Dr. Perfect (Doctors #2)

by Louise Bay

With my experience limited to managing Shane’s career, I’m grateful for any job at all. According to my meticulous calculations, this job pays me enough to reach my savings goals in just

nineteen months—and that makes it a job I want to keep. Whatever they want me to do, I don’t care.

There’s only one thing better than a freshly baked apple pie and that’s good stationery.

The next thing I know, I open my eyes and stare up at a Greek god standing over me. “What are you doing?” he asks. I stare at the most perfect mouth I’ve ever seen. His lips are full and the color of ripe cherries, and his cupid’s bow has peaks that would make Everest jealous. “I think I need mouth to mouth.” The words are out before my brain can put all the pieces together and realize I’m probably talking to my boss. “You were only out for a second. You need to sit up.”

I’d lost my boyfriend, my home, my job, and my social circle in one fell swoop.

I’ve learned my lesson. I thought Shane and I were unbreakable, yet here I am, at the end of our relationship, ten years older, without a career and with nothing much to show for the last decade other than a lot of kitchen equipment. But maybe that’s all I need.

By the end, I was so focused on keeping him happy, I totally forgot that I was supposed to be happy too.

Not ideas for my new private practice, but ideas for books I want to write.

Benjamin Butler is the main character in a cozy mystery set in a London hospital—an idea I’ve been playing with for years. The last few weeks have breathed fresh life into him, and it feels like an old friend has come to stay.

“They say if you put a frog in a pan of boiling water, it will jump out. But if you put a frog in cold water and slowly heat it up, the frog will be cooked alive. Shane wore you down over years, chipped away at your confidence and isolated you from your friends and family.”

I laugh because I’m exhausted from our discussion about Shane, but somehow feel lighter for it. “The future should always involve chocolate brownies.”

We work together clearing the table, and just as I reach for the plate of dessert, he pulls me in for a hug and we stay pressed together, our arms wrapped around each other in comfortable silence. There’s

no need for words because I know what his touch is saying. I’m sorry you had to go through that. You’re worth more. He was a...

“You’re hilarious.” I press a palm against his abdomen and he shrugs as if to say, obviously I’m hilarious, it’s effortless. He takes my hand and kisses my wrist. “There’s a lot of getting to know you we still have to do. But it’s just filling in the gaps. I know your heart.” No one has ever said anything as kind…romantic…sweet.