Read Online Flirting with the Society Doctor by Janice Lynn - Free Book Online

suppressing her baser instincts. So why hadn’t she then?
    She gulped, tearing her gaze from him to stare out at the ocean. Coming here with him had been a horrible mistake. One she’d likely live to regret.
    â€œWhat about you?”
    â€œMe?” She knew his gaze was on her, but she didn’t dare look at him. He’d see too much in her eyes, would instantly realize that she’d met the man she wanted for all time during a job interview eighteen months ago.
    No! She hadn’t met the man she wanted for all time. Vale was not that man. There was no that man . All she felt for Vale was physical attraction and professional admiration. That was it. Nothing more.
    â€œWhy haven’t you married?” he clarified, his wordsnipping at her soul as surely as the tide tugged at her feet.
    â€œI imagine someday I’ll meet someone who’ll sweep me off my feet.” Someone who’d make her forget how Vale’s lips had felt against hers, how even now thoughts of him pushing her back onto the sand and kissing her danced through her mind. Not that she thought things would last with that man either. She didn’t.
    Men left. It was what they did best.
    â€œAnd give you babies to take to soccer practice?”
    She tried not to let images of blue-eyed imps dribbling the ball toward the goal take over her mind. She did not want to have Vale’s babies. She didn’t want babies period. Sure, the making them might be fun, but then she’d be like her mother, alone, raising a child.
    Only her mother hadn’t been able to stand being alone and had flitted from one loveless marriage to another, from one man who’d eventually leave her to another.
    â€œI’m in no hurry at this point in my life to meet someone or even think about marriage and babies. My career is what’s most important.”
    â€œUntil you achieve your career goals?” he teased, but his eyes held a steely quality.
    â€œIt’s not as if I’m going to reach a certain point, mark my career off my life to-do list, then move on to marriage and children, Vale.” She glanced out at the horizon, spotting the silhouette of a ferry off in the distance. “Just that at some point down the line I’d like to believe I can have all the things I want.”
    She wouldn’t remind him that what she wanted was a real house with a real yard for her dog to play in. No man required.
    â€œYou’re a special woman, Faith. If anyone can ever have it all, I’m sure it’s you.”
    She glanced at him, saw the sincerity on his face, and smiled. “Thank you, Vale. That quite simply might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
    â€œYou jest.” His forehead wrinkled. “I’ve complimented you before.”
    â€œAbout my work, yes. Me? No.”
    He stopped walking, turned to face her. His hand squeezed hers reassuringly. “Just tonight I told you what a beautiful woman you are.”
    â€œTthat’s d-different,” she stammered, wondering at the light in his eyes. Was it the reflection of the last golden rays dancing across the sky? Or was Vale looking at her as if she really was beautiful?
    His brow lifted. “Because you don’t believe me when I say that you are beautiful?”
    â€œI’ve seen the women you date. I’m not even in the same league.” Models, actresses, heiresses, he went through them all.
    â€œTrue,” he agreed, twisting the knife in her gut. He could at least have been polite and not said anything.
    She’d never have him, knew she never would, and was foolish to have these momentary lapses where she dreamed she might.
    â€œNone of the women I’ve known hold a candle to you, Faith. Not a single one.”
    She wanted to look away, wanted to shield her eyes from his, but she couldn’t. Not when he looked at her as if he believed what he said, as if he really did believe she was more