Hot-Shot Doc, Secret Dad (Cowboys, Doctors...Daddies) Read online

  Now, when the moment was right, she’d tell Trevor that she loved him. And mean it with everything she had.

  His knock came at precisely seven, and she flung open the door, anxious to see that blaze in his eyes just for her. He didn’t disappoint, with the addition of a slow, sexy-as-hell smile. That smile alone set off a tingle fest.

  “Hi.” Someone had to say it.

  “You look great,” he said, stepping inside.

  “So is that enough small talk? Can we make love now?”

  The corner of his mouth quirked upward. “I’d like to take some time looking at you like that, if you don’t mind.”

  “Feel free to sample the wares.” Okay, apparently she was going for desperate.

  He stepped closer but didn’t touch her. “You really want to get together tonight, don’t you?”

  Feeling stripped naked by his eyes, and maybe a tiny bit embarrassed over being so blatant, she nodded. “Are you going to drop that courting stuff and get down to business?”

  One brow made a subtle rise. “On one condition.”

  “Again with the rules?” She sighed, desperation flooding back in.

  “I’ll do everything you want me to, and more, then do it all again if you’ll answer one question.”

  She stood quiet, waiting.

  Not losing eye contact, he dropped to one knee and took her hand. “Julie Sterling, will you marry me?”

  She gulped in a breath, feeling forced to make a quick decision that wasn’t just for her, but for her son, too. She’d been prepared to tell Trevor she loved him, but was she ready to marry him? Why was he always one step ahead of her?

  Her brief hesitation gave Trevor time to take his cell phone out of his back pocket and speed-dial. “Hey, son, would it be okay with you if I asked your mother to marry me?”

  All she heard on the other end of the cell was “Whoo-hoo!”

  “I take that as a yes,” Trevor said, smiling, after the noise quieted down. “Okay, now all I have to do is convince your stubborn mother.” He shut off his phone, then stood back up and took her hands in his. “I know I’ve been hitting pretty heavy on this topic, but I know it’s right and the best thing I’ve ever wanted. But I’m not hearing the same from you.”

  Her resistance on principle and practicality had forced Trevor to prove how much he loved her. And boy had he ever! As long as she’d had the tiniest doubt, she would have carried a secret around that her man only married her to be a father to their son, and the thought of that stung too much to consider. But they’d had these past two weeks together, and he’d changed everything. A wise man.

  “Trevor, if I didn’t know positively, beyond a doubt, that I love you, I’d never agree to marry you.”

  His grip tightened ever so slightly. “Have you figured that out yet?”

  Her smile had to give her away. “Yes. I love you. I do.” Now was that so hard? “I thought I loved you when I was seventeen, but I was so wrong. Thank you for showing me what love is, for helping me trust again, and for giving me feelings I never dared dream I could have. I love you, Trevor.”

  He pulled her tight to his chest, the leftover cool night air on his clothes soon disappearing. Julie couldn’t believe how happy she felt. How completely sure that she’d found her perfect man—a country doctor with a heart of gold.

  Her hands bracketed his jaw as she kissed him. A kiss she’d never forget.

  A text ding went off in his pocket. Both knowing it was from James, Trevor answered it. “He wants to know what your answer was.”

  They grinned at each other, as if they’d been a family for years. “Tell him yes, all caps.”

  Trevor did as he was told, his grin stretching wider while he sent it, then shut down his phone. His dark eyes found hers again, a mischievous glint dancing between them. “Well, you kept your end of the bargain, I guess I’d better keep mine, Julie bean.”

  With that, he bent and picked her up, then carried her toward the bedroom. “Nice shoes,” he said on their way.

  *

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  ISBN-13: 9781460389652

  Hot-Shot Doc, Secret Dad

  Copyright © 2015 by Janet Maarschalk

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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