The Doctor's Not-So-Little Secret. Cindy Kirk

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       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      Patience Bloom—You’re the best editor around,

      and I’m thankful you’re mine!

       Chapter One

      Dr. Kate McNeal sat back in her seat by the front window of Jackson Hole’s newest coffee shop, enjoying her cappuccino. It was Saturday and, thanks to a very generous on-call rotation schedule at the pediatrics clinic, she had the whole weekend off.

      All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go could be her motto. Kate sighed and took another sip. Although she’d been in Jackson Hole for almost two years, she had no close friends. Oh, she had tons of social buddies, men and women who invited her to their parties and other events. But no one she felt comfortable calling up on a Saturday morning and asking, “Hey, do you want to grab a scone and then do some shopping?”

      Part of the problem was that most of the women she knew had husbands and children. Once she’d reached her early thirties, Kate had discovered there weren’t many women left in the single, never-married category. But she couldn’t blame her current loneliness all on her marital status.

      As a child, Kate had been painfully shy. While in her professional life she did fine, shyness was still a struggle in social settings. Worse yet, her reticence often led to her being labeled “aloof” or “standoffish” by those who didn’t know her well.

      She smoothed the skirt of the buttercup-yellow dress she’d purchased last week. Even though most of the coffee shop patrons were wearing jeans or shorts with a casual shirt, Kate liked to dress up. Wearing pretty things made her feel pretty, a feeling that had been in short supply during her growing-up years. Unlike her sister, Andrea, who everyone still raved over, it had taken years for Kate’s lanky body to develop a few curves and for her teeth to not look too large for her face.

      Back in her early twenties, when she was finally reaching out and becoming the woman she was meant to be, her world had fallen apart. Her grandmother had died. Her boyfriend had deserted her. And she’d had to make a decision no woman should ever have to make … alone. A decision she now lived with every day of her life.

      Kate choked down the last bite of lemon-curd scone and gazed out the window, wondering if some shopping therapy would help get her out of this funk.

      She was ready to give it a try when she saw Joel Dennes heading toward Hill of Beans, his nine-year-old daughter, Chloe, in tow. Even though she told herself to look away, Kate couldn’t take her eyes off them.

      Thankfully Joel didn’t see her staring. Dressed in jeans and a striped cotton shirt that brought out the green in his hazel eyes, the handsome contractor’s entire focus was on his young daughter. Joel was tall—at least six foot two—with a rugged outdoorsy build. His child was petite and slender as a reed with delicate features. From the bag Chloe held, it appeared they’d just come from the dance studio down the street.

      So far, on this sunny June morning, Kate had seen at least six little girls walk by with their mothers. All carried the same type of “dancer” bag she’d once owned.

      The normally reserved Chloe let out a peal of laughter at something her father said, and his eyes crinkled with good humor as he settled his hand on her shoulder.

      From everything she’d heard and seen, Joel had been doing his best to be both mother and father to Chloe since the death of her mom two years ago.

      As far as Kate was concerned, such actions spoke volumes about a man’s character. She admired him for stepping up to the plate, admired him a lot.

      She shifted in her seat so that her back was to the window, ensuring if they looked her way, she’d simply be a dark-haired woman in a yellow dress.

      “Is Joel why you told Ryan you didn’t want to see him anymore?”

      Kate shifted her gaze to find Lexi Delacourt standing beside her table, latte in hand, wearing a stylish green-and-brown dress with a short green sweater. Lexi’s dark hair hung loose to her shoulders in a sleek bob. The social worker’s amber-colored eyes held a knowing СКАЧАТЬ