Hero by Nature (Reed Sisters: Holding out for a Hero 3) - Page 16

She grimaced good-naturedly. “Did we ever. To make it worse, our father owns Reed’s Seed and Feed Store in Rose Bud. Name games became our personal peeves. For a while we tried to change over to our middle names, Deborah, Linda and Sarah, but it never seemed to take. We were already firmly established as Spring, Summer and Autumn by that time.”

“Autumn suits you,” Jeff commented quietly, his gaze lingering on her red-brown hair, green eyes and gold-dusted dress.

She didn’t quite know what to say to that, so she deftly turned the conversation back to him. “My turn to ask questions?”

He spread his hands in a go-ahead gesture.

“Where were you born and when, do you have any brothers and sisters, why did you decide to become a doctor, what’s your favorite flavor of ice cream and what do you sleep in?” Autumn asked boldly.

He chuckled, then made an effort to answer in the correct order. “Born in Sarasota thirty-three years ago in July. No brothers or sisters. I wanted to be a doctor because it looked interesting and I like working with my hands.” This was a teasing paraphrase from her. “My favorite flavor of ice cream is cherry vanilla, and I sleep in cotton pajamas.”

Autumn choked on a sip of wine and looked suspiciously at him. “You really sleep in cotton pajamas?”

“Mmm. Want to find out for yourself?” he inquired mildly.

“I’ll take your word for it,” she muttered, though she was disconcerted to find herself flashing a mental image of unbuttoning the top to a set of cotton pajamas, a set being worn by a handsome, dark-haired doctor. Behave yourself, she crossly told her overactive imagination. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re just a little too good to be true?” she casually asked the handsome, dark-haired doctor of her fantasy.

Jeff looked startled—and not altogether pleased. “What do you mean by that?”

Even to her, her smile was a bit feline. “You’re a good-looking, single young doctor living in the nicest part of town in an immaculately kept home that you vacuum yourself. You’re kind to children and electricians, you’re every mother’s dream of a polite gentleman, you have no vices that I’ve noticed—” he’d even turned down wine in favor of iced tea for dinner “—you don’t mind if a woman asks you out or picks you up for a date, and you don’t sleep in your underwear. You’re darned near perfect, Jefferson Bradford.”

She’d managed to make him blush, a fact she noted with a certain malicious pleasure. After all, she’d blushed a few times over him, and she hadn’t liked it a bit!

“I’m hardly perfect, Autumn,” he protested, still visibly embarrassed.

“Oh, yeah? Name a fault, then,” she challenged him, beginning to enjoy this new game.

“I’ve been wanting to take you to bed since the moment I saw you, and it was all I could do not to throw you over my shoulder and haul you to my bedroom when I saw you in that dress tonight.” His tone was brisk, answering her challenge in kind.

Proudly not blushing, she waved a hand in dismissal. “That’s not a fault, it’s a genetic weakness. You’re a male, after all, and some things you can’t help. Like breathing, eating and thinking with your hormones at times. What else?”

If he’d hoped to disconcert her, he was disappointed, but he made a valiant effort to prove himself imperfect. “I don’t like cats.”

She shook her head. “Lots of people don’t like cats,” she returned. “That doesn’t count, either. What else?”

He exhaled gustily. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to tell you this.”

Crossing her hands in front of her, she leaned forward, her lips curving into an avid smile. “Tell. Tell.”

He looked one way and then the other, furtively, obviously checking for eavesdroppers. And then, very quietly, “I’m an addict.”

He’d spoken so seriously that Autumn was taken aback. An addict? She’d read about doctors who took advantage of their access to drugs, but Jeff? No way. “You are not.”

He nodded gravely. “Yes, I am. It started in medical school, and now I can’t stop. I’m truly hooked.”

“On what?” she demanded, beginning to get concerned.

“Dr. Wilson’s World,” he replied mournfully, looking deeply ashamed.

Autumn relaxed muscles that she hadn’t deliberately tensed and semiseriously considered decorating his pin-striped suit with the remains of her dinner. “A soap opera? You’re hooked on a soap?”

Still looking as if he’d confessed to a string of heinous crimes, he nodded. “For years. I tape it every day and watch it before bedtime or on weekends. I can’t help it. When I miss it, I start wondering what’s happening to Paul or Melanie or Dan or Misty or poor old Dr. Wilson, and I’m not satisfied until I find out.”

“That’s appalling.”

“I know.” He hung his head in shame.

“You know it will rot your brain.”

Tags: Gina Wilkins Reed Sisters: Holding out for a Hero Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net
readsnovelonline.net Copyright 2016 - 2024