Dr. Charming

He’d made Gina suspicious.

And he didn’t want her suspicious. He wanted her to treat him as she had before. As a friend. He wanted her to talk to him as if she liked him, Nick Balfour, the man. Not Nick Balfour, the eminent surgeon, or Nick Balfour, the very wealthy owner of the monstrous trust fund his grandfather had left him. Being valued for himself was an intoxicating experience that he didn’t want to give up until he had to. He wanted to bask in the feeling for just a while longer.

He knew things would change once he told Gina the truth….

Dear Reader,

Spring is here. And what better way to enjoy nature’s renewed vigor than with an afternoon on the porch swing, lost in four brand-new stories of love everlasting from Silhouette Romance?

New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer leads our lineup this month with Cattleman’s Pride (#1718), the latest in her LONG, TALL TEXANS miniseries. Get to know the stubborn, seductive rancher and the shy innocent woman who yearns for him. Will her love be enough to corral his heart?

When a single, soon-to-be mom hires a matchmaker to find her a practical husband, she makes it clear she doesn’t want a man who inspires reckless passion…but then she meets her new boss! In Myrna Mackenzie’s miniseries THE BRIDES OF RED ROSE classic legends take on a whole new interpretation. Don’t miss Midas’s Bride (#1719)!

Her Millionaire Marine (#1720), from USA TODAY bestselling author Cathie Linz, and part of her MEN OF HONOR miniseries, finds a beautiful lawyer making sure the marine she secretly adores fulfills his grandfather’s will. Falling in love with the daredevil is not part of the plan!

And Judith McWilliams’s Dr. Charming (#1721) puts a stranded female traveler in the path of a mysterious doctor; she agrees to take a job in exchange for a temporary home—with him. Now, this man makes her want to explore passion, but can he tempt her to take the ultimate risk?

Sincerely,

Mavis C. Allen

Associate Senior Editor

MILLS & BOON

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To Moses, with love and gratitude for eight wonderful years

Books by Judith McWilliams

Silhouette Romance

Gift of the Gods #479

The Summer Proposal #1562

Her Secret Children #1648

Did You Say…Wife? #1681

Dr. Charming #1721

Silhouette Desire

Reluctant Partners #441

A Perfect Season #545

That’s My Baby #597

Anything’s Possible! #911

The Man from Atlantis #954

Instant Husband #1001

Practice Husband #1062

Another Man’s Baby #1095

The Boss, the Beauty and the Bargain #1122

The Sheik’s Secret #1228

JUDITH McWILLIAMS

began to enjoy romances while in search of the proverbial “happily-ever-after.” But she always found herself rewriting the endings—and eventually the beginnings—of the books she read. Then her husband finally suggested that she write novels of her own, and she’s been doing so ever since.

An ex-teacher with four children, Judith has traveled the country extensively with her husband and has been greatly influenced by those experiences. While not tending the garden or caring for her family, Judith does what she enjoys most—writing. She has also written under the name of Charlotte Hines.

Dear Diary,

I can’t believe that all these years my mother had been lying about having so-called life-threatening ailments. As soon as I learned the truth, I got in a car and drove. I can finally have a life of my own.

So here I am stranded in beautiful New England. Did I mention my car was stolen and the most handsome man in the universe rescued me? I’m staying in his cabin temporarily. Now, wouldn’t that scandalize Mother? Who knows what the future will bring…? I can’t wait!

Footloose and fancy-free,

Gina

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

Prologue

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Gina Tessereck mentally braced herself for the wave of guilt she always felt at upsetting her mother. To her surprise, it didn’t come. Cautiously she probed and found nothing. Nothing at all. It was as if all of her feelings were locked behind a tightly closed door. A door she didn’t dare open because if she did…

“I asked you a question, Gina! Why didn’t you let me know you were home from work early? You know how much I worry at the least little unexplained noise. Really, at twenty-seven, you’d think you might have learned a little consideration. It won’t be long before I’ll be gone, and you can do exactly as you wish.”

Gina looked up from the suitcase she had been haphazardly flinging clothes into, and studied her mother’s small, delicate features. Why had she never noticed the hardness in her mother’s china-blue eyes or the petulant droop of her mouth?

“What is the matter with you? Why are you standing there gawking at me? You haven’t lost your job, have you?” Helen’s voice sharpened.

“I didn’t lose it, Mother. I resigned it. Effective immediately.”

Gina walked over to her closet and opened the door, instinctively rejecting the clothes inside. All those ruffles and soft pastels didn’t suit her. They suited her mother’s petite figure and blond coloring. On her own five-ten frame they looked fussy, and the pale pastels made her look washed-out.

Never again would she buy something that didn’t suit her simply to keep the peace, she vowed as she closed the door with a decided snap.

“How many times have I told you not to slam doors?” her mother demanded.

