Healing Dr. Fortune by JUDY DUARTE

afraid I’m going to have to end our dinner early.”
    She reached for the strap of her purse that hung on the back of her chair. “There’s no need to explain, Jeremy.
    I understand.”
    He motioned for the waiter, who returned to the table with the menus in hand.
    â€œI’m sorry,” Jeremy told him. “We’re going to haveto pass on dessert. And I’ll need the bill as soon as you can bring it.”
    â€œYes, sir. I’ll be right back.”
    Five minutes later, Jeremy and Kirsten were in his car and on the road.
    â€œI’m really sorry to end our evening like this,” he said.
    â€œDon’t be. I understand. Your patients come first. I just hope everything turns out okay for that poor boy.”
    So did Jeremy.
    He pulled along the curb in front of her house and parked. After getting out of the car, they walked to her front door. He really needed to return Jack’s call as quickly as possible, but he couldn’t help lingering on the porch just a moment longer.
    Did he dare kiss Kirsten good-night?
    How deeply did he want to get involved with her?
    At this point, he could pretty much cut bait and run.
    But he’d enjoyed their time together so far, and there was so much more he wanted to know about her. “Thank you for dinner,” she said. “Bernardo’s was a great choice.”
    â€œYou’re welcome. But I still owe you a dessert.”
    â€œNo, you don’t.” She looked up at him and smiled, her blue eyes glimmering in the porch light. “The food was so good, I didn’t leave room for anything more.”
    They stood like that for a moment—gazing at each other, hanging on to the moment. If Jeremy had all the time in the world, would she invite him inside?
    Again, the question of a good-night kiss returned full force. Should he or shouldn’t he?
    He wasn’t sure why he bothered to even ponder the question. The urge to kiss her was almost overwhelming.
    Oh, what the hell. He placed a hand on her cheek, felt the silk of her skin, the curve of her jaw.
    As her head tilted up slightly and her lips parted, it was all the encouragement he needed.

Chapter Four
    K irsten didn’t know what she’d expected to happen when Jeremy walked her to the front door, but certainly not this, not a soul-stirring good-night kiss.
    Of course, she’d seen it coming when his gaze reached deep inside her, when he touched her cheek with a lover’s caress. And she’d been filled with anticipation as their lips met.
    The moment was so heart-stopping, so magical, that she was afraid to breathe for fear it was all a dream and she’d wake up alone in her bed, her arms wrapped around her pillow.
    And while it was really happening, she was spellbound by his heady, woodland scent, by the warmth of his breath and the heat of his touch.
    As the kiss deepened and their lips parted, his tonguebrushed hers, making her knees go weak. So she reached for his waist to steady herself. As she did so, he slipped his arms around her, drawing her close, kissing her until she was tempted to drag him inside and see what happened next.
    Oh, lordy. If this was the way Jeremy kissed a woman good-night, she wondered what it would be like to welcome him into her bed, into her…life.
    She’d have to get control of her runaway thoughts and emotions, though. She couldn’t allow herself to get swept away in a romantic fantasy with the handsome doctor, no matter how enjoyable their evening together had been, no matter how arousing his good-night kiss was.
    It was crazy to think this was anything more than it was—a pleasant dinner that had come to a nice end. One day in the not-so-distant future, he was going to return to his medical practice in California, and she’d probably end up being a fleeting memory on his part. But there was a chance that he would mean a lot more than that to her. So for that reason alone, she needed to