Flirting with the Society Doctor / When One Night Isn't Enough by Janice Lynn / Wendy S. Marcus Read Free Book Online Page A

pressed his palms into her low back, relishing how she molded to him, how his gut tightened with the desire to feel her naked beneath him.
    “You were back home that night, working,” she gulped, staring at him as if she could read his mind and wasn’t sure what to think of this change in him. Hell, he didn’t know what to think of these new reactions to her either.
    “How do you know I came back that night?”
    She rolled her eyes. “Because, no thought whatsoever to my holiday, you called, wanting me to assist on the Parkinson’s article you were writing.”
    Ah, now he remembered. He’d been alone, digging through medical records, compiling data for his article, wishing Faith was there. Before he’d thought twice about the day being Christmas, he’d dialed her cell number. “You came.”
    “Yes,” she agreed, her eyes taking on a far-away look. “You called, and I came running. Even on Christmas Day. My career is important to me, remember? Having my name next to yours in a prestigious medical journal looks good on my résumé.”
    Had she been with her someone special? Unwrappingpresents and sitting on the sofa, watching multicolored lights flicker on the tree?
    “Did I interrupt a Christmas dinner?”
    Her face pinched. “Nothing that I minded having interrupted.”
    “You weren’t with lover-boy?”
    “Who?”
    “Whoever you spend your time with when you’re not with me?”
    “I spent Christmas Day with my mother and stepfather. Your call was a mixed blessing.”
    He’d met Faith’s mother once. A vivacious woman with lots of spirit who’d stopped by the clinic unexpectedly. He’d liked her instantly, but a flustered Faith had rushed her mother and her stepfather out the door within minutes of their arrival. “What’s your stepfather’s name? Curtis?”
    Nose curling, Faith sighed. “Curtis was her previous husband. This one’s name is John.”
    “That’s right. She remarried earlier this year. John Debellis, the stockbroker you don’t like.”
    “It’s not that I don’t like him. John’s okay.” Her lips thinned to white lines and her eyes stayed on her freshly manicured hands.
    He’d never seen her nails painted, missed their usual natural gleam.
    “I can tell you’re jumping for joy over how okay he is.”
    “He’s my stepfather. One of many I’ve had.” She shrugged. “There’s no point in liking him. Within another year or two he’ll have found someone new and my mother will become involved with someone else that she’ll likely go on to marry, and he’ll do the same. It’s the way life is.”
    Just how many times had Faith’s mother been married?
    He would have asked, but the front door flung open and his cousin bounded down the steps, flinging herself at him full force, practically knocking Faith out of his arms.
    “Vale!”
    Faith squared her shoulders, stood her ground, as if bracing herself for an unpleasant experience. Immediately that unwanted protectiveness came forth in Vale. Did she think his family wouldn’t accept her?
    “Meet my cousin Sharon.” He set his cousin on the ground next to him, placed his hand low on Faith’s back. “Don’t mind her antics. She’s been throwing herself at men since she was three.”
    Sharon slapped his arm. “Behave. You’ll give your friend the impression I’m wild.”
    “You are wild,” he replied, smiling indulgently at the blonde beauty he’d spent most of his youth exploring with, despite being two years older than her. In addition to their Wakefield blue eye color, they’d shared an adventurous spirit.
    “Not any more.” She flashed her ring finger in front of his face. A large, multi-faceted diamond twinkled in the sunshine.
    “If Steve thinks a rock is going to make you settle down, he’s in for it.”
    She grinned. “What makes you think Steve wants me to settle down?”
    Vale threw his head back and laughed. “Brave man.”
    “Smart, scrumptious man.” Sharon turned to Faith and hugged her as