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“When we think you’re ready to go,” Anna responded. “And that’s going to be a while because what on earth are we going to do without you and your sunny personality to brighten our day?”

“Did you see that?” Joe turned to Luke. “She’s making fun of an old man.”

“If it’s any consolation, she does the same to me, too.”

“And you put up with her?”

Luke looked over at Anna. “I figure the good outweighs the bad,” he murmured.

Joe cackled again, and waggled his eyebrows. “And sometimes her bad is good, eh?”

“Joe!” Anna blushed and flapped her hands at him. “If you’re well enough to make smutty innuendos, you’re well enough to do your belly breathing exercises.”

Joe groaned and sank back on the bed.

As they made their way around the ward, the more Luke watched Anna talk to the patients, the more he was in awe of her ability to bring a bit of joy to the lives of everyone she spent time with.

“You know you’re a natural, don’t you,” he told her after he’d watched her fuss around with the pillows on some old guy’s bed. Then coax him into eating from a tray he’d previously pushed away with a grunt of displeasure.

“I enjoy my job. I’m no better and no worse than any of the staff in this hospital. Nobody works in healthcare unless they want to help people when they’re at their lowest.”

He understood that. But he also saw that Anna held nothing back, she gave her whole heart to everyone she interacted with. It wasn’t a job for her, it was a calling. A need to give.

She was so damn unselfish, it made his heart hurt because it magnified their differences. Highlighted the impossibility of their situation.

“When are you coming back, Anna?” One of the nurses asked as they finally set off towards the elevators.

“Next year.” She laughed. “That sounds like forever, but I’m back January 1st.”

His stomach cramped and he had to look away, to breathe through the rising nausea. Where would he be living then? Wherever it was, for his sanity, it couldn’t be under the same roof as Anna.

Her arm threaded through his as they walked towards the subway and his stomach settled. He was with her now. It was what she wanted, what Colin had requested. As long as he kept to the rules, he could allow himself to enjoy the time they had left.

“What are you making me tonight?” She asked when they walked into the condo.

It sounded so domesticated, yet it sent an unexpected pang of yearning through him. For the first time in his adult life, he wanted to put down real roots. To come back to not just the same place every night, but the same person. To settle down. “Why am I always the one cooking?” He asked gruffly.

She cocked her head, clearly wondering why he sounded like he’d puffed his way through a pack of smokes. “You’re so good at it. Besides, I went to work today.” Jack bounded across the room and thread himself through Anna’s legs, rubbing up against them in a way that irked Luke. His annoyance, which he knew was unreasonable, ramped when she bent to smooth her hand up and down Jack’s back. “I also need to make a fuss of this little man,” she cooed.

The way her fingers fondled the cats’ ears was making his dick hard.

“Me.” It was the last thing he should say, but all he could think. He cleared his throat and tried again. “What about me?”

Round blue eyes stared up at him, her breath making a little hitch as she dipped her gaze to his crotch. “What about you?” She whispered.

His erection pulsed. “Maybe I could do with a little fuss.”

She made a humming noise. “You want a stroke too, huh?”

Christ, he had to stop this. Yet hadn’t they agreed to let whatever happened, happen? As long as they didn’t have sex. “Yes.” He croaked.

Slowly she stood, and as she took a step towards him he swore his heart stopped. Certainly he couldn’t take a breath, because the last one had got stuck in his throat. “Where do you want stroking?” The husk in her voice sent a shudder through him.

It was like there was a fire in the building, so many alarm bells were going off in his head. But his body was no longer his to control. It was hers. He pushed out his hips, his erection looking obscene in the tight confines of his jeans.

If she didn’t touch him soon, he was going to get down on his knees and beg her.

But this was Anna. Always ready to give. With a soft smile, her blue eyes a shade darker, she ran her hand gently down his denim clad length. “Here, huh?”