Better Than Me
by Kimberly Kincaid
Series: Remington Medical, #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: May 7, 2019
Remington’s most notoriously single,
notoriously sexy surgeon
is about to fall for the one woman
he can’t have…
Did I mention that she's
A) his best friend
B) immune to his panty-melting charm, and
C) sleeping on his couch for the next six weeks?
But Jonah’s not made for commitment,
and a good man is the one thing Natalie deserves.
Not someone who can only offer up
a couple of sizzling hot, no-strings-attached nights
of pure pleasure.
Unless that’s what she wants.
Because Jonah wants her. And with each
moment they spend working together—
living together—
the harder it is to resist temptation.
And even harder to resist the fall that
might break them both…
A steamy medical contemporary romance from USA Today best-selling author Kimberly Kincaid. Watch this cocky hero fall head over scalpel for his sweet and sexy BFF. Full-length standalone story with action in the emergency room and the bedroom, and a sweet-and-sexy happily ever after.
"Come on, Jonah. You and I are just friends, and my living with you would only be temporary. I’m neat and fairly low-maintenance, and I really can cook like a boss. I know you like your space.” It was a euphemism, and if the smile poking at the corners of her lips was anything to go by, Natalie knew it as well as Jonah did. He was a freaking island, and it wasn’t by accident. “So I can totally stay out of your hair if you want me to. But please.” In a blink, her smile disappeared. “I’m begging you. Don’t make me stay with my parents.”
Jonah’s nice-guy propensity came out of hiding to pick a fight with his defenses, both of them quickening his pulse. His defenses didn’t fight fair, though, reminding him that he had damn good reasons for not being a long-haul guy.
He opened his mouth to say he was sorry. To tell Natalie, rationally and with good reason, why he just couldn’t let her move in with him for six weeks.
But what came out was, “Okay. You can stay.”
Christ, his inner nice-guy was a sneaky son of a bitch.
“Really?” Natalie let out a gasp that quickly slid into an adorable ear-to-ear grin, and okay, Jonah was going to have to do some damage control here.
“With a couple of stipulations,” he said, holding up his fingers to count them off. “If you want to watch rom coms or that channel that plays all those gooey holiday movies, you’ve got to do it on your iPad.”
Jonah knew from experience that she loved both, and with Christmas only a month away, she’d certainly want to mainline them whenever she had down time. But while happily ever after might be on some people’s agendas—and more power to them as long as they didn’t try to convert him to coupledom—he sure as hell wasn’t going to let it parade across his big screen TV.
“Come on! Not even It’s a Wonderful Life?” she asked, but he stood firm.
“The only Christmas movie that flies in my apartment is Diehard.”
Her hands moved to her hips. “That is so not a Christmas movie.”
“Take it or leave it, Kendrick. Yippie-ki-yay is all the holiday cheer you’re going to get out of me.”
Natalie frowned, but didn’t push her luck, so Jonah continued. “I’ll take that you cook, I clean bargain. I don’t mind doing all the dishes, and I wasn’t kidding when I said I can’t cook. No complaining about football or hockey—the Rogues are kicking ass again this year on the ice and I want to watch every game that I can. And for the love of all that it sacred and good, no bras on the shower curtain rod.”
“Done.”
His surprise must have stumbled over his face, because she laughed and tacked on, “What? You know I love hockey, too, and after meeting Finn Donnelly over the summer at that fundraiser at The Crooked Angel? I’m all-in for the Rogues. I promised you I’d cook, and the other stuff”—she lifted one shoulder beneath her light pink sweater—“I can stipulate, even if it is kind of grinchy. So, do we have a deal? I can come live with you until this mess is all fixed?”
Jonah exhaled. “Yes, we have a deal.
Jonah’s nice-guy propensity came out of hiding to pick a fight with his defenses, both of them quickening his pulse. His defenses didn’t fight fair, though, reminding him that he had damn good reasons for not being a long-haul guy.
He opened his mouth to say he was sorry. To tell Natalie, rationally and with good reason, why he just couldn’t let her move in with him for six weeks.
But what came out was, “Okay. You can stay.”
