Table of Contents
BORROWING THE DOCTOR
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
BORROWING THE DOCTOR
The Collins Brothers Book 2
VICTORIA PINDER
SOUL MATE PUBLISHING
New York
BORROWING THE DOCTOR
Copyright©2015
VICTORIA PINDER
Cover Design by Niina Cord
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, business establishments, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
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Published in the United States of America by
Soul Mate Publishing
P.O. Box 24
Macedon, New York, 14502
ISBN: 978-1-61935-692-4
www.SoulMatePublishing.com
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
To my sister, Sabrina.
Besides having
five highly demanding children these days,
you make time to read romance.
And you encourage me
more than an older sister normally gets.
I’m so happy we’re sisters.
Acknowledgements
Coming up with a bad girl who has a good heart is just something I love to do, I guess. Kate Sparrow was just fun to write.
Chapter 1
“Get out of my room, Stephanie.” Kate ripped her wet, white hotel towel off her head, and threw it at the door. “Get out now.”
“Sis . . .” Stephanie’s tears swelled.
Kate rolled her eyes and lifted her head higher. No. Crocodiles don’t regret anything, and no one had any idea about anything. “Dad’s money is on hold . . .”
“By the government.”
“You caused this, Kate. You turned Dad in.”
“Yep.” Kate’s nostrils flared. “He set me up to take his fall. You helped him with setting me up.”
“I didn’t.”
“Shut up.” Kate held back from throwing anything at her, but her sister needed to leave. Right now. Kate’s fingers curled into a ball, and if pushed too far, she was about to punch her. Kate turned her back a bit to calm down, but the energy inside her entire body grew. “The press thinks I’m an alcoholic drug-addicted socialite without a soul. You did that.”
“You were supposed to see reason and support me in running Mom’s company.” Stephanie tapped her foot, and the noise echoed in Kate’s ears. She bit her lips to hold back.
“Dad tried to make me marry that security exchange inspector to keep a man quiet about insider trading.” Kate jerked her head. “You agreed with him.”
“You’ve never set foot in Mom’s company since the day she died.”
Kate cracked her knuckles. Her lack of interest in the company wasn’t part of this betrayal. “Stephanie, you needed to stay out of it.”
Stephanie took a step closer. Kate’s arms shot in front of her ready to defend. Then Stephanie grabbed her arm and stayed too close. Kate couldn’t breathe, and fought the urge to throw her off. Stephanie’s whine made Kate’s fist clench. “He’s my father too and it’s my money.”
The Miami heat or the blue ocean outside their all white hotel must have gone to Stephanie’s head. Kate tugged her arm for freedom. “That argument worked when dad was in the room. He is now in another state, in jail. Now let me go.”
Stephanie dropped Kate’s arm, but stayed in her face. “You’re so ungrateful. We took care of you.”
“We?” Kate’s laughter bubbled up. “He’s your father when you want something.”
“Kate, don’t be mean-hearted. He’s raised us.” What dramatics her sister created today. When had she gone to acting school? Kate crossed her arms across her chest. “Doesn’t matter.”
“Yes it does. He’s why I invited you to my wedding,” Stephanie shouted.
Kate’s body stayed tense. She’d come to Miami for this cruise to get the bank statement from the Grand Cayman account and to open her mother’s safety deposit box. Being a Sparrow meant everyone watched everything she ever tried. “Dad set me up.”
“It’s not like you have anything in your life that’s worthwhile so you’re out to ruin my life.” Stephanie laughed. “It’s not like any man would marry you.”
The veins ticked on her face. Kate took a few deep breaths. She wouldn’t do anything rash. “Dad spoiled you. Real men don’t like princesses who get their way.”
The press followed her everywhere. She was the billionaire heiress of a fashion empire, accused of stupid crimes she’d never commit and she refused to reveal her reasons for being here.
Not to Stephanie. Kate’s nails bit into her hand, and she heard the edge in her voice.
Then she ground her teeth. Fighting with her sister never ended well. Stephanie’s wedding had one purpose and the theatrics could make her entire body tens
e. Her eyes narrowed, and her elbows bent, ready to strike. Stephanie needed a reality check.
