A Surgeon to Heal Her Heart Read online

  He wants more than a workplace fling!

  But can he persuade her to let him in?

  With two jobs, a sick mom and a broken heart, nurse Carly Evans has no time for romance. Until gorgeous surgeon Stone Parker gets right under her skin, and gives Carly a glimpse of a new life. The one Stone would gladly give her—if she can find the courage to take it...

  “My life is full. Despite that I am with you now, this isn’t typical. Nor can it be. I rush home from work and I’m there until I go back to work. I don’t have time for dating or becoming involved with someone. I just don’t—” she emphasized the words “—and won’t.”

  “Maybe we can be friends.”

  Stone’s words surprised Carly. “Friends?”

  He reached across the table and took her hand. “Let’s be friends. I get the impression you could use one.”

  His hand was warm around hers, but not warm enough to explain the fire moving through her body.

  Maybe Stone was right.

  Maybe she did need a friend.

  She’d had friends during college, but she’d put everything on hold to take care of her mother and work. Slowly, one by one, friends had faded away.

  “You want to be my friend?” The possibility didn’t seem feasible. Why would he want to be her friend? Especially when she had little to offer a friendship?

  “Let’s be clear,” he clarified, clasping her hand more firmly. “I want to be your lover.”

  Had he really just said he wanted to be her lover?

  “But I’ll take being your friend if that’s what you’re willing to give.”

  Dear Reader,

  As a nurse, I see many family situations, one of which is a child providing care for a seriously ill parent. Carly was born in my imagination some time back, but I wasn’t quite sure of her story, or her hero. Fortunately, she kept nagging, wanting her story to be written, wanting her happy-ever-after.

  Nurse Carly Evans works two jobs, provides care for her mother and precariously balances finances. She doesn’t have time for the sparks that fly whenever the hospital’s sexy new surgeon is near. Plus, a great catch like Stone isn’t going to stick around for a woman who can’t make him a priority. Why set herself up for failure? Only, she can’t seem to resist the temptation he presents...

  Divorced Dr. Stone Parker wasn’t looking to meet someone. But from the first day they met, he connected with Carly. She needs his help, but insists upon pushing him away, just as his ex-wife did. If Carly won’t let him in, do they have a chance at happy-ever-after, or is history going to repeat itself?

  I hope you enjoy Carly and Stone’s story. As always, feel free to message me at [email protected].

  Janice

  A SURGEON TO HEAL HER HEART

  Janice Lynn

  Books by Janice Lynn

  Harlequin Medical Romance

  Christmas in Manhattan

  A Firefighter in Her Stocking

  Flirting with the Doc of Her Dreams

  New York Doc to Blushing Bride

  Winter Wedding in Vegas

  Sizzling Nights with Dr. Off-Limits

  It Started at Christmas...

  The Nurse’s Baby Secret

  The Doctor’s Secret Son

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  Janice won The National Readers’ Choice Award for her first book, The Doctor’s Pregnancy Bombshell

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  To all those caring for loved ones with chronic illnesses.

  Praise for Janice Lynn

  “Ms. Lynn has delivered a really good read in this story where emotions run high and the chemistry was strong and only got stronger...”

  —Harlequin Junkie on The Nurse’s Baby Secret

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  EPILOGUE

  EXCERPT FROM THE DOCTOR'S WIFE FOR KEEPS BY ALISON ROBERTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  “I’M TELLING YOU, that man has the hots for you.”

  At her co-worker’s words, the corners of nurse Carly Evans’ lips inched upward. Still, she shrugged as if the comment was no big deal. She needed to fight the excitement Rosalyn’s claim incited, not give her heart free rein to jump up and down with joy.

  Jump up and down? Ha. More like her heart was somersaulting worthy of a world-class medal.

  The same flip-flopping routine her heart went into any time she thought of the hospital’s newest general surgeon.

  Not that she had a right to feel that way. Not when she couldn’t do one thing about her heart’s acrobatics or any hots Dr. Stone Parker might have for her.

  Stone.

  Just thinking his name, how his eyes, his mouth had immediately crinkled with a smile when they’d met hers on this morning’s rounds, had her blood pounding. The erratic rhythm practically demanded a giddy schoolgirl dance with fists thrust into the air.

  Maybe her friend should be saying Carly had the hots for Stone.

  She did.

  For all the good it would do her.

  Which was the problem.

  She’d have been better off if she’d never met Stone, never felt the way he made every nerve cell inside her hum with life.

  That she wasn’t free hadn’t been a problem, until she’d met him. Now...now, she was torn and hated herself for it.

  Closing the medicine cart and nearly dropping the medications she’d just taken out, Carly took a long, steadying breath, and grimaced.

  “Uh-huh, I saw that so don’t go pretending you’re immune to the man.” Rosalyn’s dark brown eyes glowed with eagerness at Carly’s tell-tale motion. “I’ve seen you two talking, the sparks that fly back and forth. You like him, too. Admit it.”

