Page 17 of Just One Night Together
Haley blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Talk to me,” he invited. “Tell me something about Nurse Haley Slater.”
She stiffened despite herself. “There’s not much to tell.”
“Bull,” Damon said. “I can feel how you’re tensing up just because I asked. So, you’re a private person.” The pressure of his hands increased, working out the tension. “Tell me about knitting, then. What do you knit?”
“Baby sets.”
“Should I know what that means?”
She smiled, liking how low his voice was, how he drawled the question, how easily she could imagine the gleam of interest in his dark eyes and the corner of his mouth almost lifting in a smile. “Caps and booties and little mittens. Matching sets.”
“You have children?”
“No. Nieces and a nephew, but they’re too big for that.”
“Why knit baby sets then?”
“I knit for the neo-natal ward, for the preemies. It’s hard to keep them warm because they’re so tiny.”
“So, you knit for strangers.”
“Babies don’t have many social connections,” she said and he chuckled.
“I guess not beyond their parents.”
“Who are usually pretty busy when they have a baby in that ward.”
“Too busy to knit.”
“Exactly.”
“That sounds like a nice thing to do.” There was approval in his tone, a warmth that Haley liked a lot.
“It’s useful. It helps. I like that.”
“Because you like to take care of people.”
She felt herself blushing again.
He bent over her, his whisper so close that his lips must have been almost against her shoulder. “It’s how you share your energy,” he murmured. “I knew you understood how.”
“But I don’t...”
“Aren’t you tired at the end of your shift?”
“Yes, but...”
“It’s not just physical. When you take care of others, you give them some of your own energy.” His voice dropped lower. “The world needs people like you, Haley Slater.”
Haley did shiver with delight then. “You take care of your mom.”
“True, but she’s the only one. It sounds like you try to take care of everyone.”
“Not exactly.”
“Who takes care of you?”