Kate should keep a lid on it. The second Kate turned the evidence against her father in, the false charges against her dropped. Kate’s plan was tit for tat. The charges her father created in her life, would now lead to his own downfall. He should have left her alone. Karma won. Now Kate stepped back, threw her hands to her sides, and did the opposite of good sense. She taunted her sister. “He’s so guilty.”
“There is no proof. He’ll get out, and the press on that glorious day will destroy my wedding and leave it in a shambles. I can’t chance the timing.” Stephanie fell onto the bedspread in hysterics. “I don’t know how to live without money. Please don’t ruin everything for me. I need to be married.”
“You should tell the truth, Steph.” Kate heard her heart pound in her chest at the same moment, the waves crashed outside. “The truth frees you. Eric and you should start life honestly. You don’t love him.”
Stephanie cowered on the bed and held a pillow over her head. “I can’t. Kate, please don’t hurt me.”
What? Kate leaned closer. Her heart calmed down for that split second. She intended to lower her sister’s pillow and continue this conversation as an adult. They did not have to be at each other’s throats. She stepped forward, but the door opened.
A reporter snapped a picture. The first thing that zipped through her mind was, What a set up. The flashing lights blinded her.
Kate stepped back and turned away. Then sure enough the idiot, Eric, rode in to save his perfect, blond, blue-eyed princess. His twenty-year-old voice sounded like a teenager as he called out, “Angel.”
Idiot. Kate turned around with her arms crossed. The constant clattering of cameras clicked. Now she had even more and more trouble in her life. She’d enough of this nonsense, these lies. Eric, the fool, was about to marry Stephanie. It was perfect really. They deserved each other.
She took a step to leave the room, and then she stopped.
No. Even idiots have the right to know the true nature of what they marry. Kate slammed the door, to block the reporter, then calmed her voice and stated, “Eric, my sister’s not in love with you.”
“She’s lying.” Stephanie bounded to her feet, and clutched the odious boy. “Kate, stop it. Can’t you be happy for me? Please don’t ruin everything. Not when we need to be a family, for Dad.”
Kate’s chest was heavy. Stephanie hadn’t always been exactly like their father. But Kate had failed to protect her. Their father’s influence had been too strong. Stephanie now stood as a manipulative, backstabbing pretty girl who believed her bought friends were real. Kate stared into her pretty blue eyes that mirrored her mother, and stopped. “Our father is guilty. He can rot.”
Kate stared at the window with the bright light and balmy breeze coming in. She focused on the light. Light represented freedom and truth, and one day, Kate’s life would be blissfully sunny and warm. “Eric, my sister has no money. Our father has been arrested—”
“He’s innocent,” Stephanie yelled back. “There is no evidence, not like the facts against you, sis. Dad will get out . . .”
Not if Kate had anything to do or say about it. She bit her lip. This childishness had her head spinning. Stephanie’s wedding provided the perfect solution to everything. This cruise to the Caymans gave Kate the opportunity to drive the last nail into her defenses for this war. Her mother once said whatever was in the box would answer her questions.
Now she had questions.
Sweat formed on her forehead. The blasted city never cooled down. If Dad hadn’t set her up, Kate would be off, playing music in a traveling orchestra. Now Kate Sparrow had a new reputation, for outlandish selfishness. She’d use that to get what she needed. Her freedom beckoned.
No one better dare get in her way.
Chapter 2
“Daniel, I’m begging you to help.” Eric strode into the bar, and waved at the rest of Daniel Collins’ siblings. His cousin’s haggard face spoke volumes. Daniel stood up to get the drinks. Eric sounded despondent and followed him to the bar. Eric launched into his help me mode. “Kate Sparrow attacked my sweetheart.”
“Stephanie’s a grown woman.” Daniel answered fast, but he understood. If anyone attacked his bride, he’d do anything to protect her. Not that Daniel had a bride or a girlfriend. Doctor Daniel Collins had no time for a social life.
Eric scooted closer. “Remember what I asked you the other day?”
