Page 3 of Irresistible

In the light of day and with some of the trauma of yesterday behind me, I notice a lot more than I did then. Her long blonde hair falls past her slim shoulders and stunning tits, and she has the most expressive—somewhere between venomous and curious at the moment—hazel eyes and full pink lips. The little girl looks like the woman’s mini-me but with dark brown eyes and lighter hair. She’s wearing aBeauty and the Beastnightgown and her cheeks are rosy, her eyes glazed with signs of a fever. Between growing up with a little sister and treating enough little girls, the Disney princesses and I are on a first-name basis.

The two of them look exhausted, dark circles under their eyes and hair going everywhere. I feel a little bad for all that hostility I shot her way last night. I don’t care much about my damn car, even though Bill stays so busy with auto repair here in town that it could take a shit-ton of time before it’s fixed.

For a brief moment, I want to scoop these two up and tuck them under the covers, let them both rest a while.

But when the woman’s eyes narrow on me and she stands up, her petite frame defiant in front of me, I remember how lippy she was and I’m back to being annoyed.

It has been aroughtwenty-four hours.

“You’reDr. Wyatt?” she says. “Great. Just great.” She leans her head back and grips the bridge of her nose between two fingers. “You are the last person I want to see right now.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” she says, leaning in so only I can hear. “My little girl is sick, and I don’t care who you are, I’m not gonna have some rude, egotistical bast—” She pauses and looks back at her daughter, who is sleepily watching us as she clutches her pink blanket. “Can we please see another doctor?”

Her accent really works for her. It’s both endearing and maddening.

“Are you hearing me?” She props her hand on her hip and her eyes flash at me.

“Believe me, I’d hand you off to Dr. Langley or Dr. Brady if I could, but it looks like your little girl needs someone to see her right now, not in the hour it’ll take for them to get to her.”

She blinks, her chest rising and falling. She takes one last deep breath and holds up her hand. “Okay, fine.”

She steps back and her next words are louder and injected with a lot more warmth than I know she’s feeling. For her daughter’s sake, I’m sure. She’sgood.

“Uh, I’m Marlow Hennessy and this is my daughter, Dakota. She’s been sick for a couple of days and the fever just won’t go away,” Marlow says.

Marlow.

I did wonder what her name was as I drove home last night. She looks like a Marlow. Sexy as all hell and tenacious, ready to take on whatever she has to, whether she feels like it or not.

I clear my throat and try to get my wayward thoughts under control. Putting all my focus on the little girl, which is what I should’ve been doing in the first place, I smile at her and mentally reset.

“Hi, Dakota. I hear you’re not feeling so well.”

She shakes her head and sniffles. I sit down and face her.

“Would you mind sayingahhand I’ll take a look at your throat? Are you hiding Belle in there?”

Her eyes light up and she giggles.

“No,” she says before opening her mouth wide.

I study her throat and it’s red but doesn’t look too bad. “You’re right. No Belle in your throat.” I feel the sides of her neck and grin. “Not here either. Let’s see if you swallowed any of her books.” I hold up my stethoscope and listen to her heartbeat and it sounds steady, no fluid in the lungs. “Whew, I’m glad you didn’t swallow Belle’s books. That’d be sad.”

“I’dneverswallow books,” she says, laughing.

Marlow smiles at Dakota and squeezes her hand.

I pretend to wipe the sweat off of my brow in relief.

“One more place to check.” I pick up the otoscope and show it to Dakota. She studies it carefully. “I’d like to take a look in your ears if you don’t mind.”

She nods and glances at her mom, smiling. I make the mistake of looking at her mom too, and Marlow’s eyes are also lit up, as she smiles the sweetest smile at her little girl. When she looks at me, her eyes are open and vulnerable. I blink and nearly drop the otoscope, and it so fully and completely fucks me up, I nearly leave the room to see if Emma can take over.

Which is exactly what I should’ve done as soon as I walked in and saw this honey-blonde siren.

Something flashes across the otoscope and I glance up, seeing the wedding ring on Marlow’s ring finger.

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