When it comes to relationships, E.R. consultant Josh Sullivan is very happily single, and despite the attempts of the beautiful women he dates, he intends to stay that way. Single mom Dr. Kat O’Brien would usually be completely off-limits to him, except he can’t get the stunning doctor out of his mind. And he’s touched by her devotion to her six-year-old son, Archie, who he discovers is a pretty great kid. Before he knows it, Josh is hooked, but will Kat ever believe he can offer them a future?

‘We both know it wouldn’t work.’

His eyes dropped to her mouth and lingered. ‘I think it would work very well—’

‘No, it wouldn’t! I have a child and you—’ She broke off and bit her lip.

‘I what?’ His gaze lifted to hers. ‘I what, Kat?’

She sighed. ‘We have different priorities, Josh, and you have to know enough about me by now to know that I would never do anything that might hurt Archie.’

If she put some distance between them and filled her mind with something else, then she could get herself back under control. She knew she could. As long as she didn’t look at him. As long as he put a shirt on. And maybe he should shave too. There was something wickedly attractive about his roughened jaw.

Thoroughly flustered, she took several steps backwards. ‘I’m not looking for a relationship, Josh.’ She felt breathless and light-headed under his searching gaze.

‘You may not have been looking,’ he murmured, ‘but I have a feeling you might have just found one.’

Gift of a Family

Sarah Morgan

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dear Reader

To have loyal and loving family and friends around you is perhaps the greatest gift of all and who makes a better friend than a brother?

Men don’t always talk about problems in the way that women do, but that doesn’t make the bond any less powerful, and that’s certainly the case with Mac and Josh Sullivan. They work side by side as consultants in a busy accident and emergency department in a rugged part of Cornwall with beautiful beaches and wild seas. Their story starts at Christmas.

Mac, who featured in THE NURSE’S CHRISTMAS WISH, is the older and the more serious of the two Sullivan brothers, and Christmas is always a difficult time of year for him. His life is a mess and Josh decides it’s time to do something about that. So he arranges a present with a difference. Louisa. For one month she’ll sort out Mac’s life. But when Christmas is over, is he really going to let this amazing girl walk out of his life?

For Josh’s story, GIFT OF A FAMILY, the weather warms up and we move into summer. A fun-loving playboy, Josh is very different from his brother. He loves his fast car, his boats and his surfboard and, of course, his women—and there are plenty of them! Why would he want to settle down, have children and risk losing all that? But then his new neighbour arrives, along with her six-year-old boy, and Josh is forced to rethink his whole life.

The great thing about being a writer is that you get to interfere with people’s lives, and I had a lot of fun seeing Mac finally happy and Josh well and truly tamed by a woman and her child. I hope you enjoy their stories.

Happy reading

Love

Sarah

xxxxx

Table of Contents

Cover

Back Cover Copy

Title Page

Author Note

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

Copyright Page

CHAPTER ONE

‘JUST look at that girl.’

Josh Sullivan strolled casually along the beach with his brother, his eyes fixed intently on a female surfer, balanced on her board.

His brother shot him an impatient glance. ‘Look where you’re going, will you? You’re worse than the dog and, believe me, that’s saying something.’ He whistled to his dog who bounded happily off into the distance, barking with excitement while Mac watched in exasperation. ‘I swear that dog needs a psychiatrist.’

‘What a babe.’ Josh ignored his brother, his eyes fixed on the girl who was standing steadily on her board as she swept down the waves with effortless ease, arms outstretched, her long hair streaming down her back. Even from the shore he could see her lush curves, clearly outlined by the black wetsuit. And he admired her style. She was good with the board. And she looked amazing.

‘It should be against the law,’ he muttered, stumbling over an elaborate construction that had been left in the sand by an enthusiastic group of children.

This time his brother’s remonstration was stronger. ‘Will you look where you’re going? Some poor kid spent hours building that.’ Mac shook his head and then followed his brother’s gaze with a concerned frown. ‘She shouldn’t be surfing on that part of the beach, anyway. The currents are lethal. Hasn’t she read any of the notices? She should be further over.’

Josh glanced at his brother and wondered if he knew how much he’d changed since he’d married Louisa. ‘She’s good. And the surf is fantastic.’

For a moment he was tempted to sprint back to his house, pick up a board and catch a few waves himself, but then he remembered his plans. After a busy week at the hospital he’d promised his stomach a decent lunch and himself an entire afternoon working on the boat. He looked at the foaming surf and wished there were more hours in the day.

Mac squinted out to sea. ‘There are some pretty young kids out there. What the hell are they playing at?’

Josh yawned. ‘Having a good time, I should think. Loosen up, will you? You used to do dangerous things, too. Before your wife tamed you, you would have been out in those waves, flirting with death and danger.’

As he himself did. He saw enough in the hospital to know that life was to be lived, every moment of every day.

Mac stopped dead. ‘My wife has not tamed me.’

A broad smile spread over Josh’s face as he slapped his brother on the shoulder. ‘She’s got you on a lead, bro’,’ he said, using a sympathetic tone guaranteed to drive his brother mad, ‘and it’s a short one at that.’

It was one of his favourite weekend occupations. Goading his more serious older brother. Seeing just how far he could push and needle before Mac exploded out of that air of mature responsibility.

