Dr. Irresistible. Elizabeth Bevarly

      “Why Did You Kiss Me That Way?” She Demanded.

      “That way?” Seth asked. “Well, that particular kiss—number seven—just happens to be the best way I know how,” he quipped.

      She didn’t alter her expression. “But why did you do it?”

      “Why did you let me?”

      She shook her head. “Don’t ever do that again.”

      Seth inhaled a slow, steadying breath. “Then tell me, Prudence, what do you want? I seem to recall something of a personal nature that you needed to discuss with me—alone.”

      “I want you…” Her voice trailed off.

      Hope flickered inside Seth. “You want me?”

      He arched an eyebrow quizzically.

      “I mean—” She inhaled one more breath, and released it in a rush of words. “I want you—need you—to be my husband.”

      Dear Reader,

      Twenty years ago in May, the first Silhouette romance was published, and in 2000 we’re celebrating our 20^th anniversary all year long! Celebrate with us—and start with six powerful, passionate, provocative love stories from Silhouette Desire.

      Elizabeth Bevarly offers a MAN OF THE MONTH so tempting that we decided to call it Dr. Irresistible! Enjoy this sexy tale about a single-mom nurse who enlists a handsome doctor to pose as her husband at her tenth high school reunion. The wonderful miniseries LONE STAR FAMILIES: THE LOGANS, by bestselling author Leanne Banks, continues with Expecting His Child, a sensual romance about a woman carrying the child of her family’s nemesis after a stolen night of passion.

      Ever-talented Cindy Gerard returns to Desire with In His Loving Arms, in which a pregnant widow is reunited with the man who’s haunted her dreams for seven years. Sheikhs abound in Alexandra Sellers’ Sheikh’s Honor, a new addition to her dramatic miniseries SONS OF THE DESERT. The Desire theme promotion, THE BABY BANK, about women who find love unexpectedly when seeking sperm donors, continues with Metsy Hingle’s The Baby Bonus. And newcomer Kathie DeNosky makes her Desire debut with Did You Say Married?!, in which the heroine wakes up in Vegas next to a sexy cowboy who turns out to be her newly wed husband.

      What a lineup! So this May, for Mother’s Day, why not treat your mom—and yourself—to all six of these highly sensual and emotional love stories from Silhouette Desire!

      Enjoy!

      Joan Marlow Golan

      Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

      Dr. Irresistible

      Elizabeth Bevarly

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      For Eli,

       my little guy, who is truly irresistible.

      ELIZABETH BEVARLY

      is an honors graduate of the University of Louisville and achieved her dream of writing full-time before she even turned thirty! At heart, she is also an avid voyager who once helped navigate a friend’s thirty-five-foot sailboat across the Bermuda Triangle. Her dream is to one day have her own sailboat, a beautifully renovated older-model forty-two-footer, and to enjoy the freedom and tranquillity seafaring can bring. Elizabeth likes to think she has a lot in common with the characters she creates, people who know love and life go hand in hand. And she’s getting some firsthand experience with motherhood, as well—she and her husband have a six-year-old son, Eli.

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Epilogue

      One

      Dr. Seth Mahoney fingered the scalpel in his left hand gingerly, wondering where, exactly, to begin the incision he needed to make. The nurse standing beside him, who gazed over his shoulder, likewise pondered the heart that lay waiting for cutting, but she said nothing to inspire Seth’s decision. It was a tricky business, how to proceed, and there was an enormous amount of pressure on him to do this correctly. The happiness of more than a few people depended on the success of this operation.

      For long moments he pondered his dilemma. Should he cut straight up and down? Or across the middle? Diagonally? If so, which way? From left auricle to right ventricle? Or from left ventricle to right auricle? And which ones were the auricles, anyway? Top or bottom? He always had gotten auricles and ventricles confused. And how many pieces was he supposed to cut the heart into again? He’d forgotten.

      Finally, unable to decide how best to perform this particular procedure and, quite frankly, at his wit’s end, Seth muttered, “Ah, what the hell.” Then he curled his fist around the scalpel’s handle and, with one fierce jab, drove it deep into the center of the heart.

      “Oh, nicely done, Dr. Mahoney,” the nurse beside him muttered wryly. “I bet you’re the kind of guy who runs with scissors, too, aren’t you?”

      “Hey, cut me some slack, Renee,” he countered, spinning around to face her full-on. With much exasperation, he ran both hands through his pale-blond hair, then doubled them into fists on his Dockers-clad hips. “You act like this is such a big deal. I mean, jeez, it’s not brain surgery, you know.”

      And of course he himself did know. He was one of New Jersey’s—hey, perhaps one of the nation’s—leading neurosurgeons. He just didn’t know squat about hearts, that was all.

      Especially hearts made of cake.

      “Congratulations on your engagement, Renee,” he muttered to the room at large. He left the scalpel where it lay, jutting garishly out of the blood-red icing. “I’m just so damned happy for you, I can’t stand it. Nor can I cut this cake. You guys are on your own.”

      Hell, let everybody cut their own pieces, he thought. How was he supposed to get two dozen slices of equal size from such a strangely shaped confection, anyway? “Some of us have pulled double duty and would like to go home,” he continued irritably. “Now if you’ll excuse me…?”

      As an afterthought he withdrew the scalpel, intent on returning it to the OR, from which he’d filched it in the first place. But before he could even complete one step toward the exit, the entreaties began in earnest.

      “Oh, come on, Dr. Mahoney,” a collection of voices cajoled. Nurses, doctors and orderlies alike begged his forgiveness and urged him to stay.

      “We’re sorry, Seth…”

      “We didn’t mean it…”

      “We were just kidding…”

      “We’ll let you have the biggest piece…”

      “You’re the only one who knows how to do this right…”

      “We need that scalpel—we couldn’t find a knife…”

      But their gentle wheedling did little to soothe him. He was tired, he was irritable, he’d had a rotten day and he wanted to go home. The last thing he wanted to do was join his colleagues in a party to celebrate the upcoming marriage of one of their