The Proposal Read Online Free PDF Page A

nodded. “Besides, you may not have been
officially admitted, but with you almost fainting and your pulse, I’m concerned
about you. Therefore, I consider this a consultation.”
    Confusion flooded her at the somewhat amorous
feelings crisscrossing over her at Pesh’s thoughtfulness and care. After she
bit into a cracker, he held out the Coke and water for her to choose from. When
she reached for the Coke, he jerked it away. “Now Emma, you know better than
that. Caffeine isn’t good for you.”
    “No fair,” she replied, with a grin.
    Pesh winked at her. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have
tempted you with such an elicit substance.”
    Emma’s cheeks once again felt inflamed, so she took
a swig of water to try and cool off. “How’s Patrick?”
    “Better. As soon as you finish eating, you can go
see him.”
    “Really?” she asked, through a mouthful of cracker.
    Pesh nodded. “He’s been asking for you.”
    “He has?” She then crammed in another cracker as she
stood up. Once she swallowed, she said, “Okay, let’s go see him.”
    With an amused shake of his head, Pesh said, “I
should have known not to say anything until you had finished eating.”
    “How about I promise to finish the crackers while
I’m with Patrick?”
    “I guess that sounds fair.”
    Emma grinned as they started out the door. “I can’t
thank you enough for the food and for looking out for me…and for Noah.”
    Pesh stuffed his hands into the pockets of his lab
coat. “Ah, so our strong little guy is going to be named Noah?”
    “Yes, after my late father.”
    He smiled. “He’s very lucky to have you for a
mother.”
    Emma couldn’t help the heat that rose in her cheeks
at his compliment. “Thank you. I’m going to try to be the best I can for him. I
had a great role model in my late mother.”
    “You’ve lost both your parents?”
    She nodded.
    He shook his head. “So much sorrow.” His hand
touched her shoulder. “But just from the look on your face and the love in your
eyes, I can tell how much joy this child is bringing you.”
    “Yes, he is,” she murmured. She was almost overcome
by the sincerity in his expression and voice.
    “Dr. Nadeen to examining room five. Dr. Nadeen to
examining room five,” came a voice over the loudspeaker.
    “I guess you’d better go,” Emma said.
    He nodded. “No rest for the weary around here.”
    She smiled. “It was very nice meeting you.”
    Pesh took her hand in both of his, tenderly stroking
her flesh with his fingertips. “The pleasure was all mine.”
    As hard as she tried, she couldn’t ignore the
longing shiver that ran through her body at the touch of his hand on her skin.
“Good-bye,” she mumbled before stumbling into Patrick’s room.
     

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    Aidan reached out his hand to flag down a passing
nurse, but the sound of singing stopped him cold in the middle of the hallway.
Strains of Danny Boy floated back to him—his father’s favorite song.
Only second generation Irish, Patrick had grown up with the songs of the old
homeland like Danny Boy and The Fields of Athenry. Aidan couldn’t
remember a time in his life when his father wasn’t humming one of them.
    But it wasn’t his father singing. The sweet harmony
of this voice cut through to Aidan’s soul, causing him to flinch.
    It was Emma.
    Her voice drew him nearer and nearer like a siren
leading a man to his doom. His steps slowed to a crawl as his eyes honed in on
the door down the hall from him. The last time he heard her sing was at her
grandparent’s Barn Dance. The night before he realized he was truly and
completely in love with her—before he had broken her heart.
    Pausing in front of the doorway, Aidan tried to
still the rapid acceleration of his heartbeat. His father reclined back with
Emma perched beside him on the hospital bed. She held his hand that was
tethered to an IV pole in both of hers. Although Patrick had oxygen tubes stuck
in his nose, he appeared