Sam fought the urge to look to the ground to see where her jaw had dropped and continued to stare at the tanned and toned form of Luka Kovac. His hair was ruffled and standing on end at various points, his eyes tired and heavy looking - the familiar dark circles still present. His top half was completely naked and his bottom half covered only by a pair of shorts.

Sam looked away embarassed after a few looong seconds of stunned silence and she could feel her cheeks begin to burn. She tried to fight off the smile that was escaping her and bit down hard onto her lip.

Luka, who was standing slightly to the left of the door, leaned against the wall - his own eyes trailing up and down the petite form of Sam Taggert. She wore a pair of low rise dark jeans that hugged her legs beautifully, a soft white v-neck sweater that dipped right down between her breasts and her hair was straighter than normal, curls in slight waves and hanging loose around her shoulders.

He cleared his throat as he dragged his eyes back up towards her face. He could see her pink tinted cheeks and the growing smile on her lips. He self consciously brought a hand up to his shoulder and scratched it lightly.

"Uh... what are you doing here?" He asked as he finally managed to form a semi-coherent sentence.

He was surprised to see her when he opened the door but when he felt her eyes take in his body his eyes had did the same to hers and he had been stunned. She looked amazing.

"Uh..." Sam stuttered as she tried to look at him without allowing her eyes to dip below his neck line. She wouldn't meet his eyes. Luka could see her eyes dip occasionally to his bare torso and then straight back up to his face. "Abby..." She coughed slightly to clear her throat and Luka smiled at her uncomfortable state. "Abby and I are going to catch a movie tonight." Luka nodded. "And uh..." Her eyes drifted south again and Luka tried to contain his grin. "She gave me this address..." he saw her frown of confusion shift into an 'oh' face and he frowned himself. "I didn't know that you and Abby..." Her eyes darted to the wall beside the door and she reached out to fiddle with doorjamb.

Luka watched her for a few more seconds, mesmerised by the change he had seen in her.

"Uh... yeah. Come on in," he stepped away from the entrance and waved his arm into his apartment. He let her walk past him and then closed his eyes as her scent caught in his nostrils. "Let me go put something on," he said and turned back into the apartment after closing the door.

He almost walked right into her back.

"Wow... nice place."

He put his hand on her back and guided her down the last few stairs into the lounge.

"Yeah, it's okay." He smiled at her before walking away towards his bedroom.

Once he reached the sanctuary, he leant against the door frame and took several deep breaths. He could do this, it was only until Abby got here. He looked at the clock on the wall at the foot of his bed. Ten minutes, that's all.

He walked over to one of the drawers and pulled out a dark grey T-shirt and pulled it over his head. He scrubbed his hands over his face and attempted to both wake himself up and prepare himself for going back out into the lounge.

When he did finally make it back to the lounge, he saw Sam sitting with her head leaning on the back of the sofa, her eyes closed and her lips parted slightly. He leaned against the arm of the sofa and watched her for a second. He made to walk out of the room again but his leg hit on the side table and knocked a half empty glass of water onto the carpet.

He leaned down quickly and saw Sam sit up from where she was half reclined on his sofa. He saw her make to get up but he put his hand up and signalled for her to sit back down.

"It's okay, I got it."

He picked up the glass and decided just to leave the water to soak into the carpet.

"You want a coffee?" He asked as he moved towards the kitchen that was slightly raised from the lounge.

"You have any beer?" He heard her ask and smiled as he moved to the fridge.

Opening it, he saw that yes, he did have beer.

"Sure. Is a Bud okay for you?" He called over the door of the fridge.

"Yeah."

When he turned back around he saw that Sam was standing before his bookcase, her right index finger trailing across the spines of various books - both fiction and non-fiction. He moved silently up behind her and stopped just inches from her back.

"Here," he said as he put his arm out holding her beer. He saw her jump slightly at his voice and turn around.

"Thanks," she muttered as she moved around him back to the sofa.

The only sound in the room for a few seconds was the almost mute music coming from the TV that was switched on to MTV. Luka stood in front of the bookcase for a few seconds and watched her as she sat on the leather couch.

"Listen," he began as he walked towards the armchair to the left of the sofa. "About this morning-"

"Ah, forget it," she said as she waved her hand in front of her face signalling to him that it was okay.

"No. Sometimes I can be a little..." he struggled to find the word and he motioned with his hand hoping that would speed up the process. "Over-zealous." He saw her nod and then frown. "Is that the word?" He asked, thinking that he had gotten it wrong.

He saw a slight smile pull at her lips.

"I don't know." He frowned. "Is that Croatian for jerk?" He could hear the laughter in her voice.

He shook his head and smirked, looking away from the palyful glint in her eyes.

"I didn't mean to take my frustraions out on you. It's just I feel very passionately-"

"I said it was fine. I over-reacted. I'd had a long night and I hadn't had much sleep before that. I shouldn't have snapped at you like I did."

"You wouldn't have had to have snapped if I hadn't been such a jerk."

"Are we going to argue about who was to blame?" She asked with a slightly ridiculing tone in her voice and Luka smirked back at her.

"Only until you allow me to take the blame." He smiled and took a drink form his beer, allowing his eyes once again travel along her body.

There was silence again as Sam surveyed the room and he surveyed her. He knew he shouldn't be doing it, Abby could walk through the door at any minute and he would have to have a good excuse as to why he was lustfully looking at her new close friend. But he couldn't help himself. She was beautiful.

"Now I know why Abby never really joined in on the nurses' bitching sessions about you," he heard her say and he smiled in surprise.

"You have bitching sessions about me?"

He saw an embarassed smile cross her face as her eyes once again travelled up and down his long body. He tried to ignore the tingling sensation on his skin.

"So, when should Abby be getting back?" She said loudly, slapping her thighs and Luka laughed loudly - genuinely - and saw her laugh herself.

Her cheeks had lost their pinkness and Luka could see again the dark lines that crossed her face and he stopped laughing and frowned.

"What happened?" He said and pointed to his own cheek then to her.

She looked up, surprised, and touched her cheek.

"Ah, this? It's nothing. Just a disagreement with an old friend." She smiled and looked away.

"Are you sure?" He asked and stopped himself from getting up off his seat and moving towards her.

She nodded and picked up the remote for his television. She flicked the channel to a movie and he pushed an incredulous look onto his face.

"Make yourself at home, why don't you," he said, his voice raising in pitch as he attempted to sound offended. He saw her jaw slacken slightly and he smiled to himself. He watched her for a few seconds and then flicked his eyes to the screen. "Hey! I love this movie!" He said as he saw that she was attempting to find MTV again.

She looked over at him, surprised.

"You like How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days?" She asked, her incredulousness not forced, as her eyebrow shot to the ceiling.

He smiled, embarassed, looked away from her mocking stare and nodded.

"Kate Hudson is kinda hot," he replied sheepishly as he got off the armchair to get another beer. "Want another one?" He asked her and looked down to her laughing face.

"Yeah, sure."

She smiled as she watched his lean form walk away from her and she groaned quietly to herself. It was going to be a loooong wait for Abby.

In the bedroom, where the phone was unplugged from the wall so it wouldn't ring, the voice of Abby Lockhart played over the answering machine.

"Hey Luka it's Abby. I know you probably turned the phone off so you could get some sleep, but I just wanted to tell you that Kerry wants me to do a nursing shift tonight. I'm going to grab a few hours sleep in the on call room then start the shift. I left a message for Sam so that's all right. I'll see you tomorrow at some point. Bye."

TBC