House Calls: Callaghan Brothers, Book 3 by Abbie Zanders Read Free Book Online

deeper than she remembered, giving her shivers up and down her entire body.  “How are you feeling?” 
    “I think I’m hallucinating,” she said weakly, leaning against the frame for support as her hand rubbed gently at her face.  In two long strides he crossed the floor and towered next to her.
    Concern etched his perfect features as he cupped her face and tilted it up to his, looking intently into her eyes.  His hands were so big and warm, commanding yet infinitely gentle.  Maggie fought the urge to lean into him; it would have been so easy.  Instead she concentrated on trying to keep her trembling legs beneath her. 
    “Why do you say that?” he asked, staring first into one eye, then switching to the other.
    Because the hottest, sexiest man I’ve ever seen is in my kitchen making breakfast .  She read about something like this in a romance novel once.  The man ended up lifting the woman onto the table and having her for breakfast.    She shook her head – slightly – trying to dispel that lovely image.
    “Because you’re here.”

Chapter Six
 
    M ichael couldn’t help the grin that simply appeared on his face as she allowed him to lead her over to the table.  Did she have any idea how absolutely adorable she looked, standing there in an oversized man’s shirt ( his shirt), only the tips of her fingers visible, with her tousled curls and her flushed cheeks?  Not even the dark purple bruise extending from her right temple to her jaw could detract from her beauty.  It was strangely exotic, while at the same time, evoking a powerful and protective instinct within him. 
    Michael pressed down gently on her shoulders, guiding her into the chair.  Her eyes were much clearer than they had been the night before, as sharp and multi-faceted as finely cut crystal.  One was at least partially open, the other wide and regarding him with genuine puzzlement and a touch of suspicion. 
    “Seriously, why are you here?”
    That was an excellent question.  Too bad he didn’t have an acceptable answer for it yet.  ‘I didn’t want to leave’, while true enough, seemed neither appropriate nor adequate at this stage.  So he tried a little misdirection instead.  It had always worked for his younger brother Ian. 
    “You weren’t exactly honest with me,” he chided.  “You led me to believe there was someone here who would take care of you last night.”
    “I said I didn’t live alone,” she corrected as he pulled a chair up close to hers, nudging his large body against the inside of her knees.  Her breath caught audibly when he leaned in and looked deeply into her eyes.  “That’s not quite the same thing.” 
    * * *
    A ll that man, all that heat between her thighs made her heart race faster.  He’s a doctor, she told herself repeatedly.  Looking at you as nothing more than a patient.  Get a grip. Yet no part of her rational mind could explain away the scorching chills his closeness seemed to generate. 
    She really had to stop reading those Salienne Dulcette novels.
    “Hmmm,” he hummed, and she immediately felt like a naughty child who had just been caught telling a fib.  The tips of his fingers skillfully examined the side of her head and face as she clamped her lips shut, determined not to let the sigh escape.  His touch was gentle, and sent thousands of little electrical impulses down her neck, searing through to the tips of her breasts, and right to the juncture at her thighs.  It took a lot of effort to keep her breathing controlled and even, especially when her heart was pounding against the inner walls of her chest so hard she was certain he could hear it. 
    Why did he have to be so freaking good looking?  Weren’t doctors supposed to be old and pudgy with glasses and the personality of a dishrag?  And weren’t they supposed to smell like antiseptic and latex, not like peppermint and coffee and warm spice and male musk? 
    Hell .  This man was not like any doctor she’d