Christ, his inner nice-guy was a sneaky son of a bitch.
“Really?” Natalie let out a gasp that quickly slid into an adorable ear-to-ear grin, and okay, Jonah was going to have to do some damage control here.
“With a couple of stipulations,” he said, holding up his fingers to count them off. “If you want to watch rom coms or that channel that plays all those gooey holiday movies, you’ve got to do it on your iPad.”
Jonah knew from experience that she loved both, and with Christmas only a month away, she’d certainly want to mainline them whenever she had down time. But while happily ever after might be on some people’s agendas—and more power to them as long as they didn’t try to convert him to coupledom—he sure as hell wasn’t going to let it parade across his big screen TV.
“Come on! Not even It’s a Wonderful Life?” she asked, but he stood firm.
“The only Christmas movie that flies in my apartment is Diehard.”
Her hands moved to her hips. “That is so not a Christmas movie.”
“Take it or leave it, Kendrick. Yippie-ki-yay is all the holiday cheer you’re going to get out of me.”
Natalie frowned, but didn’t push her luck, so Jonah continued. “I’ll take that you cook, I clean bargain. I don’t mind doing all the dishes, and I wasn’t kidding when I said I can’t cook. No complaining about football or hockey—the Rogues are kicking ass again this year on the ice and I want to watch every game that I can. And for the love of all that it sacred and good, no bras on the shower curtain rod.”
“Done.”
His surprise must have stumbled over his face, because she laughed and tacked on, “What? You know I love hockey, too, and after meeting Finn Donnelly over the summer at that fundraiser at The Crooked Angel? I’m all-in for the Rogues. I promised you I’d cook, and the other stuff”—she lifted one shoulder beneath her light pink sweater—“I can stipulate, even if it is kind of grinchy. So, do we have a deal? I can come live with you until this mess is all fixed?”
Jonah exhaled. “Yes, we have a deal.
Friends to lovers – check; sexy doctors – check; steamy chemistry – check; another awesome book by Kimberly Kincaid – check, check, and check!
I absolutely adored both Natalie and Jonah and loved watching them fight and then finally give in to the chemistry between them. I loved the fact that they were best friends, for me it added a whole other dimension to their relationship, especially when they would call each other out on things. These two both have issues from their pasts that have shaped the who they have become, and I think without the background of their deep friendship, having them move their relationship forward just would not have been so believable. Underneath his “one night stand” persona Jonah is a deeply caring man, and I loved that he so wanted to take care of Natalie. And Natalie always knew just how far to push Jonah and the questions to ask him to get him to think about his past and his future, especially surrounding the relationship with his father. But in the end, the fact that these two always had each other’s backs made their relationship so special – even if it did take a bit for them to realize just how special together they were!
I always love when characters from other books add to the story, and there was no shortage of support offered by the staff from Remington Medical. I really loved watching Natalie’s relationship grow with both Tess and Charlie, offering her support and advice and just being there when she needed some girl time. And watching them all rally together at the end to get Jonah and Natalie to their happily ever after was a perfect way to wrap up this story.Natalie shook her head. “This totally counts.”
“It might count a little,” Jonah conceded. “But it is Christmastime, and you’re nuts about all the decorating and holiday cheer. You’re stuck here instead of being in your own apartment, so it only seemed fair to at least have a tree.”
“I don’t feel stuck here.” Her words emerged on little more than a breath, her heart beating faster even though they were true. Here, in Jonah’s apartment, in his arms? She felt far from stuck.
She felt right.
Jonah’s pupils flared, his bright blue eyes glinting in the soft light spilling around them from the tree. “I don’t feel stuck with you here.”
Kimberly Kincaid has a wonderful writing style and she makes it easy to get lost in one of her books. Her characters are always a bit on the intense side when it comes to the emotions, but she always makes that work while keeping the angst to a manageable level. My only small complaint with this one was the twist at the end, it almost seemed to me to be the easy way out, and I would have loved to have seen something a little different and less predictable – but even with that, I think this is one of my favorite Kimberly Kincaid books that I have read.
Another great read by Kimberly Kincaid that I would highly recommend!
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