Nancy Robards - How to Marry a Doctor

“Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just a little puzzled by your reaction. I was half teasing, but you’re upset. You want to talk about it?”

Anna ran her hand through her hair, feeling a bit perplexed herself.

“I guess it’s just the thought of the dating again. You know, starting over. I’m thirty-three years old. This is not where I thought I would be at this age. Em, I want a family. I want a husband who loves me and kids. I never thought I’d be one of those women who felt her biological clock ticking, but mine feels like a time bomb waiting to explode.”

The two sisters stood shoulder to shoulder, staring into the hardware store window.

“Well, I guess that eliminates Jake, since we know his thoughts on marriage. Even if he is the hottest guy in town, you don’t need to waste your time there.”

Anna drew in a deep breath, hoping it would be the antidote to the prickles of irritation that were beginning to feel as if they would turn into full-blown hives.

“Even if he was the marrying kind, he’s my best friend, Emily. There are some things you just don’t mess with and that’s one of them. Hal used to go on and on about how Jake and I secretly wanted each other. Once he even swore there was something going on between Jake and me. But Hal was my husband. I loved him. I loved our marriage and I never cheated. He couldn’t get it through his head that a man and a woman could be friends—that there was nothing sexual about it.”

“That’s probably because in his eyes he couldn’t look at a woman without thinking about sex,” Emily said. “You know what they say, people usually yell the loudest about the things they’re guilty of themselves.”

“So, could you just help me out please and not talk about Jake and me in those terms? He’s my friend. End of story. Okay?”

* * *

Jake had heard a lot of excuses for getting out of a date, and tonight’s ranked up there with the best. Cheryl Woodly had called him thirty minutes before he was supposed to pick her up at her place in Dallas for dinner. Her reason for begging off? Her cat, Foxy, had undergone emergency surgery that day and she wasn’t comfortable leaving it alone.

He could understand that. He knew people were as crazy about their animals as they were about their children. In some cases, people’s animals were their children.

As he turned his 1969 Mustang GTO around and headed back toward Celebration, he realized he wasn’t a bit disappointed that Cheryl Woodly had canceled. In fact, from this vantage point, getting out of the blind date seemed like a blessing in disguise. Cheryl had halfheartedly mentioned that maybe they could have a rain check, and he’d made all the right noises and said he’d call her next week to see if they could get something on the books. He wasn’t sure if she was preoccupied with her animal or if she was only being polite in suggesting they reschedule. Either way, she didn’t seem very enthusiastic. So he wished Foxy the cat well and breathed a sigh of relief.

Still, there was the matter of what to do with the two tickets he’d bought to the Celebration Summer Jazz Festival. He didn’t want them to go to waste. Five minutes later, he found himself parking his car in the street in front of Anna’s house.

She lived in a Key West–style bungalow two blocks away from downtown Celebration’s Main Street. Jake had helped Anna pick out the house after she’d moved to Celebration and her divorce was final.

The place had been a fixer-upper in need of some TLC. Anna had said it was exactly what she wanted—a project to sink her heart and soul into while she was getting used to her new life. She’d done a great job. Now the house was neat and a little quirky with its fresh island-blue and sea-green paint job. Its style reflected Anna’s unique cheerful personality and it always made Jake smile. The lawn was neatly manicured. She must’ve recently planted some impatiens in the terracotta pots that flanked the porch steps. The flowers’ vibrant pinks, fuchsias and reds added another well-planned accent to the already colorful house.

That was the thing about Anna; she put her heart and soul into her home and the place radiated the care she’d invested.

Her Beetle was in the driveway. He could see the inviting faint glow of a light through the living room window.

Good. She was home.

He was going to razz her about her matchmaking skills being a little rusty, since the first date she’d arranged had essentially stood him up. Technically, Cheryl hadn’t left him hanging. But Jake was realizing he could get some mileage out of the canceled date and he intended to use it as leverage to get Anna to go to the jazz festival with him tonight.

He’d have a lot more fun with her anyway.

Jake let himself out of the car and walked up the brick path that led to Anna’s house. He rapped on the door. Knock, knock-knock, knock, knock , their traditional signal that announced they were about to let themselves inside. Really, the knock was just a formality, to keep the other from being surprised. In case she was having sex in the kitchen or something.

Actually, he hadn’t been concerned about walking in on Anna having sex because she’d been living like a nun since her divorce. And funny, now that he thought about it, Anna never seemed to come around as much when he was in a relationship.

Hmm. He’d never realized it until right now.

He tried the handle and her door was unlocked. So he let himself in the side door.

“Hey, Anna? It’s me.”

He heard a muffled exclamation from the other side of the living room. Then Anna stuck her head out of the bedroom door.

“Jake? What are you doing here? Why aren’t you out with Cheryl?”

She was hugging the doorjamb and clutching something to her chest as if she were hiding. It looked like she was wearing a dress.

When was the last time he’d seen Anna in a dress?

“She stood me up. What are you all dressed up for? Don’t tell me you have a date.”

Anna straightened, moving away from the doorjamb, cocking her head to the side.

“She stood you up? Are you kidding me?”

Whoa. She was definitely wearing a dress and she looked nice . He’d never realized she had so much going under those scrubs...so much going on upstairs . How had he never noticed that before?

The fact made him a little hot and bothered.

He had to force his gaze to stay on her face. Or on her bare feet. Her toenails were painted a sexy shade of metallic blue that matched the dress. Her legs—how had he never noticed her legs before? They were long and lean and tan and looked pretty damn good coming out of the other end of that skirt, which might’ve been just a hair short...for Anna.

Damn. She sure did look good. No. She looked hot .

If she looked like that, why did she cover herself up?

Because this was Anna .

He cleared his throat. “Well, she didn’t technically stand me up. She called me when I was on my way to get her to say her cat had surgery today and she didn’t feel right about leaving it alone.”

Anna put her hands on her hips and grimaced. The movement accentuated the low neckline of her dress and the way her full breasts contrasted with her tiny waist that blossomed into hips... Jake forced himself to look away.

“So you didn’t shave before you went out? Are you trying to look cool or are you just too lazy?” she asked.

“What?” He rubbed his hand over the stubble on his jaw. “I’m trying to look cool. The ladies like a little five-o’clock shadow.”

She quirked a brow and smiled. “Okay, I’ll give you that one. It does look pretty...hot.”

Something flared inside of him.