Melting Miss McCool

By Ellie Lynn

Nicknamed ‘McCool’ by her colleagues, Kerry-Lee McKenzie has had her fill of men and bad relationships until she runs across Benjamin Grant, the one man who crawls firmly under her skin and refuses to let go. Ben is determined to find the woman smoldering under the cool, calm exterior and isn’t above using a little unfair carnal persuasion.

With Kerry doing her best to keep Ben at arm’s length and Ben working hard to close the distance, love is always a step or two away. It isn’t until her hormonally charged best friend interferes that Kerry finally realizes that first impressions aren’t always accurate, and absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Deslise Publications
• Release date: Feb 11, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370571260

Ellie Lynn

Ellie Lynn always wanted to be a writer, and since every writer she'd ever met said to 'write what you know', she started out writing romantic comedy. The comedy part she had figured out--y'see, she's a bit of a smartass in real life anyway. The romance part, not so much. Ellie writes under her own name, but other pen names include Jennifer Lynn and Rebecca Deslisle. Ellie lives in rural Saskatchewan with her husband, two incredibly spoiled dogs and Horatio the salamander. Ellie loves to interract with readers on her blog at http://romancewithsass.blogspot.ca/ on Twitter @ellielynnbooks or via Facebook www.facebook.com/ellielynnbooks

Book preview

Deslisle Publications

Melting Miss McCool

By

Ellie Lynn

CLIMAX, SK

CANADA

Other Books By Ellie Lynn

Contemporary

Courting Carlie

Rebel Heart

Getting Over It

One Man's Treasure

Historical

Calico Bride

Under A Calico Moon

Wyoming Wild

Matters Of The Heart

Mail Order Widow

Writing As Jennifer Lynn

Signed, Sealed & Delivered

New Prints In Old Calico

Dedication

To nurses everywhere. May you all find your own Dr. Studly.

Chapter One

Excuse me, Nurse. Curtain three needs a bedpan.

Kerry-Lee McKenzie glanced up irritably from the notes she was frantically scribbling. Her eyes flickered down the doctor's immaculate surgical scrubs.

Something the matter with your hands? In case you haven't noticed, we're rather swamped tonight.

He shrugged and turned away. It's a nurses' job.

She tossed the chart on the desk, where it landed with an audible thud, and slid off her chair. And your job is…

My job is to provide for the medical needs of my patient, he continued up the center of the bustling Emergency Department. A bedpan isn't a medical need and curtain three is not my patient.

He looked briefly over his shoulder as his lips parted in a dazzling display of straight, white teeth, then disappeared behind a heavily laden supply cart.

Kerry-Lee's brows drew together in an angry frown. Talk about nerve! She knew most doctors hated doing anything slightly nursing related, but Geez Louise! One more glare for good measure in the direction of the doctor and she hurried to find the required green plastic pan.

* * *

The grateful sigh from curtain three was almost enough to help Kerry forget Dr. Studly. Almost. She looked down at her own scrubs, rumpled and stained with God-knew-what, from six hours into her twelve hour shift.

Actually, she knew full well what had stained her uniform. The black smudge on her breast pocket was the charcoal from a drug overdose at shift change. The greenish splotch across her abdomen was from a little boy too sick to keep anything down, and the reddish-brown drops on her thigh were from a blown vein while attempting to draw some blood. And still six more hours to go...whoopee!

She huffed the bangs out of her eyes and sprinted towards the ambulance bay, where paramedics were struggling to keep an intoxicated patient from falling off a narrow stretcher.

Mr. Neat and Tidy appeared out of nowhere and beat her to the gurney, probably doing his first piece of work all day. He reached for a flailing arm, only to be upended onto his permanent-pressed backside.

Kerry stifled a giggle as the amusement in her green eyes met cool blue. She reached for a set of restraints and slid the Velcro straps around the patient's wrists.