Daniel fixed people’s physical health, not their emotional issues. He took a step back and asked, “Can I get you a drink?”
“Please, I’ll need an answer soon.” Eric’s young voice squeaked. The press hounded someone at the door, and the name ‘wild child’ ran in his ears. Daniel hesitated, and hoped to be wrong. “Is this Kate coming downstairs?”
“Yes.”
Daniel rubbed the back of his neck. The press had just harassed someone and he wanted to get a glimpse of the woman.
Eric then stepped closer. “Can you please keep her on a leash at this wedding? Stephanie will explode if Kate’s not kept out of the way.”
Daniel stared down at the bar. His cousin was rude. He picked up the drinks and pointed for Eric to get the other glasses.
Eric capitulated, and Daniel swallowed a few times. Family mattered more than pleasure. He glanced at his watch to see the time and somehow he hoped the clock hands helped him avoid this conversation.
However, Eric stayed hot on his heels, and Daniel stopped halfway to the table. “Fine. If she’s pretty enough in person, I’ll keep her on my arm for the five days at sea. Only because you asked, and we’re family.”
“Thank you,” Eric answered and rushed forward to hand the drinks to the people at the table.
More female noise came from the lobby. Daniel passed out the rest of his drinks. His cousin fixed his tie. Daniel concluded that the bride must be close.
He hoped he’d done the right thing. He’d support his young cousin as his parents couldn’t be here. Some she-wolf needed a babysitter for a few days. Daniel concluded a barracuda might be better company than the last woman he dated for a week. Eric groomed himself to appear more handsome. Daniel elbowed his cousin to get his attention. “You’ll owe me big.”
Eric declared with a smile on his face that grew wider, “I owe you my life.”
“How?” his three brothers and his sister-in-law all asked.
Gerard, Liam, Sean and Sean’s wife, Gigi, were all going on this trip as Eric’s family. Daniel rubbed his five o’clock shadow. Eric could have asked Gerard or Liam, but he’d begged his oldest cousin.
Daniel slid into his seat and away from Eric, but his arms remained tense. His brothers wouldn’t like this plan. He didn’t like this plan. “I’m to babysit the spoiled rich princess and keep her away from the cops and the alcohol, this trip.”
He pressed his lips together. He expected his brothers to have an opinion, but silence greeted his ears.
All eyes went back to the door.
His collar grew warmer. Daniel glanced around to stare in the same direction. He assumed Kate Sparrow had stepped into the club.
His eyes scanned the room, and then the crowds parted. He had his first look. Time might have stopped, and he heard his own heartbeat. Brown hair with a bit of a curl, brown eyes, small frame, unusually large breasts for a woman her size, and an energy that took his breath away. He also noted that Kate’s eyes held a gleam, and Daniel’s mouth fell open. Kate Sparrow was the most beautiful woman he’d seen in a long while.
Beauty meant trouble. He turned back to his beer and refused to stare at her.
The pictures in the papers hadn’t done her justice at all. How did they turn that pretty woman into a viper with a camera? His mind raced. Did she have a Jekyll and Hyde personality that came out at night?
He sipped his beer. He knew better than to fall for a pretty face. His cheeks warmed like he was guilty.
He tried to shake
if off.
Then an electrical jolt whooshed through him as someone brushed against his arm.
“Sorry.” Her voice caught in the air. The woman had a voice of a church choir director, and Daniel was sure his face must be red.
“I tripped.”
With a simple wiggle of his arm, he released his arm from her touch. His arm muscles sent awareness through him. His heart raced, and Daniel had no answer for what happened. Kate was pretty, but he never enjoyed trouble. He gritted his teeth and told himself to let the reaction go.
She narrowed her gaze toward his cousin, Eric, and shifted away from him. Her nose stayed in the air. Daniel had an urge to get in her way, but he stayed in his seat and sipped his beer. Women’s voices near him tended to become higher pitched the second she noticed him.
Kate rubbed her arms and kept her voice clear. “Eric, can we talk?”
His cousin rudely answered, “Leave Stephanie alone.”
Kate never blinked, but her face fell.