Free Love Everlasting (Isle of Hope series Book 2) by Julie Lessman

first you gotta get better, and a nice long nap will help that along.” He picked her up and deposited her on one of the several beds tucked back in a dark corner of the room, placing her drink box on her nightstand and removing her shoes. “Finish up that lollipop, ma’am, and I’ll be back to read you a story before you get some shut-eye, okay?” Fluffing the pillow behind her, he placed a kiss on her head and returned to where Shannon stood, thinking what a great guy he would be if he wasn’t such a player.
    “She’s going to be out of commission for a couple of days, but I want to keep her in sick bay for a few hours to see how she handles the Tylenol and Pedialyte.” He glanced toward the room where Evie was sucking on her Tootsie Roll Pop, the serious concern in her eyes in total contrast to the twinkle that always resided there. “And I want to watch her fever for a while because it’s tipping close to 103. I don’t like the look of her throat either, so if you can let her dorm mom know, Shannon, I’d appreciate it.” Gaze connecting with hers, his caring and responsible air almost disarmed her.
    Almost.
    “Will do, Doc, thanks.” She spun around and dashed for the door, anxious to put as much distance between her and Sam Cunningham as she possibly could.
    “Shannon, wait—”
    But she didn’t. Miss Myra and her Southern etiquette would have had her head if she’d seen her bolting down the hall like one of the kids, as if she were fleeing for her life. But in a way, she was. Sam Cunningham had not only put the fear of God in her that night, he’d put something else far more sinister and dangerous.
    Desire. Attraction. Longing.
    A deep-seated longing for something she would never have with the likes of him.
    Correction. She’d have the desire and attraction all right—that’s what players like Sam did best—but the longing for something more, something real, something that would last forever? It wasn’t in the DNA of a player who had no use for God, and Shannon had no desire for a relationship of any kind with a man like that. Especially one who had turned her world upside down with a single kiss. Something cold slithered her spine as she hurled the front door open. God help her, imagine the damage he could do if he stole her heart …
    Ooomph! Shannon bounced off Serena on the other side of the door, almost spilling the two Cold Stone milkshakes the young girl carried in a cardboard caddy. “Serena, I’m so sorry,” she said as she steadied the student nurse who volunteered in sick bay, noting the freshly applied lipstick and potent scent of perfume.
    “No problem,” the young girl said with a bright smile, sidestepping Shannon to hurry down the hall.
    No doubt to ply Dr. Love with a milkshake as cold as his heart.
    A heavy sigh parted from Shannon’s lips as she scurried down the steps, suddenly ashamed of her attitude toward Sam. Heaven knows that wasn’t the type of person she wanted to be nor usually was, but Sam just brought out the worst in her it seemed—a sharp tongue and point-blank honesty aimed right at his heart. The corner of her mouth tipped. Because he was a man who tempted—not only with physical desire—but with the hope of bringing out the best in him. And that was a hope she couldn’t afford.
    Not with a player.
    “Hey, Shannon, wait up.”
    She whirled, her stomach doing the exact same thing as she spied Sam on the porch of the plantation house, waving his milkshake to get her attention. Spinning back around, she picked up her pace to the stables, head down and jaw tight. Lord, I don’t want to be mean to him, so please, can you just make him go away?
    “Hey, wait up, please? I just want to clear the air with you ...”
    “And I just want to clear my head of you ,” she muttered, ducking into the stables to hide in the first stall. Your face. Your smile. Your stupid kiss that won’t let me alone. She slid down the planked half wall hunched to her knees,