The last restraint was tightened into place, as the doctor got to his feet and dusted the back of his scrubs. Get some restraints on that man.

One of the paramedics peered across the stretcher at Kerry, then frowned and gave his head a quick shake of disapproval. With her back to the doctor, her eyes rolled slightly upward. Typical smart-assed doctor. Always ordering the obvious after the fact.

"I do believe we just did that, Doctor." Heavy sarcasm hung in her icy tone.

Well I should hope so. There was an edge to his voice. You shouldn't need to be told how to do your job, should you, Nurse?

Doctors who don't know their role don't belong in the ER, she returned.

He took a deep breath and grinned, no trace of his former animosity remaining. I'm sorry. I guess this whole little thing upended my nerves as well as my backside. He extended a hand. I'm Dr. Webster, Wade Webster. I'm on loan for a few days from St. Anthony's.

Kerry paused, looked at his hand, and then tentatively shook it. Kerry-Lee McKenzie. My friends call me Kerry.

Ouch, he grimaced. Then after our rough beginning, does that mean I'm calling you Kerry-Lee?

She turned her head to give instructions to the waiting paramedics. Curtain sixteen is free. I'll be there in a minute. She returned her attention to the doctor. As I mentioned earlier, Dr. Webster, we're swamped tonight, so pitch in where you can. We work as a team here. And as for what you can call me— It was her turn to walk away with a grin. Jury's still out on that one.

Kerry did a quick round to check on her patients before returning to the nursing station for more paperwork. 'Quick' was actually about twenty minutes by the time she got the pain meds curtain four needed, hung a new IV bag, fetched and emptied another bedpan, reinforced a blood tinged dressing and stopped to reassure the frightened old lady behind curtain three.

I can't get over how quiet Mrs. Kellum is. What did you give her?

Just a little TLC. Kerry smiled at her nursing colleague. I pop by about every fifteen or twenty minutes to remind her that she's not alone and see if there is anything she needs.

Susan shook her head and reached for a metal covered clipboard. I don't know how you do it. I don't have the time to cater to every little whim a patient has.

I'm not catering to her every whim. But to tell you the truth, if I was a little old lady, all alone in a big city hospital, Kerry began, with a significant lifting of her brows. I sure as hell would hope some nurse would take a few minutes out of her busy schedule for me.

"Yeah, I suppose. So, what do you think of him?" Susan tipped her head toward the sound of the rich masculine voice on the opposite side of the station.

Kerry craned her neck around the column of charts separating the two halves of the desk. Hmph. I ran into him a while ago.

What a hunk, huh?

Geez-us, Sue. Quit thinking with your ovaries for once. Kerry shook her head in exasperation. Susan's hormones had a way of infiltrating her professional judgment. It takes more than good looks, a devastating smile, and… She stretched to look around the corner again. …and sexy blue eyes to be a good doctor. Although the package is nice, the eye candy is a definite option that we could do without.

Susan leered wickedly. If I had a choice of laying back and saying 'ah' to a strapping young doctor like him, or to our illustrious, however ancient, Chief of Staff, I'd rather it be to something like that.

Let me guess, Kerry started. Your date last night with that new cop didn't go well, did it?

Sure it went well. Susan's eyes widened with a false conviction. If you like steroid filled, muscle bound jocks whose vocabulary is punctuated with single-syllable words. He might be cute but, that's where his appeal ends. She shook her head and reached for another chart. If I had heard, 'Yo, Susan' one more time, I swear I would have leapt across the bed and wrapped my hands around his throat.

Kerry blinked. She pinched her lips together to stifle the grin threatening to overtake her face. The bed? she asked. I thought you didn't like him that much?

Susan bobbed her eyebrows up and down. He had some redeeming features.

Unbelievable.

"A girl's gotta have her priorities, Kerry.

I think I'm going to slip some testosterone in your coffee. It might balance out your estrogen and curb your priorities.

Nah. Susan winked. "It'll