Harlequin Medical Romance December 2015, Box Set 1 of 2 Read Online Free PDF Page A

no intention of doing anything like what Dean was proposing. But the thought of letting the man see how much it bothered her...
    What if she made it look as if she were going along with it? That way, even if she wiggled her way out of the dates, she could still tell her sister she was going out. Maybe it would even ease some of the bad feelings between them.
    A thought came to her. What if Dean picked up a woman while she was there? The last thing she wanted was to see him walk out of that pub with someone. She had no idea why, but she didn’t. “So let’s say I agree to chat up three men—” she was careful not to actually say she would go on to have sex with these men “—then you have to do something as well. How about, you have to promise to leave the pub alone. Go without. See how the other side lives.”
    â€œSo basically you would be the only one having fun?”
    â€œExactly. Think you can handle it?”
    Dean leaned forward, one brow raised at the challenge. “Sweetheart, you’ve got yourself a bet.”

CHAPTER THREE
    D EAN HAD NO idea why he’d goaded Jess into that ridiculous bet. They’d gone to the pub twice so far and she’d easily found herself a partner both nights, slipping out of the place within an hour.
    He wasn’t sure why he’d done it. Or why he’d been so adamant about going with her. Maybe because it bothered him that she compared herself to her sister. And she did. He heard it in her words, saw it in the uncertain way her fingers twisted together when she talked about her.
    And his own part of the bet?
    Laughable, because she seemed to think he picked up a different woman every night.
    It would be kind of hard to do his job if he spent all his nights having wild sex. Although he could think of one woman he might be tempted to make that sacrifice for.
    Not that he would.
    Especially since he’d promised that very woman that he would have no sex. At all. At least not for the next several nights.
    â€œDr. Edwards? Is everything all right?”
    Sitting in a rocking chair in the corner and holding a tiny baby to his shoulder, he realized he’d zoned out for a few seconds. “Fine. I’m just getting ready to put her back.”
    His job didn’t necessarily include cuddling his charges, but there was something about this one. Born to a drug-addicted mum, the little boy was off to a rocky start. But at least the child-welfare people had stepped in and insisted the mother clean up her act before allowing her anywhere near the child.
    That was more than he had gotten when he was young. Then again, it was his father who’d had the addiction problem, not his mother.
    He rubbed a few more gentle circles across the newborn’s back. At least the baby had quieted down. When pregnant women took drugs, there were two victims. The baby’s mother...and her child, who was now suffering through withdrawals—through no fault of his own.
    Standing to his feet, he gave the nurse a quick smile before tucking the baby back into his cot. “Feel free to page me if this happens again.”
    She nodded, smiling back.
    Young and attractive with curly brown hair and sparkling eyes, Deidre had made it a point to call him back whenever she had a particularly difficult case. He wondered if that was for the baby’s benefit or hers. It didn’t matter. He’d decided a long time ago it was better to leave his personal life at home and his professional life at the hospital. It was just better that way.
    â€œYou have such a way with them.”
    Did he? It seemed that anyone who offered these little guys a bit of love and affection would get the same response. And maybe that stemmed back to his childhood as well. He didn’t want any of them to feel as alone as he’d once felt. And this particular baby had quieted down almost as soon as he’d settled into the rocker with him.
    â€œI think it’s