The Surgeon's Favorite Nurse by Teresa Southwick

Author:Teresa Southwick [Southwick, Teresa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, General
ISBN: 9781426865923
Google: RhgnVjotrZYC
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2010-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

There was more than one way to get what he wanted.

Jake hadn’t figured it would be necessary to throw a party for the emergency department four days after Hope had rejected his dinner offer, but it was the best idea he could come up with.

He’d posted an invitation and spread the word at Mercy Medical West that he was having an employee appreciation party to thank everyone for their hard work in getting the third campus ready to open. How could Hope turn that down?

It was now Friday and he stood in his kitchen to observe the employees who’d already arrived. If his luck hadn’t sucked, right this minute he’d be at a fancy restaurant with Hope. He still couldn’t believe she’d turned him down flat.

It wasn’t ego talking either.

Well, maybe a little, if he was being honest.

But Hope was attracted to him. He knew that as surely as he knew there was no life without a beating heart. If she didn’t show up tonight, it would make her look bad in the staff’s eyes, and he was betting she wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t let him take her out, so he’d backed her into a virtual corner and when she arrived, he planned to back her into a corner for real.

Jake grabbed a longneck bottle of beer from the fridge as conversation buzzed in the media room. Twenty or so people were milling around, an exceptional turnout for such short notice. Employees from Respiratory Therapy, nursing staff and clerical. Housekeeping personnel, too. He knew how it felt to clean up after people who chewed you out for missing a dust bunny behind the bedroom door. No one had been excluded. This big house was full but not one of the people filling it was the person he most wanted to see.

He looked down at his watch, then frowned at how late it was getting. When he glanced up, a familiar blonde was headed in his direction. Mitch Tenney’s wife was a striking woman. His partner was a lucky guy.

Jake grinned when Samantha Ryan Tenney stopped in front of him. “Hi, Sam.”

She grinned right back. “You’re looking good, Jake. Was that sweater a Christmas present? It matches your eyes.”

He glanced down at his jeans and the gray cashmere she was asking about. “A gift from my mother as a matter of fact.”

“It looks very preppy over the white shirt. Your mom has great taste.”

“I think so, too.” And now his mom had the money to indulge it, he thought, dark memories of their long-ago financial struggle creeping in.

Sam glanced over her shoulder and across the granite-topped island to the crowd in the adjacent room. “Great party.”

“It is.” Although, so far, the event had failed to reach its target objective. “Are you having a good time?”

“Yes. But I miss Lucas.” A wistful look softened her pretty blue eyes at the reference to her baby. “I know what you’re thinking.”

He folded his arms over his chest. “In addition to being a

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