Read Online Dr. Daddy by Elizabeth Bevarly - Free Book Online

sleep in the past twenty-four hours herself. But once uttered, there was nothing she could do to take back the words. And if she were perfectly honest with herself, she’d admit that she didn’t want to rescind her offer. She’d had a great time caring for Jules that day, and had found her to be a wonderful little baby. Almost at once, she’d felt a certain kinship with the infant. They’d both lost their parents at an early age. They’d both been foisted off on relatives who didn’t want them.
    What was truly remarkable, though, was that spending so much time with Juliana had touched off an instinctive reaction in Zoey that she hadn’t felt for a very long time. She would have thought the regeneration of that long-buried emotion, the love for a child who was well and truly a part of her past, would make her turn away from the responsibility of caring for another one. Instead, she found herself wanting to see a lot more of Juliana. It was just too bad that would also involve seeing more of Juliana’s uncle.
    “You want to spend the night here?” Jonas asked. “With me?”
    Zoey fought down the anger that bolted up her spine at his tone of voice, one that clearly indicated he understood her offer to be of a more personal—decidedly more sexual—nature. “Not with you,” she stated through gritted teeth. “With Jules. I’ll sleep in the nursery with her. Look, never mind—just forget I offered,” she added quickly, realizing what a terrible mistake she’d made in voicing her plan. “I think it would be better if I just went on home.”
    It would be just like Jonas Tate to think she was using his niece as an excuse to get into his pants, she thought. The man’s ego was legendary, and she had witnessed for herself how he could turn even the most harmless situation into a sexually charged come-on. Without further comment, she gathered up her purse and went to the foyer closet to retrieve her parka. There was no way she was going to offer this jerk her assistance, even if his niece was a kindred spirit. She’d have to think of another way to help Juliana out. Like maybe running down her uncle with a New Jersey Transit bus.
    “Zoey, wait,” Jonas said as she threw the closet door open. He flattened his hand against the door and slammed it shut again. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
    “Didn’t you?” she asked without looking at him.
    He hesitated for a moment before replying. “Okay, maybe I did mean it the way it sounded. But not really. Not the way you think.”
    She kept her back to him, but felt the fight go out of her at the uncertain timbre of his voice. “I don’t understand you,” she said softly. “At the hospital, you treat me like I’m some kind of obstacle to be overcome. You berate me for the slightest thing, try to bully me for no reason and just generally make my working atmosphere hell. Now, suddenly, you’re...you’re...”
    “I’m what?” he asked quietly from behind her.
    She expelled an exasperated breath and swung quickly around to face him. When she did, she felt a soft tug on her hair and realized belatedly that Jonas had entwined a handful of the tresses between his fingers without her feeling it. Now he stood clutching her hair in his fist, stroking the shaft of burnt copper between his thumb and index finger as if it were a talisman of some kind. Yet he continued to stare at her face, as if he didn’t even realize he was performing the action.
    She felt that caress in ever fiber of her being. For long moments, she could only watch the play of his fingers on her hair and wonder what his touch would feel like elsewhere on her body. A shudder of heat wound through her, moving from the ends of her hair to the tips of her toes and back again. Before that heat could consume her, she wrapped her own fingers around the length of hair he continued to stroke and pulled it carefully out of his grasp.
    “Dammit, you...you’re flirting with me,” she whispered