Mission - M. D. : Turning Points

by Linda Turner

• ISBN13: 9780373275267
• ISBN10: 0373275269
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-03-01
• Publisher: Harlequin

Summary

Rachel Martin was through with men. But she desperately wanted a baby—and was convinced a doctor should be the father. Where would she meet a medical man in Hunter's Ridge? Enter Turk Garrison, M.D.—the tiny town's answer to McDreamy and her nex

Excerpts

Standing before the large round mirror of her antique dresser, Rachel studied herself with a critical eye. She never had been what she would call a girlie-girl. She couldn't remember the last time she'd painted her fingernails, and she wasn't one of those women who spent hours in front of the mirror, messing with her hair. Half the time, she twisted it up on top of her head, clipped it out of the way, and walked out the door without even looking at it twice. Lipstick was an afterthought, perfume was the smell of sugar and yeast that clung to her from the bakery. She wore jeans and a baker's smock to work, and given the chance, tennis shoes. So how was she supposed to dress to attract a man? she wondered wildly. It had been so long since she'd had a date that she didn't even know where to begin. More blush, she decided, frowning at her pale, reflected image. She needed more color in her face, and jewelry. Her neck looked bare, her earlobes naked. What did the kids call it now days? Bling-bling. That was what she needed. All she had, however, was a simple gold locket that her grand-mother had given her. Would that date her? Or make her look like some kind of innocent who'd been living in a convent? Undecided, she slipped it on, then added blush to her cheeks and painted on red lipstick. Stepping back, she frowned at her reflection. The woman who stared back at her in the mirror was a stranger. Dressed in red, her dark hair tumbling around her shoulders, she looked hot, sultry, sexy. It was the dress, she decided. There was no question that it was designed to appeal to a man. It hugged her slender figure and ever so slightly dipped between her breasts, revealing just a hint of cleavage. Paired with strappy, spiked sandals, the dress gave her the look of a woman on the prowl. Suddenly having second thoughts, Rachel seri-ously considered chickening out right there and then. Maybe Abby and Lily and Natalie were right. There was another way to have a baby. What dif-ference did it make if she actually met her baby's father? It wasn't as if she would have a chance to learn that much about his character. She was never going to see the man again. She wanted a baby, not a relationship, she reminded herself. And with a sperm bank, she wouldn't have to worry about some man calling all the time, wanting to get to know her--and his baby--better. All she wanted was his sperm. So what if it was clinical? What could be more clinical than picking a stranger out of a bar to be the father of her baby? Don't second guess yourself now, a voice in her head warned. You don't have a lot of choices here, you know. Unless you want to get pregnant the old-fashioned way--by a man you fall in love with--you've only got two options. The sperm bank or seducing a stranger. If you want to know for sure that the father of your baby is not only intelligent, but a kind and caring man, then don't you think you'd better meet him face-to-face? Her heart stopped dead at the thought. Could she really pull this off? What if he guessed what she was up to? Any man in his right mind would be furious, and she couldn't say she'd blame him. She intended to use him in the worst way a woman could use a man, but she truly had no other choice. She'd already tried the fairy tale, love and marriage, but there'd been no baby to make three. thought, she on the woman front door and Bug a few she was was shut her what she So could she. called last week and asked her to be in their weddings, and she'd yet to do anything. And who could blame her? She was going to have sex with a stranger in order to get pregnant! And that wasn't something she did lightly. On top of that, the father of her child had to be someone special. Someone who was caring and kind and smart, someone any child would love to claim as his father. And she'd decided there was only one place where she could find such a paragon, in a hospital. Th