HIS PERFECT WOMAN by Kay Stockham

His small-town practice would be heaven if it weren't for the women hounding Dr. Bryan Booker. Tired of playing games and dodging passes, the handsome doctor is resigned to staying single. Until he's guilted into hiring a new office assistant, and she makes him consider changing his mind.

Melissa York is a big surprise. Despite all she's been through, she's tough, bold and beautiful. But can the town's most-sought-after bachelor persuade the survivor who thinks she's damaged goods that when he looks at her he sees his perfect wife?

A beauiful, touching story about life after cancer by Kay Stockham.

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Excerpt:

Melissa locked the front door to the practice that evening and forced herself not to drop her head to the surface with a groan.

“It wasn’t what you thought.”

Tensing, she squared her shoulders. Smiling was more difficult, but she managed a weak attempt. “Your sex life is none of my business.”

“I didn’t have sex with her in the exam room.”

“Sneak her into your office instead?” Shut up, shut up, shut up! “Sorry. It’s been a long day.” She didn’t look at him as she stalked over to the desk.

“For the record, I didn’t invite her into my office or anywhere else in the practice for a quickie. I don’t sleep with married women.”

Relief poured through her at his words. “Good for you. Especially if you’re serious about this fund-raiser. A big no-no is sleeping with the mayor’s wife. People have a tendency to frown on such things, and he won by a landslide.”

“Amanda was a mistake I made when I first moved here. I ended it right afterward, but she hasn’t taken the hint and comes back periodically to try again.”

“I’m sure the mayor appreciates that.” Melissa yanked open the drawer that held her purse. She was going home. Then maybe to the B and B. Some time spent baby snuggling would surely lower her BP, and right now it had to be sky-high. Not woman enough?

It didn’t take a woman to sleep around or cheat on a husband. In her opinion, it took one not to.

“Melissa.” Bryan turned her to face him. “I’m sorry she took her anger with me out on you.”

“Forget it.” She pulled away. “I know exactly what I am, and she’s right.”

“Right in what way?”

“Oh, please, isn’t it obvious? You practically made a puddle right there on the floor when she flashed her cleavage at you! And that remark about being woman enough? It takes more than playing the sex kitten to be ‘woman enough.’”

“Then we agree, but how is she right?”

“Because it’s also normal to think a female with bib boobs and a decent set of features is attractive, married or not, and that’s how she’s right—because men have brainwashed women to measure their worth through the size of their breasts, and regardless of my history and what people know about me, I’m woman enough to realize that isn’t true.”

“What if I told you it’s not just women who can make the distinction?” he argued. “What if I said guys like more than breasts in a woman?”

She raised her brows high and her arms crossed over her front—her flat front. “I’d say you’re wrong. There’s no need to lie or sugarcoat the obvious. Guys like breasts. Her comment didn’t hurt me, what hurts is the fact that the general population thinks the same way she does.”

“Why do you think that?”

Swallowing, she rolled her eyes, her anger surging up with tidal-wave strength and gushing out of her. “The first thing guys notice is a woman’s breasts, the bounce, the jiggle, whether or not their shirt is see-through. But if a woman doesn’t have the necessary body parts or, let’s say she does and they’re not to the guy’s satisfaction, then lo and behold, he suggests augmentation. It comes down to this—guys can be less than impressive, but heaven forbid a woman doesn’t have a body like a model, the breasts of a porn star or the sex drive of a teenaged boy because that upsets them! Men have no idea what real women are like—and neither does Amanda Warner.”

His mouth turned down at the corners. “You can’t lump men into a single category. Not all of us are obsessed with breasts.”

She snorted. What did he know about not being perfect? “Yeah, well, argue all you want, but when faced with someone like me in bed I’d bet you’d be all talk and no action.”

Silence.

Melissa stared up into Bryan’s face, her heart pounding so rapidly she actually saw spots in front of her eyes. Had she really just gone off on Bryan like a bitter, breastless shrew? He was her boss! Her words had come out like a challenge. Like she begged him to–

Whirling, breathless, Melissa grabbed her purse and ran for the back door, well aware Bryan’s eyes bored a whole into her back. What had she done? What had she said?

She’d never be able to face Bryan again.

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