A coffee addict and cat lover, Iris Morland writes sexy and funny contemporary romances. If she's not reading or writing, she enjoys binging on Netflix shows and cooking something delicious.Stay in touch!irismorland.comIris Morland’s MermaidsNewsletter Facebook Twitter BookBub Goodreads Instagram
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be constructed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.If I Can’t Have You (The Thorntons Book 2)Published by Blue Violet Press LLCSeattle, WashingtonCopyright © 2017 by Iris MorlandCover design by Resplendent MediaAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Abby shook her head as she watched her mother Fiona depart Fair Haven Memorial, where Abby worked as a nurse. She never lied to her mother, but this one little white lie was totally worth it if Abby could avoid another one of Fiona's horrific blind dates.She winced a little as she thought about the man she'd chosen as her fake boyfriend. Mark Thornton! Of all the men in Fair Haven, Washington, it was his name that had popped into her head.When Fiona had told Abby that she'd set her up on a blind date again, Abby had panicked. She'd lied to her mother and said that she was dating Mark. Fiona had bought the lie, and now Abby had to figure out how to tell her mother that they weren't a couple. They weren't even friends, for Christ's sake.Why Mark? It's because he's my patient right now, she reasoned. He was on her mind for a good reason.Not because he fascinated her despite his surly personality."Abby, I just finished with Mark Thornton," Dr. Perry Smythe told her in his barking
After arriving home, Abby wanted a drink and then to sleep for the rest of her life. She was beyond exhausted: not only because of her run-in with Mark, but the three patients who'd taken all her concentration and training afterward.The worst patient had been the homeless man who had shouted at her when she wouldn't tell Dr. Smythe to get him more painkillers. He'd stumbled out of the hospital before they'd cleared him to leave. Abby knew he'd return before long.She smiled when her two cats, Darcy and Wentworth, were at the door when she came inside. Both black cats, you could only tell them apart because Wentworth had a smudge of white on his chest. They always came to greet her when they heard her car pull up.Wentworth stood on his hind legs, his paws on her knee, begging for an ear scratch. Darcy swished his tail, acting aloof, but when Abby scratched his chin, he started purring."Come on, let's go get something to eat," she said to the cats, who followed her into the kitche
"You'll need to stay off your foot for the next few weeks. It's a pretty bad sprain, but luckily, nothing was broken." Abby's latest patient was a ten-year-old boy who'd sprained his ankle after his friends had dared him to climb a tree.The boy nodded, his mother giving him a look of exasperation. "What did I say about doing dares?" she exclaimed. "You'll break your neck someday!""I didn't break my neck, though," the boy replied.Abby bit back a smile. After speaking to the mother about her son's aftercare, Abby glanced at the clock outside in the hallway. Almost lunchtime. Had four hours already passed since she'd arrived? She'd been working nonstop today and hadn't even gotten a chance to have a cup of coffee.You never knew what would happen in the ER on any given day. Some days, it was a ghost town, and then on other days, it was like the entire town decided to have a heart attack all at once."Room 125 needs a blood draw," Janine said as she handed Abby another chart. An LP
Mark had never had a woman over. Well, not at his ranch. Things with Tina had ended as he was starting the ranch, and he'd never wanted to bring any woman back with him.Any encounters he had were in town, or on the road for business. Nothing serious, only casual. Most were one-night stands that had no expectations beyond mutual pleasure and a farewell in the morning.Waking up right as dawn peeked over the horizon, Mark had wondered what the hell he'd gotten himself into. And how did you prepare for a woman staying at your place anyway?He had a guest room, but no one had used it. He frowned when he realized the room smelled stale. He opened a window, changed the sheets and comforter, and then winced when he saw how bare the room was."Jesus Christ, this isn't a hotel," he muttered to himself.Abby would have her own bathroom as well, which was also rarely used. He placed clean towels and toilet paper inside the cabinets, wondered for a moment about soap (didn't women have lots o
Mark worked until his arm ached like the devil. His head hurt, he was thirsty, and he needed to take another Vicodin. He didn't want to—painkillers made him loopy and sick to his stomach—but that was better than the fire burning in his arm."You just had to throw me, didn't you?" he asked his horse Samson. Samson snorted and pawed the ground, not the least bit sorry for unseating his rider.Although Samson was young, he was usually an easy ride, but not when he ran into snakes. Mark hadn't even noticed the snake in their path before Samson had reared. Not expecting it, Mark had landed on his left arm, snapping the bone with a sickening cracking sound.Mark had been stubborn, not believing he'd broken it. It was a sprain; it would heal on its own. Until the pain had gotten so bad that he'd had to accept that he'd broken it, while Charlie had bullied him to go to the hospital.Now he not only had a broken arm in a cast and sling, but he had a beautiful nurse running about his ranch.
After taking a shower and getting dressed for bed, Abby sat in her room and tried to read. Then she tried to watch TV, but she couldn't concentrate on anything. Finally, she tried to go to sleep, but Darcy and Wentworth decided that it was time to run around like demons, almost knocking over a lamp in the process.She shooed them out when they darted over her head. "I do not need a claw to the eyeball," she groused at them as they sprinted out into the dark hallway. Hearing a thump, she winced, hoping they didn't damage anything during their nightly play sessions.Leaving the door open a crack so the cats could come back in, she got into bed and stared at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep, though; not with everything she'd learned about Mark whirling in her brain. How did he manage to anger her one moment and pique her curiosity the next?The self-conscious part of her brain scolded herself, telling her that a man like him would never want her. Mousy nurse, remember?And yet, despite