  Wasn’t that the same as saying she liked to breathe? How could any sane, straight woman not like Stone? The man was gorgeous and the total package.

  Just over six feet tall, dark brown hair with the slightest hint of curl, green eyes that twinkled when he smiled, and a face that had inspired numerous fantasies... Yeah, Stone was ‘likable’.

  Just a tad.

  “He seems to be a great doctor and, of course, he’s a good-looking man.” Understatements of the year. “I can appreciate that, just as most females, including yourself, can,” Carly pointed out, using all her willpower to keep her voice level, cool, and as unaffected as possible. “But that does not mean I ‘like him’ like him.”

  Like liking Stone was a waste of emotions she didn’t have to spare.

  “Honey, you’re protesting too much.” Chuckling, Rosalyn practically rubbed her hands with glee. “Admit it. He makes you all hot beneath your nursing uniform.”

  Carly rolled her eyes at the nurse she’d worked side by side with for the past five years. Rosalyn was a big-hearted African American woman raising four teenagers with her mechanic husband. There was no one Carly would rather work with than the long-time med-surg nurse.

  Except
maybe for this moment. None of her other co-workers would initiate this particular conversation.

  Squaring her shoulders, Carly stared straight into her friend’s dark eyes.

  “I’m sure Dr. Parker is a very nice man.” He was. “I enjoy our conversations very much.” She did. “But whether or not he has the hots for me is totally irrelevant.” Sadly, the truth. “I’m not interested in a relationship with him, or anyone else, outside these hallowed walls.” Also, sadly, the truth.

  Inside the hospital walls Carly was a very different person from who she was outside them.

  Inside these walls she could focus on being a shining light to her patients and cling to the shadows of the Carly she’d once been.

  Part of her worried that Carly was shriveling into nothingness to disappear forever. Which might be why she enjoyed time around Stone so much. He gave her glimpses of a younger, carefree version of herself.

  Made her insides spark as if trying to relight a fire that used to brightly burn. In her fantasies, it still did.

  In the real world, that fire couldn’t be relit. Unfortunately.

  “Why is that?”

  Carly jumped at the question that came from behind her. Literally and figuratively. What? How?

  She’d been expecting Rosalyn to respond, not the familiar masculine voice that had the effect of morphing her insides to melted butter.

  When had he walked up behind her?

  Why hadn’t Rosalyn told her?

  Or at least given some indication he was on the medical floor and within earshot? She had to have seen him behind Carly.

  Rosalyn had set her up, playing matchmaker.

  Slowly, Carly turned to face the man she’d just been talking about.

  Insides quaking, she stared into the most beautiful green eyes she’d ever encountered. So green she could almost be convinced the color was the result of contact lenses. If she’d had any doubts, he was now close enough to put that question to rest. All she could see was gorgeous bright green eyes, the color of spring bringing life back after a long cold spell.

  Dark, long lashes fringed his eyes, giving them a surreal look that only added to his already handsome face. No doubt about it. Stone was easy to look at.

  She opened her mouth, meaning to tell him something, anything, but not the truth.

  The truth was something she kept private. Something she didn’t talk about with her co-workers because she needed to keep her life compartmentalized. At the hospital, she worked hard, was free to laugh with her co-workers and patients, to just feel normal and pretend life was grand.

  She wouldn’t let home creep into work.

  She couldn’t.

  Not if any part of her was to survive.

  Compartmentalization was her friend and kept her sane.

  “Yeah,” Rosalyn added, her amused gaze bouncing back and forth between Stone and Carly.

  Her co-worker was definitely having Cupid inclinations. In another lifetime, Carly would have welcomed her help, would have welcomed a man like Stone being interested. Welcomed and been over the moon. But that wasn’t where she was and probably wouldn’t be for years.

  Lord, she hoped it would be years.

  The alternative was unthinkable.

  Stone’s gaze cut to the grinning nurse who was watching them with the eagerness of a movie-goer. All she needed was a seat and some popcorn.

  “Rosalyn, would you mind getting a warm blanket for Room 207?” he asked. “That’s what I stepped out to do, but fortunately I ran into you lovely ladies.”

  Carly was one hundred percent sure “fortunately” was not what she’d call him overhearing her and Rosalyn’s conversation.

  Heat flooded Carly’s face and she glanced down at her tennis shoes, staring at the neon-green laces. Good work shoes were the one luxury she allowed herself. With the long hours she worked, good shoes mattered.

  “Yes, sir.” Rosalyn grinned at him, and then winked at Carly. Chuckling, she took off toward where the blanket warmer was located. “Just you remember what I said, Carly Evans,” she called without turning around. “It would do you some good to think about that.”

  Carly was pretty sure her cheeks were as red as her scrubs. Maybe more so as her scrubs were a little faded from too many washings.

