A Passionate Proposal. Emilie Rose

clamped his lips closed and tried to breathe normally. Her scent filled his senses. She stood so close that all he had to do was lift his hands a few inches to span her waist. But he wouldn’t. Casual friend-to-friend kisses and touches were one thing, but that wasn’t what he wanted right now. Need charged through his body like a pack of hungry dogs. Need that would go unfulfilled. He clenched his fists.

      Her gaze met his and her smile slowly faded. She lowered her hands, wet her lips and glanced back toward Josh. Her throat worked as she swallowed once, twice, and a dark flush swept her cheekbones. There was no mistaking the sexual tension clogging the air.

      She cleared her throat and busied herself with cleaning up his breakfast dishes. “Tomorrow, I’ll handle breakfast.”

      The last thing he wanted was to ruin their friendship.

      “Thanks.” His voice sounded as though he’d swallowed a handful of gravel. He beat a hasty retreat, eager, he was ashamed to admit, to get out of the house before he did something stupid like kiss her until they ended up naked and horizontal.

      What he needed was a good dose of something that didn’t make him feel like a failure. Work. He had an exemplary bedside manner, and his diagnostic skills were superb, or so his instructors back at Duke had told him.

      Obviously, Josh didn’t see the same qualities.

      Cort shrugged on a clean shirt and tie. He’d never shirked hard work, but usually his diligence produced visible results. No such luck with Josh. The harder he tried, the worse the situation seemed to get with his son. The baby books were a prime example. He’d practically memorized the parenting books he’d found on Kate’s shelves only to have Tracy tell him to ignore them and follow his gut instinct.

      Not a chance. He trusted his gut when it came to patients, but not with his personal life, because with Josh and Tracy his gut was one big knot of apprehension.