Under the Mistletoe with John Doe by JUDY DUARTE Read Free Book Online Page A

glanced at her wristwatch, then back at him. “I have a meeting with a colleague before my shift starts, which means I need to go.”
    Honesty was always her policy, so even little white lies never sat easy with her. But she couldn’t think of another excuse to leave.
    â€œI’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, as if her visits had become a ritual they both could count on—and look forward to.
    She wanted to remind him that it wasn’t a done deal, but she’d already tossed out Doc’s offer for him to stay on the ranch. And John had agreed.
    So she stepped away from his bed. “Have a good evening.”
    â€œYou, too.”
    As she turned and walked out of his room, she picked up her pace as though she could outrun all she’d been feeling back there, but reality dogged her down the corridor and into the elevator.
    John had only touched her—and just briefly at that. But the fact that she’d reacted so strongly to something so minor left her unbalanced and skittish.
    She did her best to regain control of her senses, but it wasn’t easy.
    When the elevator doors opened on the second floor and she stepped into the corridor that led to the cafeteria, she tried another tack.
    Okay, so she was sexually attracted to John Doe. What was wrong with that? It’s not as though she had to actually act upon that attraction.
    And there was probably a very good reason for it, too—one that went beyond the man’s looks and the intoxicating sound of his voice.
    She’d sworn off men and sex ever since she’d told Doug to pack his things and move out of the house they’d shared when they’d been together. She’d been determined to focus on her career, on her patients. And she wouldn’t let a relationship get in the way of that again.
    But she was only human, with sexual needs and desires that had been dormant for too long. So it was just her hormones at play. Her body was merely reacting to its basic need for sex and zooming in on a possible candidate.
    That’s all it was.
    She just needed a sexual release. But where did she find a potential partner, especially in Brighton Valley? And what about the hours she kept?
    It was going to be tough. Especially when John Doe was the first sexual interest she’d had since she and Doug had split.
    But there was no way she’d sleep with a patient. Especially one who had no idea where he’d come from or where he was going next.
    Of course, with John Doe living only a couple of yards away from her house, she feared she was fighting a losing battle.

Chapter Four
    A fter her shift ended the next morning, Betsy once again took the elevator up to the third floor. But this time she was going to stop by John’s room for practical reasons.
    When she reached his doorway, she found him standing at the window, looking toward a copse of trees and scanning the hills that surrounded the medical center.
    He was wearing a hospital gown, which was tied in back, and she couldn’t help but smile. Those ugly, frumpy garments weren’t the least bit flattering on patients, but the one he had on looked pretty darn good on him.
    She had to admit that that was because his loose-fitting gown gaped open a bit, revealing a stretch of skin at the shoulder—and another near his butt.
    As if sensing her presence, he turned and met her gaze.
    â€œGood morning,” she said. “It’s nice to see you up and around.”
    He shot her a smile that nearly took her breath away. “I was just checking out the view.”
    She’d been doing the same thing, only not on the rolling hills and the stark bushes that had been full of colorful blooms a few months earlier.
    He made his way back toward the bed, but instead of throwing back the blanket and climbing between the sheets, he took a seat in the chair next to it. “I’m really looking forward to getting out of here. I keep sensing that I have