Dr. Joe Connors and socialite lawyer Lucy Alcott come from two different worlds, two very different cultures. But will those differences keep them apart when their attraction is too strong to be denied?
When socialite Savannah attorney Lucy Alcott entered the Hyatt looking for fun, martinis, and hot sex, the last thing she expected to find was Dr. Joe Connors. Joe is Lucy's opposite in every way: he’s dark, she’s pale; he’s tall and reserved, she's tiny and vivacious; he wears his compassion and deep spirituality on his sleeve, she wears designer bags and clothes. That night at the Hyatt Lucy found herself not in the arms of a casual encounter but reaching out to a man who challenged the walls she had built around her heart—and when he gave her his number, Lucy knew Joe deserved a woman as warm and tender as he was. So she threw his number away. When an unexpected meeting six months later brings them together again, will Joe overcome Lucy’s fear of losing her heart, or are their two very different worlds destined to keep them apart forever?
“Does one need to be married to be loyal? Do you think a pastor, flowers, and a promise are necessary for the kind of solidarity you describe? I don’t.”
“I think a public display of one’s commitment helps, Lucy. I believe saying the words ‘I do’ and ‘I will’ in front of your peers and your God makes a marriage more accountable. A promise is a promise, and again, half the time, it holds.”
“But half the time it holds, the grip is a vice, a strangulation, not a choice that continues based on love or any type of ideal. People stay in it to appease their sense of right and wrong.”
This time, Joe shrugged. “Whatever works. A pledge is not always a pleasure, but it does add purpose to life. I’m not always happy I owed to heal the sick. Plenty of times, my beeper sounds, and I groan. My iPhone pops, and I want to turn it off.”
She nodded in agreement, and her platinum bob caught the light.
“But I dutifully go to the hospital, and maybe I help save a life. That promise means someone else can count on me, no matter if I want her to or not.”
Lucy smiled wryly. Perhaps she’d noticed his choice of a feminine pronoun.
Did she know he meant her, Lucy Alcott? If he made a promise to her,
he’d keep it.
“That’s why you are noble, and I am not.” He watched her petite shoulders settle as she inhaled deeply. She put her hands up in the air, palms out and open, a silent declaration of “and that’s that.”
Joe caught her right hand and pulled her in for a kiss. Her lips were damp with wine, and tasting the costly liquid reinforced what a valuable prize she would be. She cooed and softened at his affectionate touch, and her eyes flickered with desire. They’d been playing this game of cat and mouse for hours.
Joe wasn’t about to let her claws pierce his flesh. Not yet.
“Are you going to take me home tonight?” She licked her lips.
“Of course. I’ll ensure you arrive safe and sound at your door. Do you live nearby? I’m staying here at Driscoll.”
Her eyes lit up at his revelation that he had a room upstairs.
“I do live nearby, but not as close as your suite.” She bit her lower lip, and he rubbed it with his thumb.
“Lucy, I’d ask you up, but I’m afraid my manners might not withstand the proximity of a bed and your body.”
“Manners be damned, Joe. Let’s finish this thing the way we both want
it to end.”