“I don’t know,” Gina said honestly. “But I do know that this is the last time you’ll ever have to do it, because I’m leaving.”

“Leaving!” Her mother clutched her chest and started to gasp. “I feel…”

Gina watched with a feeling of numbness. “You missed your calling, Mother. You should have gone on the stage.”

Turning away, Gina scooped the last of her underwear out of her dresser drawer, tossed it into her suitcase and yanked the zipper closed.

Her mother’s mouth fell open in shock at Gina’s totally unexpected response. “How can you say that to your own mother?”

“Come to that, how could you lie to your own daughter? Your doctor called me at work this morning and asked me to come by his office on my lunch hour. It was a most enlightening meeting.” Gina cringed at the humiliating memory. “He gave me a lecture about how I was stifling you. About how you’d told him I’d sabotaged your efforts to get a job to help fill your time since Dad died.” Gina’s rigid control cracked slightly at the thought of her beloved father. “The doctor also assured me there was absolutely nothing wrong with your heart.”

“You probably misunderstood him,” her mother insisted. “You really aren’t the world’s brightest person, you know.”

Gina ignored the oft-repeated comment.

“And after I left his office, I got to wondering what else you might have lied to me about, so I went to see the lawyer who handled Dad’s estate.”

“You had no right!”

Gina’s light blue eyes momentarily darkened with anger. “As one of the beneficiaries, I had every right. I found out that, far from leaving you almost penniless as you’d claimed, Dad left you more than enough money to live on. Not only that but he left me enough money to finish my degree.”

Gina jerked her suitcase off the bed and started toward the door.

“But you can’t leave me!” her mother screamed. “I love you.”

Gina paused and looked back at her mother. “Is love your excuse or your explanation for what you’ve done?”

Her mother ignored the question. “Where are you going? What are you going to do?”

“I’m going as far away from here as I can get, and as for what I’m going to do, I intend to start living instead of just existing,” Gina said as she turned and walked out the door.

Chapter One

Gina gently touched the brakes of her car as she rounded a sharp bend in the narrow Massachusetts road and saw the lights of a small village directly ahead.

She shifted restlessly, trying to relieve some of the stiffness driving all day had caused. Her stomach, as if in sympathy with her muscles, gave a sudden rumble, reminding her that it had been a long time since lunch.

When she reached the village, she slowed to a crawl, looking for someplace to eat. Finding a brightly lit diner, she parked in front of it.

Grabbing her purse, she got out of the car and automatically locked it. A fugitive gust of crisp September wind raised goose bumps on her bare arms and whipped her reddish-brown hair into her face. She absently pushed it back as she considered unlocking the car and digging through her luggage to find a sweater. Finally she decided she wouldn’t be outside long enough for it to be worth the trouble.

She started toward the restaurant and then paused when a garish sign across the street advertising Bill’s Bar caught her eye. Turning, she studied the faintly dilapidated building, taking in what seemed to be a score of neon signs advertising beers, most of which she’d never heard of.

Her gaze swung back to the restaurant. It looked staidly middle class and boringly respectable. Whereas Bill’s Bar looked daring. Adventurous. In keeping with the new life she was determined to carve for herself.

Definitely Bill’s Bar, she decided.

Not giving herself a chance to change her mind, she quickly crossed the street, pushed open the bar’s door and stepped inside.

Nervously her gaze swept the crowded, noisy room. Feeling conspicuous, she hurriedly sat down at an empty table near the door. Picking up the cardboard menu lying on the red-and-white-checked plastic tablecloth, she studied it. It was heavy on imported beers and light on food.

A middle-aged waitress appeared a few minutes later. “What can I get you?”

“A bowl of chili, apple pie and a cup of coffee,” Gina said.

“Won’t be a minute.” The waitress headed back to the kitchen, calling out Gina’s order to someone named Margie as she went.

Gina leaned against the back of the scuffed wooden chair and surreptitiously studied the bar’s patrons while she waited for her food. A large party at the back seemed to be having a great time. A wistful smile curved Gina’s mouth at the infectious sound of their laughter.

“Here you are, miss.” The waitress slapped a big bowl filled to the brim with chili down in front of her. A steaming cup of coffee followed. “I’ll get your pie in a minute.”

Gina was adding milk to her coffee when the bar’s door opened and a slither of chilly night air wrapped itself around her ankles.

“Hey, Nick, how’s the arm coming?” a man from the back of the room called out.

Curious, Gina turned to see who Nick was. Her eyes widened when she saw the man standing just inside the door. He was tall. At least six inches taller than she was. And broad. She measured the substantial width of his shoulders beneath the thick, cream Aryan sweater he was wearing.

Unconsciously her tongue moistened her lower lip as her eyes traveled down over his flat stomach and his long, jean-covered legs.

