Free Sizzling Nights with Dr. Off-Limits by Janice Lynn Page A

stared at her with an expectant look on his face that was answer enough.
    Well, at least he was making this decision easy.
    â€œYou’re right. We do need a time-out from our relationship.”
    Surprise flittered across his face. He’d thought his ultimatum would result in an invitation into her bed?
    â€œIf you’ve set your sights on that doctor, Emily, you’re wasting your time. You’re throwing away a good thing for a man who’s never going to take someone like you seriously.”
    â€œSomeone like me?” He made it sound as if she weren’t good enough for Lucas, as if she were lucky Richard found her appealing.
    He shrugged. “You’re not in his league.”
    Ouch.
    Emily’s lips curled into a forced smile. “Thanks for an enlightening evening and for making what could have been a difficult moment into an easy one. Goodbye, Richard.”
    * * *
    Emily was assigned to Cassie and to Jenny the following day. Cassie had continued to decline, but Jenny was holding her own. It would probably be a couple of days before the four-year-old regained consciousness, which was probably a good thing. Perhaps some of her injuries would have subsided a little.
    â€œHer vitals remained good during the night.”
    She turned to the man entering the room. The man she’d lain in bed and thought about way too much the night before. Shouldn’t she have been thinking about the man she’d just ended things with instead?
    â€œYes, she’s stable.”
    â€œThat’s good news.” He examined the unconscious little girl, then turned to Emily. “Give me more good news.”
    â€œPardon?”
    â€œTell me you didn’t make plans for tonight.”
    Emily sighed. “I’m not going to go to dinner with you, Lucas. There’s no point.”
    â€œIs there a point to you going to dinner with the pharmacist?”
    â€œRichard has nothing to do with why I won’t go to dinner with you,” she answered honestly. “I’m no longer seeing him.”
    Lucas’s gaze shot to hers and he studied her so long that she found her feet wanting to shuffle beneath the weight of his stare. Instead, she found the strength to step away from him.
    â€œI’m going to check on Cassie.”
    â€œI’ll be there when I’ve finished my chart notes on Jenny.”
    â€œTake your time.” Maybe she’d be finished and not have to see him again.
    * * *
    â€œAre you going to go out with Dr. Cain tonight, since you and Richard are history?” Did Meghan have listening devices hidden in the patient rooms or what?
    â€œNo, I’m not going out with Dr. Cain. We had our auction date. Tonight, I’m going to stay home and cook.”
    Meghan wrinkled her nose. “You’re crazy, you know.”
    â€œI enjoy cooking.”
    â€œYou could go to the movies with Amy and me.”
    â€œNo, thank you. I’m cooking because I want to.”
    To keep her mind occupied she’d enrolled in cooking lessons not long after her divorce was final. Yes, she’d burned more than a few meals prior to figuring out what she was doing wrong, but she had learned. Excelled even. Cooking had been great therapy. Mainly, she’d discovered, as long as she didn’t get lost daydreaming about Lucas, her meals had turned out decent. Decent had gone to good. Something she’d detested had gone to something she enjoyed and found therapeutic. As time passed, she’d quit dreaming about Lucas altogether.
    Emily left the nurses’ station and checked on her patients. Lucas stopped her just outside Jenny’s room.
    â€œAre you really going to cook your dinner tonight?”
    He sounded so incredulous that she winced. Okay, so she hadn’t been able to cook when they got married. That wasn’t a sin. There had been lots of things she could do. She’d just grown up in a house where the majority of meals had been