The Surgeon's Lady by Carla Kelly

Author:Carla Kelly
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2009-01-28T16:00:00+00:00

Laura arrived at Stonehouse after dark, debated briefly whether to go to Block Four or Philemon’s house first. The surgeon’s house won with surprising ease, but she justified her choice by reminding herself that Aunt Walters had promised to have those dresses ready for her. Besides, it was only eight o’clock; Philemon was probably just getting his second wind. She wouldn’t know where to find him.

To her surprise, he opened the door just as she raised her hand to knock. From the looks of him, he had been on a rapid walk from the back of the house and was ready to hurtle himself down the steps. Instead of knocking her down, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her inside.

She gasped, then laughed as he picked her up, whirled her around, then set her down, as if suddenly reminding himself that sometimes an ordinary “how de do” would suffice.

Somehow, her bonnet had been tipped sideways by his exuberance, so she set it straight on her head. “I was only gone four days, and not two weeks.”

She must not have had her bonnet set precisely, because he adjusted it, standing close enough for her to notice the stains on his shirtsleeves.

“You need to wash that shirt,” she scolded.

“You sound like Aunt Walters,” he replied cheerfully. “No time. Two amputations this afternoon, and then I had to deliver a baby in the laundry.”

“The laundry?” she asked. He still stood so close, which bothered her not at all.

He wrapped his finger around one of the ribbons that tied her bonnet. “Those poor women work up to the last moment. Still, it was a welcome change from the usual butcher’s bill.”

“Is there anything you don’t do?”

“I leave pulling teeth to my mates. I hate using that dental key.” He shuddered elaborately, then pulled her close into his arms, as if he wanted to put an end to a silly conversation as much as she did.

He didn’t try to kiss her. He just held her, and it was precisely what she craved. It made her brave enough to say into his questionable shirt, “I went to Bath to ask Miss Pym who my mother was.”

“What did you find out?”

Safe in his arms, she told him. “She was just a foolish girl and a willing mark to be preyed upon by someone like my father.”

Since they were much the same height, it was so easy to put her arms under his and hold him tight across his back. She knew he was a muscular man because she had seen him lift patients with comparative ease, but he was holding her so gently. “How is it you know what I need?” she asked quietly, not meaning to say that out loud, but suddenly wanting to know.

“Call it practice,” he said. “Only loobies think doctors just tend the body.”

He was taking prodigious good care of her body, one hand rubbing the back of her neck and the other slightly south of her waist. He pushed her closer to him and she didn’t mind.

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