Hastily she glanced down at her chili, trying to stifle her sudden, inexplicable fascination with his body. She took a slow, deep breath, hoping the flush she could feel burning her face wasn’t visible to anyone else in the room.

What was the matter with her? she wondered uneasily. So what if the man was built like the embodiment of every sexual fantasy she’d ever had. She was old enough to know that sexual attraction was nothing more than nature’s way of ensuring the continuation of the species.

Compulsively her gaze returned to the man. Maybe so, she conceded, but in his case, nature had certainly baited one very attractive trap.

She watched from beneath her lashes as the man walked toward the bar, sat down and reached for a glass of beer the bartender placed in front of him without a word ever having been spoken.

A regular patron, Gina concluded as she studied the man’s ruggedly carved features, her eyes lingering on the strength of his square chin. He had a strong face. Not conventionally handsome, but arresting. Full of character and strength.

Gina watched as he awkwardly picked up his beer with his left hand. Curious, her gaze swung to his right hand and she noticed a cast peeping out from beneath the sleeve of his sweater. He appeared to have broken either his arm or his wrist.

Her eyes narrowed speculatively as he impatiently shoved his fingers through his inky black hair. Nick, whoever he was, did not appear to be in the best of humors. Was his arm painful? she wondered, finding the idea strangely unacceptable. Or maybe something else was bothering him? Maybe he was recovering from a bad relationship? she thought fancifully. Maybe his heart was broken?

Gina’s gaze traced over the sensual line of his lips and mentally jettisoned the idea. He looked like a man who would break hearts, not have his own broken.

Absently, she picked up her spoon and started to eat, her eyes never leaving Nick. He appealed to her on an instinctive level she hadn’t even been aware had existed until now.

Sex, she mocked her own reaction. That was all it was. Plain old animal attraction.

But what an animal Nick was, she thought dreamily. The king of the beasts. Rugged and…

“Here’s your pie, miss,” the waitress’s voice broke into her thoughts.

Gina blinked and looked down, surprised to see that she’d finished her chili.

“Thank you,” Gina said, hoping the woman hadn’t noticed her preoccupation with Nick.

It was a vain hope. The waitress leaned closer and whispered, “That’s our Nick Balfour. He has a place outside-a town. Known him since he was a kid. And his folks before him. And he ain’t got no wife tucked away like some I could mention. You like what you see, kiddo, grab it. Life’s too short not to.”

Gina’s stomach did a sudden flip-flop, and her fingers began to tingle as she imagined what Nick would feel like if she were brave enough to take the woman’s advice and grab him. He’d feel firm and warm and…

“Think about it, kiddo. Like they say, you only go round once.”

“Um, thank you,” Gina muttered.

Satisfied, the waitress gave her a thumbs-up and sauntered off.

Taking a deep breath to slow her racing heart, Gina looked back at Nick. He was staring into his beer as if he expected to find the secret of eternal life written on the bottom of the glass.

There was no getting around it. She found Nick Balfour fascinating, she faced the fact with her usual lack of self-deception. At least, she found his physical appearance fascinating, and she’d very much like to find out if his personality measured up to his body’s promise.

No, nobody could have a personality as great as his body was, she conceded. She simply wanted to see if the personality came anywhere close.

So how did one go about picking up a man in a bar? Gina searched her memory for a clue and came up blank. The situation had never come up before.

Think. She tried to organize her muddled thoughts into a plan. Women have been picking up men since time immemorial. If they can do it, so can you.

Maybe she could make a comment that demanded an answer? Something like what’s a gorgeous hunk like you doing nursing a beer in a backwater bar like this? Gina choked on her coffee at the thought of actually being blasé enough to say something that trite.

There was always the weather or that old chestnut about haven’t we met before. But even if she was willing to try such a clichéd opening, first she had to get close enough to him to do it.

She laid her fork down beside the now-empty pie plate and considered the problem. If she walked over to him and tried to strike up a conversation, and he brushed her off or, even worse, ignored her, she’d be mortified.

But did it really matter if she was embarrassed? She didn’t know any of these people. Did she really care what they thought? No, she didn’t, but she did care what Nick thought, she conceded. It might not make any sense, considering the fact that he was a stranger, but she did care what he thought of her.

She cast a furtive glance at his uncompromising profile. He was still staring into his beer. He certainly wasn’t watching her. She doubted if he’d even seen her when he’d come in. Not really seen her. Men almost never did. She was too tall and too skinny and too…too nondescript to generate much interest in the opposite sex.

Face it, Gina Tessereck, she told herself. You haven’t got what it takes to set masculine hearts ablaze. But it would be nice if she could ignite a spark of interest in just one, she thought wistfully.

She grimaced. The list of what she would like to be different in her life was as long as her arm, and moaning about it wasn’t going to change anything. Only action would change things. And no matter how uncomfortable or embarrassing it might turn out to be, she was determined to change. To grow. She’d given herself until the winter semester at college began to expand her horizons. And she intended to start by traveling and by exploring an emotional relationship with a man.

