The Surgeon's Favorite Nurse Read Online Free

would have to rush off and spare her an awkward conversation.
    “No.” He raked his fingers through his hair.
    She blew out a breath, not quite meeting his gaze. “So…”
    “So…”
    The corners of his mouth tilted up. Clearly he was amused. Hope was not. Irritation aimed at herself straightened her spine and fueled the need to regroup.
    “I take full responsibility for that,” she said.
    One dark eyebrow arched upward. “That?”
    “You know.”
    “Not so much. The receptors in my brain are fried. Put a finer point on it for me.”
    He was enjoying this, she realized and started to fume. But she’d be darned if she’d give him the satisfaction of confirming her acute discomfort. Or the fact that he’d majorly turned her on.
    “The kiss,” she said, deliberately lifting her chin so their gazes locked. “My mistake. I freely own my part in what just happened.”
    “Very generous of you.” He slid his hands into the pockets of his charcoal slacks. The black shirt and tone-on-tone tie fit his trim body perfectly. Dr. GQ wouldn’t have to worry about the fashion police.
    “Not generous. Honest.”
    “Still… An admission like that could be construed as encouragement. How do you know I won’t stoop to using it to my advantage?”
    She refused to give any ground. “That mistake is on me, but the bigger one would be assuming you could use it for your own personal agenda.”
    “Agenda? Personal?” A wolfish expression settled onhis handsome face making it an uphill battle to get this conversation back on a professional plane.
    “Don’t miscalculate, Doctor. My slip-up will not give you currency in the workplace.”
    “Oh?”
    “You can’t come up with an unrealistic wish list and expect me to smile politely just because I kissed you.”
    Jake’s sinful smile was a clear indication that the message missed its mark. “At the risk of shattering your illusions, Hope, nothing about that kiss was polite, which suits me just fine.”
    She groaned inwardly, still living in limbo and guarding herself from the guilt. “You’re deliberately misunderstanding my point.”
    He shook his head. “On the contrary. I got it. But you don’t have all the facts.”
    “Which are?”
    “I actually came to see you tonight to tell you I told you so.”
    “I don’t get it,” she said.
    “Okay, here’s the deal. My wish list just might carry more weight since earlier tonight I was offered the contract to be the chief trauma surgeon. I’m officially your boss.”
    And Hope was officially in trouble.
    She’d missed sex.
    She hadn’t realized how much until Jake kissed her. Now she missed it a whole lot more.
     
    The next day Jake sat in on Hope’s meeting with the department directors to assess their status regarding the target date for the Mercy Medical West opening. He had the chair to her left and knew she was talking because her lips were moving. The thing was, he was so fascinated byher mouth that he couldn’t concentrate on what she was saying.
    Only last night he’d tasted her just down the hall from this conference room. If Cal Westen, his medical practice partner, hadn’t called to find out whether or not he’d been appointed to oversee trauma services, Jake would have done a whole lot more than just kiss her.
    That had never been part of his plan, and he always had one. You didn’t go from living on the street to chief trauma surgeon without a disciplined and detailed blueprint of how to get there. Kissing a colleague wasn’t so much as a footnote on the blueprint, even if she did have a mouth in desperate need of a kiss.
    “I’m sure you all know Dr. Jake Andrews.”
    The sound of his name yanked him into the moment and he smiled at the directors of radiology, respiratory therapy, the emergency department and the E.R. doc, all gathered around the mahogany conference table. He was acquainted with them all.
    “Dr. Andrews was appointed Mercy Medical West’s chief trauma surgeon last night.” A