The Doctor's Valentine Dare. Cindy Kirk

hadn’t attained the age of twenty-nine without being kissed. In fact her first kiss had come at the tender age of fourteen by the fifteen-year-old neighbor boy. But never had she been kissed like this.

      It started slowly, a gentle melding of lips. Noah’s mouth was warm and inviting. Before Josie realized what she was doing, she’d stepped into him, winding her arms around his neck.

      The instant his tongue pressed for entry, she opened her mouth. Fireworks exploded and her blood turned to fire. Suddenly, close wasn’t close enough. She wanted, no, needed, more, needed to be under his skin.

      As she pressed against his body, hers soft where his was rock-hard, she heard him mutter a curse. She’d just slid her fingers into his hair when he took a step back.

      “Too many people.” His gravelly voice seemed to come from far away. “We’ve got to slow this down.”

      Get yourself under control.

      Though he didn’t speak the words, she’d heard them all her life.

      Even as Josie’s heart continued to slam against her ribs, she managed a careless shrug, grateful for the mask concealing her heated cheeks.

      “I’ve always enjoyed mistletoe.” She gave a carefree laugh. “Perhaps a little too much.”

      The flicker in Noah’s eyes told Josie he’d caught her meaning. She was saying she’d have enjoyed any kiss under a sprig of berries and leaves.

      As if to illustrate, Josie grabbed the hand of a man who was strolling past. Thick chestnut hair tumbled above a half mask of red and gold. When he inclined his head questioningly, she pointed upward.

      Something about the quick flash of his grin was vaguely familiar. The stranger didn’t hesitate. He leaned close and placed his mouth against hers. Unlike her experience with the sharp-eyed doctor who stood watching, this lip-lock didn’t ignite even the tiniest of sparks. Of course, that could simply be because all the fireworks had been used up moments before.

      Josie stepped back and offered the stranger a smile. “Have a nice evening. Happy New Year.”

      “I’ll definitely be seeing you around.” Though his voice was slightly familiar, Josie didn’t care enough to try to place him. She’d made her point.

      “You don’t have a clue who he is.” Noah’s voice sounded in her ear. Though he’d kept his distance while the kiss was in progress, he stepped forward the instant the other guy walked off.

      Josie lifted one shoulder in a noncommittal shrug. “Does it matter?”

      “He could have been your brother.” Noah took her arm and steered her out of range of the mistletoe.

      Josie stiffened, then chided herself for being so gullible. “Benedict is a good three inches taller.”

      “You weren’t thinking about that when you jumped the guy,” Noah pointed out.

      “I didn’t jump—” she began, then stopped when she saw the twinkle in the neurosurgeon’s eyes. “Har. Har.”

      “I’d have laughed if it had been Benedict.” Noah adroitly snagged two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter. “Even better...your father.”

      Josie’s gagging noise made him chuckle.

      She took a sip of champagne and gazed at him through lowered lashes. With broad shoulders, long legs and a lean athletic build, the man was made for black tie. The shiny dark strands of his hair, cut a bit too short for her taste, glistened like burnished walnut in the light of the chandelier.

      The fingers wrapped around his own glass of champagne were long and elegant, much like an artist’s. Then again, she supposed Noah was an artist of sorts. Instead of a garret, his studio was a brilliantly lit operating room and his brush, a scalpel.

      The reminder that she’d kissed a doctor with such unrestrained passion had her wrinkling her nose.

      “Is something wrong with your champagne?” He glanced around as if searching for a waiter.

      “It’s not the drink, it’s you,” she blurted then waited for the disapproving look.

      Instead, Noah contemplated her as if she was a puzzle he was having difficulty solving.

      “You’re a doctor,” she added for clarification, then flushed. Perhaps her father had been on to something with all his “think first” admonishments.

      “Not for tonight,” he said smoothly, taking her arm and moving them in the direction of the back of the house. “Tonight let me be simply the man in the black mask, who you enjoy kissing.”

      “I do not, ah, did not—”

      One look from those brilliant blue eyes stopped the protest. She couldn’t deny the explosive chemistry between them, any more than she could control the shivers his touch elicited.

      “Are you suggesting we pretend to be someone we’re not for the evening?” Though she found the thought intriguing, Josie knew she must have misunderstood. There was no way this straitlaced, serious doctor would suggest something so daring.

      An emotion she couldn’t quite decipher flickered in the depths of those amazing blue eyes. “Interested?”

      Josie sipped her champagne and tried to figure out what was really going on here...

      “Are you here with someone?” His tone turned brusque. “Is that the reason you’re hesitating?”

      “Actually.” Josie placed a finger against lips that still tingled from his kiss. “I’m trying to decide who—or what—I want to pretend to be.”

      The fingers wrapped around her arm relaxed. He lifted the champagne flute with his other hand and took a sip. “You have any thoughts?”

      “Let’s play pirates,” she suggested with a cheeky smile.

      He choked on his champagne.

      She merely smiled and waited for him to quit sputtering.

      “Are you serious?”

      “Totally.”

      He rubbed his chin. While he pondered the suggestion—likely creating a pro-con spreadsheet in his head—she glanced around the room.

      Josie assumed most of those in attendance knew the person behind each mask. It wasn’t that easy for her. She’d been away too long.

      Until she’d run across Noah, she might as well have been playing blind man’s bluff. She still didn’t understand why her employer insisted they go solo. Unless...

      Could her running into Noah have been part of a plan? Pauline had certainly made it clear she’d like it if Josie helped him. “Did your grandmother know you were coming tonight?”

      His brows pulled together in puzzlement. “I don’t think so. Maybe. Why?”

      “No reason.” She relaxed and waved a hand. “Back to the original question. Do you want to play pirates?”

      “There are so many ways to answer your question. Are we talking pillaging and plundering or do you expect me to talk like a pirate? Say things like ahoy and matey?”

      The look of horror on his face made her grin. “Yer correct.”

      Okay, so maybe her own pirate accent was even worse than his, but Josie was already having fun.

      Noah’s obvious reticence made the playacting even more enticing. The remainder of the evening suddenly took on a glossy sheen, like the pages of a magazine she couldn’t wait to devour.

      Still, Noah resisted giving his agreement.

      Shoving aside the thought that this man was just like her father and therefore someone to be given a wide berth, Josie extended her hand. “Don’t be an ol’ chumbucket, Cap’n. Put yer hand here and