Read Online Harlequin Medical Romance December 2015, Box Set 1 of 2 by Tina Beckett - Free Book Online

little less subtle this time.
    â€œPositive. I’m off duty. Free as a bird.”
    Damn him.
    â€œI guess that works perfectly, then. Six-ish?” She glanced toward her mother, who nodded before reaching for her father’s hand and gripping it tight, her own triumph evident.
    Time to make Dean pay a little bit for not bowing out. “I’ll save the story of how we met, then, for tonight. I know how much you adore telling that funny bit about the lake. About how you fell in, and I had to rescue you.”
    â€œBrat.”
    â€œNo more than you...honey.”
    â€œI’ll see you tonight. I take it I have carte blanche on that story, then?”
    She had a feeling that not only had the cat been let out of the bag, but the genie had just been released from the bottle. “I trust you to stick to the pertinent points.”
    â€œAlways. I need to go—I still have a few patients to see.” There was a pause, then he came back. “I guess I’ll see you tonight, sweetheart.”
    Ack! Even though she knew he was just trying to make her fidget—and he was doing a good job of that—the words still made a funny little pinging happen in the center of her chest. She decided to ignore it. Especially since she was the one who’d started the whole endearment thing.
    â€œSee you tonight.” As she hurried to mash the button to cut off the call, she could have sworn it ended with Dean’s laughter.
    * * *
    Despite the way he’d teased her on the phone, Dean wasn’t all that sure about doing this dinner thing tonight. But he’d given his word. He pulled into the driveway of a small cottage, then checked the address again. This was the place.
    The beige paint with its crisp white gingerbread trim reminded him so much of Jess that it made him smile. He couldn’t see the sister living in a minuscule place like this, but Jess? Absolutely. This fit her to a tee. And the image of coming home to something like this...of that sturdy wooden door opening and a couple of happy kids rushing down the walkway to greet him, made a pang go through his gut. It would be so very different from the loneliness and never-ending fear he’d experienced as a child.
    As if by magic, the door did open. But it wasn’t children who stood there, but the woman he’d just been sitting here thinking about.
    Jess. Dressed in jeans that were tucked into brown boots and a long beige sweater that hugged her curves, she looked homey and, oh, so different from the way she dressed for work. She was as quaint and welcoming as the cottage. Except for that nervous frown.
    Over their little deception? His little deception. He was to blame for this entire thing, and he could see it wasn’t going to be without consequences.
    He’d put Jess into an untenable position. No one wanted to lie to their parents. But her sister had pushed just the right buttons, and he’d instinctively stepped in between her and Jess in a figurative sense. If he’d had more time, he might have come up with something a little less drastic though.
    Which brought up another point. Were Jess’s parents so unused to seeing her with a man that they assumed this was something special? From the way she’d acted about their bet a few days ago, maybe that was indeed the case.
    Staring. He was staring.
    Clicking open the door to his car, he exited, giving her a little salute as he retrieved something from the passenger seat. Two sets of flowers. One for Jess and one for her mum. No need to make anyone suspect things weren’t what they seemed in paradise.
    He’d never bought a woman flowers in his life, not wanting anyone to think he planned on sticking around after a night or two.
    But this was safe, right? Jess knew it was all a charade. Easily ended. Once her parents and her sister left, that would be that.
    He made it up to the front door, making sure his eyes stayed glued to her face, no matter