Compulsively, her gaze returned to Nick. He looked as if he were positively bursting with fantastic possibilities. All she had to do was to have the courage to tap them. Her lips firmed in determination.

Opening her purse, she took out money to pay her bill and dropped it on the table along with a good-size tip for the helpful waitress as she mulled over the problem of making contact with Nick.

She could walk up to the bar and ask the bartender for a bottle of beer to take out with her, she considered. Then, while the bartender was getting it, she could turn to Nick and ask him if he knew of any bed-and-breakfast places nearby. It was a reasonable question to use to start a conversation.

Swallowing nervously, Gina got to her feet. But before she could move toward the bar, someone touched her arm.

Startled, she turned to find herself looking at a slightly overweight, middle-aged man who gave her a leering smile and then ran his eyes over her body with a lascivious look that made her skin crawl.

“I beg your pardon!” Gina gave him her best imitation of her mother’s freezing outrage. “I don’t believe I’ve met you.”

“That’s easy enough to fix. I’m Jim, and who are you, babycakes?”

Gina blinked uncertainly, not sure what to do. Jim wasn’t following the script. He was supposed to retreat in the face of her obvious disinterest. Instead he’d inched closer. Close enough for her to smell the sickly sweet odor of his cologne. Her stomach rolled protestingly.

“I’m not interested,” she muttered, not wanting him near her, but also not wanting to bolt for the door and give up any chance of speaking to Nick Balfour.

“How do you know that? Why don’t you let me buy you a beer, and we can get acquainted?” Jim insisted, seeming to find her nervousness a turn-on.

Nick turned as the whiny pitch of Jim’s voice grated across his nerves. His eyes narrowed speculatively as he saw the woman the older man was trying to pick up. Jim’s taste in women had definitely improved. Not only was she satisfyingly tall, but… His eyes slipped down the length of her slender figure, lingering on the slight thrust of her breasts beneath her dark-green shirt.

He shivered as he imagined the feel of her breast filling his hand. Trying to control his body’s instinctive response to the provocative thought, he forced his gaze upward, only to find that her face was just as intriguing as her body. He studied the slight tilt of her nose with its faint dusting of freckles, which perfectly matched her reddish-brown hair, before moving on to the full curve of her pink lips. They made him long to feel them beneath his own. To find out if they really were as soft and pliable as they looked.

He watched as her face paled in annoyance at Jim’s refusal to take no for an answer. Or was it fear?

Odd, he thought curiously. A woman that attractive should be experienced enough to flatten lechers like Jim without even thinking about it. And yet she didn’t seem to be able to shake him off.

Why not? he wondered, and then hastily quashed his interest. It wasn’t any of his business, he told himself. He couldn’t afford to get involved. Women, especially those who looked the way she did, demanded more from a man than he had to give. Bitter experience had taught him that.

Nick sighed as he saw the sudden flare of panic in her expressive eyes when Jim inched even closer to her. She shouldn’t be out alone if she didn’t know how to deal with the Jims of the world. She had no right involving innocent bystanders in her problems.

But right or not, he was unable to resist the growing fear he could see in her face. It wouldn’t take long, he told himself as he got off the bar stool. He’d slap down Jim, walk her to her car and that would be the end of it. He refused to even acknowledge the flash of loss he felt at the thought.

“You heard the lady, Jim.” A dark, velvety voice flowed soothingly over Gina’s agitated nerves. She turned to find herself staring into Nick Balfour’s cool gray eyes. She felt as if she could drown in their incredible depths. She took a deep breath, trying to break their mesmerizing hold on her, and the faintly spicy fragrance of his cologne filled her nostrils.

“Give it up, Jim.” Nick’s voice hardened perceptibly when Jim didn’t move.

“Hey, no call to get all bent outta shape, Nick.” Jim held up his hands as if warding him off. “I didn’t realize I was poaching. But if you should decide you want a change, babycakes, give me a call. Everyone knows me.”

Gina’s breath escaped on a relieved sigh as Jim returned to his own table.

“I’m Nick Balfour. I’ll walk you to your car.”

“Gina Tessereck, and thank you,” she muttered as she scrambled for something bright and witty to say. Something that would make him want to linger to get to know her better.

“Do you come here often?” Gina mentally cringed as she heard the inane question emerge from her mouth.

“No. Where are you parked?” he asked her as they emerged from the bar.

“Across the street,” she said, trying not to let her chagrin at his clear disinterest show.

His hand unexpectedly closed around her arm as she stepped off the curb, and he jerked her back as a car hurtled past them.

Gina landed against his chest. She could feel the scratchy sensation of his wool sweater against her cheek, and the heat pouring from his large body momentarily suspended her rational thought.