the names of everything I normally like to drink. I wanted to order something, anything, but I was completely flustered. I blurted out, “Water!”

  He smiled. “Water. Wow, exciting!” From someone else, with a different tone of voice, it might have sounded snide, but Liam’s face was kind and his smile was sincere.

  I smiled shyly and shrugged. “I'm not an exciting kind of person.”

  He looked into my eyes again and didn’t look away. “I don’t think I believe that.” I was having trouble breathing properly, but just as I was becoming light-headed, he turned back to the counter to order.

  I left him there and wandered over to the seating area. It was a wonderfully relaxed café with big old armchairs and sofas, most of them filled with happy chattering people. I loved the whole place instantly.

  The only spot available was a love seat. Just room enough for two. I sat down and sank back into the soft cushions. After a few minutes, Liam came over. He passed me the water. “Is this acceptable, miss? I believe it was a fine year.” We both laughed at the cheesy line. He was so uninterested in being cool that he was by far the coolest person I had ever met

  I reached for the bottle, smiling, but he snatched it back and said, “I should probably at least know your name before we get drunk together on this water.”

  “I'm Madison. Maddie.”

  He handed me the bottle and sat down beside me. “Madison,” he repeated. He was staring at me, but it was a gentle, sweet stare.

  I felt nervous and insecure. “What?’

  “You are just so lovely.” He regretted it instantly and leaned back suddenly, covering his face with his hands. “Oh god, I'm sorry. It just slipped out. Way to play it cool, right?”

  “It's okay,” I said, looking down at my ugly baggy clothes, thinking about my face with no make-up. “I know you're just kidding.” I wanted to let him off the hook. I tried to turn it around, to compliment him instead, since he was obviously the good-looking one of this loveseat. “But, it's okay, because you look good enough for both of us.” Lord, my stupid comments were even worse than his. I was out of practice. I hadn't flirted in a long time.

  He put his hand on my knee and I jumped, splashing water on us both. “Oh no,” he pretended to be distressed. “This red wine will never come out. I need baking soda, or club soda, or something.” My whole body relaxed and I started laughing. It was that easy happy laughter that only comes when you're with someone who just seems to fit with you.

  But then, as he was brushing water droplets off his pants, he said, “I should take these off. Want to come to my house?” My chest tightened and my heart started pounding. Just like that, the spell was just broken and all the magic of the evening disappeared.

  I was suddenly terrified and nauseated. I could barely think straight. Something was squeezing down on my chest and I couldn't catch my breath. I stood too suddenly, banging into the table in front of us, spilling people's drinks all over. “Oh, I'm so sorry,” I said over and over again as I made my way to the door. I wanted to buy everyone another drink, but I didn’t have that kind of money. Even if I did have money, I had to get out of there. I had to get out of there before I had a complete panic attack.

  I ran all the way home. I was wet from the rain and frozen solid by the time I finally burst through our front door. Chloe was already there, waiting at the table. She stood up quickly and swooped down on me. I’m sure she had a great lecture all planned out, but as soon as she saw me, pale and terrified, her face changed from irritated to concerned. She helped me take my coat off – my fingers were numb from the cold -- pulled me toward the sofa.

  “Are you okay?” She looked terrified. “What did he do? Who is he? Did he hurt you?”

  “No,” I assured her. “Not at all. He was really nice. Kind of wonderful, actually.” I leaned back into the sofa. “I don’t know what happened. I ran away.”

  “You mean you told him you needed to go home.”

  “No, I literally ran away. It was humiliating. Just completely awful.”

  I told her about all about the mini-date and its abrupt end.

  “Well, this is just proof that you're not ready. Right?” She held my hand and waited for me to agree. “You have to give it more time.”

  I nodded as I stood up. I made my way towards my room. “I've got to go to bed.” I turned back. “You're a good friend. I'm sorry I worried you.”

  I made a vow to myself that I would avoid this Liam person as much as I could from then on. I told myself that I had imagined it all: the easy, playful banter, the intense sexual attraction. I thought I had convinced myself. I felt strong and full of resolve. As I was putting on my pajamas, though, the soft cotton slid across the back of my shoulders. I shivered, remembering the breeze on my shoulders at the party. My heart skipped a beat, and my body tingled. I knew I was in deep, deep trouble.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The next day was my first official day of work in the hospital. I knew the layout of the hospital fairly well because I’d worked there over the summer. I had been helping out with a research project at the time. I could tantalize you by saying it was about sex, which it was, but my job was to count fruit flies to determine how often they were getting it on. Very sexy.

  Although I had been at the hospital for a couple of months, I’d mostly been in the area where the labs were. It's an enormous hospital with many different wards, so part of the stress of the first few days was going to be finding my way around.

  I needed to get to Pediatrics and wasn't sure where I was going. I spotted a young boy in a wheel chair and figured he might be headed where I needed to be. So I decided to follow him.

  His little arms moved quickly, spinn
ing the tires of his wheelchair; he made revving sounds like a racecar engine. He spun around and started back, flying towards me. He tried to run me over, but I jumped out of the way just in time. As I did so, I lifted my arm high above my head and brought it down just behind him as he passed me. I said in an excited voice, “Aaaaand¸ he wins his first Grand Prix! The crowd goes wild!” Then we both danced around a bit, pretending to go a little wild. He giggled happily and gave me a high five.

  I was about to ask him his name, but he looked past me and slumped down in his chair. “Oh, hell,” he said. I turned to see what had brought on his dark mood. It was Liam, coming towards us with a grim look on his face. I thought he was about to say something nasty about our disastrous date.

  He glanced briefly at me, then at the boy. “Hey, kiddo,” he said to the little boy, “you've got to go back.”

  “I know, I know,” said the child.

  Liam ignored me completely. He started walking back the way he had come, and the boy rolled slowly along behind him.

  I stayed rooted to the spot, trying to remember how to breathe. Despite my attempt to wall off whatever feelings might have been developing, I was still wildly attracted to Liam. It hadn't gone away.

  If anything, the attraction was more intense than ever. My whole body felt warm. It took all my control not to run up to him. I just wanted to touch him. I was like a little kid with a cake -- just one lick! Please!

  I felt out of control. The fact was that he felt nothing for me anymore -- and who could blame him? I was the weirdo who runs away from really sweet guys in coffee shops -- should have been a relief, but I felt a powerful sense of loss and longing.

  Nothing good could come from these feelings. Every sensible molecule in my body knew it. I had to stay away from that guy.