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“M-, she stared up at him “Liam—”

He kissed her into silence, then raised his head with a new look of deterly stubbled face “Marry me,” he repeated “Let’s ether all the tiain”

Even as elation swept through her, she tried to keep herself grounded in reality Liam had obviously lost his mind He’d had a pint of Guinness at lunch—they both had—but she hadn’t thought the ale was strong enough to addle his wits “We can’t just get married”

“Why not?” He grinned suddenly, letting hiet carried aith his reckless plan, as he was so prone to do It was the trait that had landed hily fareat risks in pursuit of ato stop us?”

“But—”

Glancing around at the new influx of tourists into their area, he took her aro have another pint and talk about it”

Shaking her head in bemusement, she allowed hih she promised herself she would not let him sweep her into an i and persuasive Liam could be There were entirely toowith this crazy, iainst them from the start

One of them had to be sensible—and that responsibility always seemed to fall on her shoulders

Chapter One

“Are you sure you had the ti, Anne? I hope we didn’t disrupt your study plans”

“I can take off a couple hours for dinner, Mother I can’t study every minute of every day”

Though it felt soh that was exactly what she did, Anne Easton thought as she sliced into the roasted chicken herfamily meal Even when she tried to rebel and spend an afternoon resting or reading or watching TV, guilt and anxiety soon had her back at her books, working even harder than usual to ht after returning to her apart with her family

“You’ve lost weight” Her e, studied her intently froh sleep?”

Anne couldn’t help but laugh a little at that “No But don’t worry, I’ by”

Her father, Dr Henry Easton, Jr, a proeon, listened to the exchange fro rooht from the crystal chandelier overhead Behind the lenses of his silver-fraly on his only daughter “It’s all well and good to join the fa the tiet behind You knohat I always say…”

“Yes, Dad If I fall behind, I’ll never catch up,” she recited, stabbing a glazed carrot with a bit more force than necessary

“Back when I was in medical school, I was lucky to have a sandwich and a three-hour nap most days” Seated at the other end of the table, Dr Henry Easton, Sr, retired thoracic surgeon, dabbed at his silver mustache with the corner of a linen napkin

Anne’s older brother, Stephen, had once suggested that Granddad had grown the mustache when the last of his hair had fallen out years earlier, just to prove he could still grow hair if he wanted to Both Anne and Stephen had inherited their ht blue eyes rather than the sandy brown hair and darker blue eyes from their father’s side of the family

Stephen, a third-year surgical resident and alerated a shudder “Remember when I had the flu the second semester of my first year of med school? It was all I could do not to fall behind, even though I was feverish and aching and coughing s up”

Anne focused on her plate, though her rapidly tightening throat ly difficult to s

“I never missed a day of school due to illness,” Granddad boasted “Not a day of work, either”

Since she doubted he’d never been sick a day in his life, Anne wondered how erms he had shared with associates and patients Wisely, she kept that irreverent question to herself

“You’reto the first part of theexam “I know it’s only early February, but June will be here before you know it You’ll want to be ready”

“Yes, Dad” She’d actually have three chances to pass the exam, but she knew her fah on the first attempt Failure was not an option for an Easton, not even the type that would only set her back a feeeks on her long-terh the prep books Whenever I’ for a class, I work on the sample Step 1 questions”

“Not much time left for a social life, huh?” her brother teased