Read Online Jackie Draws a Straight by Patricia Green - Free Book Online Page B

his broad chest all bare and hard-muscled and his arms with their thick biceps holding her against his body. The scent of him haunted her dreams. Every day she learned more about him, saw new facets of his personality and grew more attracted to him both physically and emotionally.
    She wanted him badly. In fact, she couldn't remember ever wanting a man like this before. Bud had been appealing more for his position as a studly jock than for his achievements or intelligence. And the few fellows she'd dated while in college had been callow and wouldn't have made good husband material. A husband was what she wanted ; someone she could take care of and who would respect her for herself, not as a china doll . Although she enjoyed nursing, it was a far second on her list of things to do with her life in the long-term. She was bright enough to realize that her attitude wasn't modern, but she knew what she wanted and wasn't going to let anything stand in her way. Finding the right guy—not just a willing guy, but a man she could admire and love—was the first step.
    Remembering the spankings Pete had delivered to her, how intimate and sensual they'd been, even though they hurt, made her yearn for more. Maybe not more spankings exactly, but something equally intimate. For the first time in her life, Jackie seriously contemplated what it would be like to have sex with a particular man. With Pete.
    There was a lot of romance involved in her dreams about him, sweet nothings he'd whisper in her ears, and tender caresses on her face as he kissed her. Sometimes the daydreams would distract her at work, but so far, it hadn't become an issue.
    Pete, always totally professional with her, was not immune to her and Jackie knew it. She sometimes found his eyes on her and his gaze was smoldering. He would look away quickly, but the moments were there. Jackie couldn't quite figure out what to do with this knowledge—she'd never tried to seduce a man in her life—but she knew she ought to do something.
    One afternoon, as they were doing their afternoon house calls, they had a disagreement. Jackie made the mistake of telling a patient that the doctor's instructions weren't engraved in stone and could be ignored if the patient found them too much trouble.
    He gave her a sharp look as he put his stethoscope away. The bedroom in the little ramshackle house got a lot smaller all of a sudden, as Jackie shrank away from that disapproving gaze.
    Pete smiled at Mrs. Stumps, however, with his usual professional but friendly manner. "Miss Journey meant that you should call if you find that the instructions are not working for you, Mrs. Stumps. We don't want your blood sugar to get out of control . Your diabetes is a serious condition and needs to be managed carefully. You could end up in the hospital again."
    Lavinia Stumps looked at Pete and then Jackie and back again. "Okay, Doctor. I'll do the sugar meter like you said. The way you showed me to work the thing helped. I don't read much, so figurin' it out was a puzzle."
    He gave Lavinia's hand a squeeze and rose from her bedside, not looking at Jackie though he spoke to her. "Come along, Miss Journey. Time to get back to the office."
    "Yes, Doctor," she said meekly. She knew she'd done wrong in minimizing the importance of his dietary instructions to Mrs. Stumps, but Lavinia had been getting confused and frustrated. She'd only wanted to make the complicated situati on less complicated for the woma n. Unfortunately, the advi ce Pete had given his patient shouldn't be disregarded. In some ways, Jackie could have endangered Mrs. Stumps' health.
    She made sure Lavinia was comfortable and then followed Pete out to the car. It had been parked in the full sun and was hot as blazes inside . He immediately turned on the A/C and Jackie felt the cool air blowing against her hot face. Jackie was hot as much from embarrassment from her faux pas as from the roasting car interior.
    Time to cut the lecture off at the