Janice Lynn Wendy S. Marcus - Flirting With The Society Doctor, When One Night Isnt Enough (Medical Romance)

WENDY S. MARCUS is not a lifelong reader. As a child, she never burrowed under her covers with a flashlight and a good book. In senior English, she skimmed the classics, reading the bare minimum required to pass the class. Wendy found her love of reading later in life, in a box of old paperbacks at a school fundraiser where she was introduced to the romance genre in the form of a Harlequin Superromance. Since that first book, shes been a voracious reader of romance often times staying up way too late to reach the happy ending before letting herself go to sleep.

Wendy lives in the beautiful Hudson Valley region of New York with her husband, two of their three children, and their beloved dog, Buddy. A nurse by trade, Wendy has a masters degree in health care administration. After years of working in the medical profession, shes taken a radical turn to writing hot contemporary romances with strong heroes, feisty heroines, and lots of laughs. Wendy loves hearing from readers. Please visit her at www.WendySMarcus.com.

This is Wendy S. Marcuss debut book!

JANICE LYNN has a Masters in Nursing from Vanderbilt University, and works as a nurse practitioner in a family practice. She lives in the southern United States with her husband, their four children, their Jack Russellappropriately named Troubleand a lot of unnamed dust bunnies that have moved in since she started her writing career. To find out more about Janice and her writing visit www.janicelynn.com

Janice Lynn won
THE NATIONAL READERS CHOICE AWARD

for her first book
THE DOCTORS PREGNANCY BOMBSHELL

N O WAY am I going to a wedding with you. Faith Fogarty shook her head, knowing this time her boss had pushed her too far. Uh-uh, no way. I wont be lumped into the category as one of your girls.

Glad no one seemed to be paying them the slightest attention, probably because their co-workers were all trying to look busy so as not to attract the bosss attention, Faith retreated into the privacy of Dr. Vale Wakefields office, him hot on her heels.

Im not asking you to be one of my girls, he pointed out, unnecessarily.

Of course he wasnt asking her to be one of his girls. She wasnt his type. She had a brain.

Im asking you to accompany me to a family gathering where I will be tortured mercilessly by my family if I dont bring a date. Theyll try and hook me up with every single female there. He made a gagging sound.

Having no sympathy whatsoever for one of New York Citys most sought-after eligible bachelors and top-notch neurosurgeons, Faith shrugged. So take Lulu.

Lulu was the willowy blonde whod accompanied Vale to a big charity ball the previous Saturday night. Faith had read about the event, seen a photo of the model plastered to Vales side in the society section of the Sunday paper. An entire column had been dedicated to whether or not the exotic model would be able to get the Wakefield heir to the altar. Faith had wadded up the paper and tossed it in the trash, where such gossip belonged. Of course Vale wouldnt marry that woman.

To quote you, Uh-uh, no way.' Vale emphasized each word. Do you have any idea what type of problems Id create if I brought Lulu or any woman with me to a family gathering, much less to a wedding? He shuddered with all the drama of a person whod just bit into the bitterest dish. Shed be hearing wedding bells long before we got to the ceremony. There is absolutely no way Id take a real date to my cousins wedding. His intense blue eyes narrowed with the steely purpose that put most in a tizzy. Im taking you.

And that was where Faith fit into Vales life.

Not a real date. Not someone he would consider dating or bringing to a New York City charity ball. Not someone he would consider loving or having a real relationship with. Not that any of Vales relationships were real, not unless no-strings-attached sex counted.

Hed pretty much just admitted that he didnt even see her as a woman. Great. She was a sexless brain.

Sucking in a deep breath, she shook her head. No, thanks. Accompanying you to family functions is not in my job description.

He grinned the devilish smile that had her heart thumping overtime whenever he flashed his pearly whites. I could have my attorney add an addendum to your contract.

Forget it. She narrowed her gaze in as menacing a glare as she could pull off when he grinned at her that way. Why couldnt she be immune to him? After all, he was a bra-size before brain-size typical male. Im not going to a wedding with you. Id pay you.

As if that made one iota of difference. As a neurologist specializing in Parkinsons disease, she earned a good salary from her job. A job that didnt require her fending Vale off from wannabe bridezillas and well-intentioned family members.

He named a figure that made her head spin.

No. Fighting to keep her composure, she picked up a stack of consult requests from the long mahogany table that occupied one side of the expansive room that served as his office. One by one, she flipped through them, sorting out the more urgent cases that she wanted to discuss as possible surgical candidates with Vale.

He crossed the room, standing so close that if shed turned toward him shed likely bump him. She wouldnt look, wouldnt turn, but would he please quit staring at her?

You might as well concede, Faith. He put his hand on her shoulder, eliciting a thousand tiny shivers that caused tremors all the way to her very core. In the long run I always get what I want.

He was right. He did always get what he wanted. With women. In life. Vale Wakefield led a gilded life. One where hed been blessed with money, looks, intelligence, gifted surgical hands, and that something more that just made him impossible not to like. Women wanted him. Men wanted to be him. Little old ladies made him cookies and cakes, for heavens sake.

At work she could maintain distance, keep her unwanted attraction to him safely tucked away, but at a wedding? Would he take one look at her and realize she dreamed of being the one he danced with at ballroom charities? The one warming his bed? A wedding.

Not even for Vale would she face another wedding.

She was not going to give in. He did not have to get his way with her every time he crooked his finger. This time hed passed the limits of her endurance.

What I want is for you to come with me to my mothers this weekend and accompany me to Sharons wedding.

Faith dropped the consults onto the table, turned to face him, anger sparking deep in her chest. Why did he just assume that she was at his beck and call 24/7? Did it ever occur to you that I might already have plans for this weekend? That I might have a life outside work?

Rarely was Vale caught off guard. Even more rarely did he show shock when someone actually did surprise him. But the darkening of his pupils gave clue to the fact that he truly had never given any thought that she might not live every moment in hopes of him deigning to ask her to work late, to come in over the weekend to review an important surgery case, to drop everything and go to his cousins wedding with only four days notice.

Of course, he hadnt given any thought to her potential plans. Why would he? He didnt find her attractive and apparently couldnt imagine anyone else doing so. Why wouldnt she be available at his every whim?

Which hit a bit too close to home.

Faiths teeth ground together. Sure, she wasnt glamorous like the women he dated. She couldnt be even if she tried. Not with her stick-straight dishwater blond hair, plain green eyes, and too big mouth. Still, his split-second shock at the possibility that someone might want to spend time with her for non-work purposes hurt. Hurt so deeply that had she put her hand to her chest to find her life blood seeping out, it wouldnt have surprised her.