His Perfect Woman (Harlequin Superromance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

wouldn’t want someone like me.”
    Moving faster than she’d ever seen him move, her father closed the distance between them, gripped her shoulders and slid one hand to her chin to tilt her face up to his. “ You are a beautiful young woman. Nathan might not have been able to handle things, but your mother had the same surgery and we—”
    â€œStop!” Melissa closed her eyes in a grimace and raised both her hands in a pleading gesture. “ Stop, Dad, please. I mean it, do not give me any more mental images to deal with today. Walking in on you groping the social worker was a sight I’ll never be able to obliterate from my brain. Besides,” she continued when her father released a gruff laugh chock-full of embarrassment, “ you are a special man and what you and Mom had was special.” Opening her eyes, she blinked up at him. “Don’t you remember?”
    His hands dropped to his sides. “Of course I remember.” The scowl returned, making him look older. “The point is, there are men out there who’d understand what you’ve gone through if you’d only give them a chance.”
    She smiled drily. “We’ll just have to agree to disagree there. I think Nathan is a more accurate example of the male species.” She shrugged, looking away. “I understand why he backed off, and I don’t blame him.”
    â€œMel—”
    â€œBut it doesn’t matter because I’m not ready for that, and if I were, ” she emphasized before he could interrupt her again, “we’ve both heard of Bang ’em Booker’s reputation. He’d be the last person I’d choose and I’m quite sure Bryan feels the same way about me. For pity’s sake, we used to dare each other to eat worms.”
    Her father studied her closely. “So long as you’re aware of the talk.”
    â€œI am, and you have nothing to worry about,” she stated firmly. “Who knows if I’ll even get the job, or accept it if I do? Now, can we get back to what caused these sudden realizations?” She raised a brow, hugged her arms around her stomach and tried to release the tension in her neck and shoulders because she knew it was bad for her. “You’re dating again… Are you using birth control?”
    â€œMel!” Eyes wide and horrified, her dad turned away, his strides carrying him swiftly to the other side of the room. “You can’t talk to your old man that way.”
    She’d rattled him. Good. Maybe it would get his focus off her. “You’re only forty-seven. Everyone knows men can produce—”
    â€œI am not having this conversation with my daughter.” He groaned long and low. “It was bad enough when Irealized I hadn’t had it with you. Now you’re trying to give me the sex talk?”
    She laughed softly, amazed at what time and distance could do to otherwise pain-filled memories. “Fair’s fair.”
    â€œHey, Chief!” Nathan’s booming voice echoed through the building and bounced off the walls. “Mayor’s here! Mel, where’s that spatula? My burgers are burnin’!”
    Her father’s shoulders sagged with relief. “Thank you, God. Mel, we’ll talk more later. Duty calls.”
    She shook her head while watching him rush from the room. “Saved by the bellow,” she murmured, opening a drawer and retrieving the spatula Nathan needed. Gripping it tight, she smirked. Maybe she could hand it to him without slapping it upside his head. Then again—maybe not.
    Â 
    B RYAN WOULD’VE LIKED to talk with Melissa more about the interview and position, but found himself back in his practice within moments of stepping outside the police station. A child running across the pavement had tripped and fallen, colliding with another on the way down. Both kids needed stitches and he’d instructed the parents to bring