Flirting with
the Society Doctor
Janice Lynn
Table of Contents
About the Author
JANICE LYNN has a Masters in Nursing from Vanderbilt University, and works as a nurse practitioner in a family practice. She lives in the southern United States with her husband, their four children, their Jack Russell—appropriately named Trouble—and a lot of unnamed dust bunnies that have moved in since she started her writing career. To find out more about Janice and her writing visit www.janicelynn.com
Dear Reader
Lighthouses fascinate me. Everything about them—the way they look, their purpose, their history—all of it. However, I’d never actually seen one until I was researching for this story.
During a visit with a dear friend, we and our two full-of-personality daughters drove to the Cape May lighthouse. I remember feeling giddy at my first glimpse, and was just wowed when I was actually standing at the top, leaning against the railing, looking out over the horizon.
Like me, geeky Dr Faith Fogarty has never seen a lighthouse—not until she spends a high society weekend away from reality with hunky Dr Vale Wakefield. Faith has been enamoured of her brilliant playboy boss since before they even met in person. But while in Cape May she discovers a whole new side to herself—one she embraces. And, like the lighthouse they visit, she lets her inner light shine in the hope that Vale will find his way to her and to her miniature poodle Yoda.
Vale and Faith pass two women and their giggly daughters in the stairwell. Well, I won’t say who they are, but I’m betting you can guess. I hope you enjoy Vale and Faith’s Cape May adventure as much as I did my visit there and writing their story.
Happy reading!
Janice
To my dear writing pal, Kathleen Long. Thank you for your unfailing friendship and belief in me, all the late-night hotel room giggles at writer conferences, and for giving me my first glimpse of a lighthouse. Love you!
And to Abby Lynn and Annie Long, since Abby says this book has to be dedicated to them, too, since they helped with the Cape May research.
CHAPTER ONE
“NO WAY am I going to a wedding with you.” Faith Fogarty shook her head, knowing this time her boss had pushed her too far. “Uh-uh, no way. I won’t be lumped into the category as one of your girls.”
Glad no one seemed to be paying them the slightest attention, probably because their co-workers were all trying to look busy so as not to attract the boss’s attention, Faith retreated into the privacy of Dr. Vale Wakefield’s office, him hot on her heels.
“I’m not asking you to be one of my girls,” he pointed out, unnecessarily.
Of course he wasn’t asking her to be one of his girls. She wasn’t his type. She had a brain.
“I’m asking you to accompany me to a family gathering where I will be tortured mercilessly by my family if I don’t bring a date. They’ll try and hook me up with every single female there.” He made a gagging sound.
Having no sympathy whatsoever for one of New York City’s most sought-after eligible bachelors and top-notch neurosurgeons, Faith shrugged. “So take Lulu.”
Lulu was the willowy blonde who’d accompanied Vale to a big charity ball the previous Saturday night. Faith had read about the event, seen a photo of the model plastered to Vale’s side in the society section of the Sunday paper. An entire column had been dedicated to whether or not the exotic model would be able to get the Wakefield heir to the altar. Faith had wadded up the paper and tossed it in the trash, where such gossip belonged. Of course Vale wouldn’t marry that woman.
“To quote you, ‘Uh-uh, no way.'” Vale emphasized each word. “Do you have any idea what type of problems I’d create if I brought Lulu or any woman with me to a family gathering, much less to a wedding?” He shuddered with all the drama of a person who’d just bit into the bitterest dish. “She’d be hearing wedding bells long before we got to the ceremony. There is absolutely no way I’d take a real date to my cousin’s wedding.” His intense blue eyes narrowed with the steely purpose that put most in a tizzy. “I’m taking you.”
And that was where Faith fit into Vale’s life.
Not a real date. Not someone he would consider dating or bringing to a New York City charity ball. Not someone he would consider loving or having a real relationship with. Not that any of Vale’s relationships were real, not unless no-strings-attached sex counted.
He’d pretty much just admitted that he didn’t even see her as a woman. Great. She was a sexless brain.
Sucking in a deep breath, she shook her head. “No, thanks. Accompanying you to family functions is not in my job description.”
He grinned the devilish smile that had her heart thumping overtime whenever he flashed his pearly whites. “I could have my attorney add an addendum to your contract.”
“Forget it.” She narrowed her gaze in as menacing a glare as she could