Free The Doctor's Not-So-Little Secret by Cindy Kirk Page B

those events, finding who she was looking for was easy.
    Standing there in her raspberry-sherbet dress and black eel-skin heels, Kate sipped her glass of white wine and wondered if Mitzi might be right about her attraction to Joel.
    Even though the anticipation over seeing Chloe again might partially account for the nervous quiver in her stomach, it didn’t explain the extra time she’d spent on her makeup and hair.
    On her way home from the “Great Dress Hunt,” she’d picked up some eye shadow guaranteed to make her eyes dark and mysterious along with a tube of lipstick that matched her dress. While getting ready for the party, rather than leave her hair hanging loose, she’d pulled the dark strands off to one side in a low stylish bun.
    Had she really gone to all this extra effort simply to celebrate the arrival of the summer solstice? Kate tightened her fingers around the stem of the wineglass.
    Joel was an attractive single man whom she admired, she told herself. She’d admired him even more when he’d called to apologize for his gruffness in the office and to thank her for looking out for his daughter’s welfare. Still, that didn’t mean she was foolish enough to consider dating him. Or, heaven forbid, sleep with him.
    Darn Mitzi for even putting that idea in her head.
    Still, reassured by her logic, Kate relaxed her hold, took a sip and decided that rather than continue to survey the room like some spy in a Grade B movie, she would socialize.
    With bold confident steps and her head held high, Kate started across the room. She’d barely gone ten feet when a couple crossed in front of her without warning. She abruptly changed course to avoid a collision and ran straight into a broad muscular chest.
    Her white wine flew forward. She stumbled backward, teetering on the edge of her four-inch heels. Just when she thought a fall was inevitable, a pair of large hands reached out and steadied her.
    Kate looked up into the concerned eyes of Joel Dennes. The gallop in her chest became an all-out sprint.
    “I thought you weren’t coming,” she blurted out.
    Joel glanced down at his shirt. A twinkle filled his eyes. “I’m happy to see you, too.”
    Even with wet splotches of wine across the front of his brown shirt, Joel looked way too appealing. His normally longish hair had been recently trimmed and he’d exchanged his jeans and work boots for khakis and stylish loafers.
    “I’m sorry about the wine.” Kate mumbled the apology, her tongue thick and unwieldy.
    “I’m sorry I knocked you off your feet.” He flashed a warm smile that brought back that off-kilter feeling she’d had when she was falling.
    They exchanged a smile before his gaze dropped and traveled down her body. When those piercing hazel eyes reached her bodice, Kate felt her nipples strain against her lace bra. As his gaze dropped lower, an almost forgotten heat filled her abdomen.
    She felt like protesting when he shifted his attention back to her face, until she saw the look of pure masculine appreciation in his eyes.
    “You look nice,” he said, his eyes glittering.
    “So do you. I mean you did—” Kate gestured toward his damp wine-splattered shirt “—before…”
    “A certain beautiful doctor threw a glass of wine at me?”
    He thinks I’m beautiful. A thrumming filled her veins. She gazed at him through lowered lashes. “Only because a certain handsome contractor chose to block my path.”
    A smile slowly made its way across his face. In response, an answering one lifted her lips.
    Unexpectedly Joel put an arm around her waist and pulled her close to let a waiter with a platter of tiny sandwiches pass by them. Her heart gave an excited leap.
    If she’d been a teenager, having him so near would have made her swoon. She may have kept her composure, but her insides quivered as he maneuvered her through the crowd. “First you block my way, now you’re spiriting me off to God knows where.”
    “Blocking your path was the only