  When Rosalyn was out of earshot, Stone turned back to Carly. One side of his mouth lifted in a wry smile. “I didn’t intentionally listen in, but will admit that I’m intrigued by what I heard. You mind explaining?”

  She minded. “How much did you hear?”

  “Enough to know I want to hear more.”

  Being careful not to spill Room 204’s medication from the cup, Carly put her hands on her hips. “Which tells me nothing.”

  “How much could I have overheard?” His eyes twinkled.

  Good grief, he’d heard everything. Was the fact that he was standing behind Carly why Rosalyn had mentioned him in the first place?

  “Not a lot.” Carly decided to go for nonchalant. Nonchalant was good and meant she didn’t care what he’d overheard. He didn’t know her private thoughts, nor would he ever. “Rosalyn had a theory about you. I told her that her theory was pointless as I wasn’t interested in anything beyond friendship.”

  “Which is where I asked why you weren’t interested.” His lips twitched, his eyes sparkled, and he was enjoying that he’d caught her having a conversation about him.

  “Yes,” she said for lack of knowing what else to say, a little flustered by the fact Stone didn’t mind that Rosalyn had said he had the hots for Carly. Which meant what?

  That he did have the hots for her?

  He’d flirted, but he was such a good-natured person, talking with everyone, so she’d consoled herself that her talking back was harmless, that nothing would come of their shared conversations. He wouldn’t really be interested in her outside of having a little fun at the hospital.

  He was a gorgeous doctor. She was just her. An overworked, over-stressed, financially stretched nurse doing all she could to provide care for her seriously ill mother.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” he pointed out, his intent gaze warning she’d been fooling herself on thinking their conversations didn’t mean anything.

  Her pulse drummed rapidly at her temple.

  “I wasn’t having a discussion with you,” she reminded him, knowing she had to get her thoughts, her reaction to him, under control. Better to stay in denial than to acknowledge what she couldn’t have, what she couldn’t let herself have. “You weren’t a part of the conversation you interrupted.”

  She wanted to be irritated with him, but how could anyone be upset with him when he had such an all-encompassing smile on his face? A smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes, dug dimples into his cheeks, and made his eyes sparkle?

  Good grief. The man was incorrigible. And so gorgeous. And so out of her reach. Still, the way he made her feel was addictive, like a magic spell that gave everything a shiny glow.

  A shiny glow she’d like to bask in, but life had other plans for her. Plans that didn’t include time for a dalliance with the most intriguing man she’d ever met.

  She arched a brow and shook her head. “Some would say eavesdropping was rude, you know?”

  His left dimple dug a little deeper. “I’m part of the conversation now.”

  She rolled her eyes upward. “Not by my choice.”

  He laughed. “You saying I’m holding you here against your will?”

  Carly shrugged. “Obviously not. If you’ll excuse me?” She went to push past him.

  “I won’t.”

  Eyes wide, Carly stopped, met his for once serious gaze. “Pardon?”

  “I won’t excuse you,” he clarified. “Not this time. Eavesdropping was rude. You’re right. But since I was the topic of conversation, surely I’m forgiven fo
r jumping in?”

  Her insides shook so that she still might end up spilling those meds she held yet. “There’s no rule that says I have to forgive you for butting into my conversation.”

  “Even when the conversation is about me?”

  “Especially when the conversation is about you.”

  He chuckled. “You should have dinner with me tonight and let me convince you to forgive my so-called rudeness. Plus, we can discuss why my having the hots for you doesn’t matter because it matters a great deal to me.”

  Guilt hit Carly. This was her fault. She should have put a stop to whatever sparks Rosalyn said were flying between them but she’d not dared to believe he was really interested in her.

  Sure, he’d gone out of his way to start conversations, asking her things he could have asked any hospital employee. He’d sat back in the break room with her a few times while she’d quickly swallowed down whatever she’d packed from home.

  His sitting with her while she ate should have made her horribly uncomfortable, but instead she’d found herself regretting how quickly her short lunch break had slipped by while they’d talked. He’d asked about her favorite parts of Memphis and, drawing upon her childhood and college memories, she’d told him. No need to tell him that for five years she’d not been to any of those places. Surely, they hadn’t changed that much in such a short time?

  Then again, she’d changed that much.

  Aged a hundred years, at least.

  But for all that, she’d thought their interactions innocent. She’d figured Stone had svelte, glamorous women lined up in droves out there in the real world. Talking with Carly was just a fun way to pass time when he was at work.

  Had she really believed that?

  Or had she refused to believe anything else because she enjoyed his attention and hadn’t wanted to give it up?

  She didn’t lead on men when she had no intentions of following through. So if he was interested then, yeah, she had to put a halt to it right now.

  Carly’s throat tightened as she said, “Our discussing that would be an utter waste of both of our time.”