Father by Marriage by Suzanne Carey

Author:Suzanne Carey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin

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Rushed to the surgical suite at Larisson Hospital for an emergency appendectomy, Lisa was transferred following her operation to a postanesthesia room. She was still groggy when Holly was allowed briefly to visit her. But her eyes were open.

“I’m going to be okay...aren’t I, Mommy?” the girl asked.

This time it was Holly who had tears in her eyes. She didn’t let them spill. “Absolutely good as new, pumpkin,” she promised.

“You’re going to stay right here?”

“The nurses can’t watch over you properly if I’m in the way. If you need me, I’ll be right down the hall, in the family waiting area.”

Crashing on the Leatherette couch in the impersonally furnished lounge, Holly sorely missed Jake’s presence. Now that Lisa was going to be all right, she’d given herself permission to shake a little. She wanted to rest her head on his shoulder—draw comfort from his strong, enveloping presence.

After checking on Lisa a second time, Holly returned to the waiting room couch. This time, she fell into an exhausted sleep. She didn’t stir when a passing orderly returned and threw a spare blanket over her.

When she opened her eyes around 6:00 a.m., the snow seemed to have stopped. To her astonishment, Jake was there, a stubble of shadow beard darkening his chin, slouched in one of the armchairs with his back to the window. He was still wearing his outdoor parka, though he’d unzipped it. His long legs in their faded jeans were stretched out before him.

“So you’re awake,” he observed, getting to his feet.

Stiff from the cramped space where she’d been sleeping, Holly struggled to a sitting position. Though she was overjoyed to see him, her first thought was for her stepdaughter.

“Lisa?” she asked, rising also.

Jake gave her a tired smile. “Awake. And feeling much better. She’s been assigned to a regular patient room. You can visit her if you want.”

Relief coursed through Holly in a flood. “Thank God!” she exclaimed.

Courtesy of insights gained during the harrowing night they’d shared, the rift between them seemed the height of foolishness. Without compromising her responsibility to Lisa, she decided, she could lean on him for as long as he chose to stay around. She loved him, after all. If she didn’t, she’d be sorry later. Propelled by instinct, she sought the sanctuary of his embrace, threading her arms around him beneath his worn, down-filled jacket. With a feeling of coming home, she blended into his body warmth.

Jake was totally undone. “Ah, Holly...” he whispered. “You can’t possibly know how much I’ve longed to hold you this way.”

Seconds later, their lips were meeting hungrily, greedily, easing their mutual deprivation. How had they managed to stay apart so long, when they needed each other so much?

When Holly learned the truth about his reasons for showing up on her doorstep and asking her for a job, Jake knew she’d be furious with him. He might find himself out in the cold again. Yet his defenses were down, his sense of practicality at a low ebb, thanks to the long, difficult night they’d just endured.

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