Judging from the dangerous glint in his brother’s eye, it wasn’t going to take long today.

‘A lead?’ Mac virtually growled the words. ‘Louisa never stops me doing anything…’

Not long now.

Josh gave him a pitying look. ‘You just don’t get it, do you? And that’s the skill of women.’ He spread lean bronzed hands to emphasise his point. ‘They sneak around and tie you up in knots and before you know what’s hit you, your life is over.’

‘In a minute you’re going to know exactly what hit you and it’s going to be me! And your life might well be over.’ Mac’s dark eyes flashed a warning and the muscles in his shoulders bunched. ‘Are you suggesting Louisa stops me from doing things?’

‘Not openly, oh, no, no, no.’ Josh waggled a finger but took a step backwards in readiness. ‘Women are so much cleverer than that. They make it look as though it was your decision. And it’s such a gradual thing you don’t even see it happening. One night you’re joining your mates in the pub for a few beers and the next your feet walk straight past that same pub on your way home for an early dinner. And there’s not a decent beer in sight.’ He looked sorrowful. ‘Just candles, fancy glass and fancy wine. What sort of a life is that?’

‘A pretty good one,’ Mac said dryly, stepping to one side as a child sprinted past clutching a bucket and spade, ‘and do I really need to point out that you love fancy wine almost as much as you love women?’

‘I also love sport and fast cars, and women just don’t get either of those things,’ Josh muttered sadly, rubbing a hand over his rough jaw and noting that he’d forgotten to shave. ‘Take cars. When you’re dating, women pretend they love them, although the truth is they’re always grabbing at their hair and sneaking a look in the mirror when they think you’re not looking just to check the wind hasn’t messed them up in some way. Then you marry them and before you know it you’re driving some bizarre vehicle that looks like a coach and comes with thousands of doors and child-friendly gadgets designed to bring a guy out in a rash.’

‘My car does not look like a coach.’

‘It will do soon.’ Josh threw him a look and gave a dramatic shudder. ‘Look at that enormous bump your wife is carrying around. That baby has got to go somewhere.’

Mac frowned. ‘She’s not enormous.’

‘I never said she was enormous,’ Josh said mildly. ‘I said that her bump is enormous. And so it should be. She’s eight months pregnant.’

‘She’s not enormous.’

There was a flicker of panic in Mac’s eyes and Josh struggled to keep his expression straight. ‘You know—’ he kept his tone casual ‘—I read an interesting report in one of the medical journals last week about this mother who unexpectedly produced twins. Something to do with the lie of the babies—they’d missed one on the scan. Imagine the shock of that.’

Mac opened his mouth, caught something in Josh’s expression and the next thing he knew, Josh was lying on his back on the sand, with his brother glaring down at him.

‘Next time you decide to irritate me, step out of the way first,’ he growled. ‘And if you say anything similar to Louisa and panic her, I won’t be responsible for my actions.’

Helpless with laughter, Josh wondered what it was about fatherhood that turned grown men into gibbering wrecks. Then he saw the anxiety in his brother’s face and his laughter faded. He hadn’t realised that his brother was quite so tense about the whole thing.

‘It was just a joke! I wouldn’t tease Lu, you know I wouldn’t. I love her. Hell, I set the two of you up. What’s the matter with you?’

‘I don’t know. Impending fatherhood, I suppose.’ Mac let out a breath and then reached out a hand and dragged his brother to his feet. ‘Believe me, no matter how many times you reassure patients, it’s different when it’s your own. I’m a wreck, I admit it.’ He raked a hand through his hair and gave a helpless shrug. ‘I worry about her and I worry about the baby. Try having a baby of your own and you’ll find out what I mean.’

‘A baby? Me?’ Josh brushed the sand from his shoulders, appalled by the mere suggestion. ‘Nappies, sleepless nights and goodbye two-seater sports car with the top down? No, thanks. Fatherhood is definitely not for me.’

Mac shot him a curious look. ‘You seriously think you’re immune, don’t you? You think you can carry on dating every woman who takes your fancy and that you’re never going to get emotionally involved?’

Josh gave an easy smile. ‘Hasn’t happened yet,’ he said smugly. ‘Nor is it likely to. Relationships go in stages. The trick is to recognise each stage as it happens so that you don’t get caught.’

‘Stages?’

‘Yeah, first there’s the spark. You see someone, they see you and there’s that special chemistry, something that makes you want to take it further.’ He removed his shades and winked at his brother. ‘So you do—’

‘Well, you do,’ Mac interjected dryly, ‘not everyone does.’

‘Can I help it if women find me irresistible? So you take it further and then you start seeing each other. Then there’s the passion.’ He gave a slow smile. ‘And obviously that’s the best bit.’

Mac rolled his eyes but Josh ignored him.

‘Then at some point, usually somewhere between the first time she leaves her toothbrush at your place and the time she starts staring hopefully into prams, there’s a slight shift in the relationship. Spotting that shift is the key to remaining a happy bachelor. Miss it and before you know it the highlight of your life is buying baby car seats to fit in your people carrier.’

He gave an exaggerated shudder and Mac stared at him in exasperation. ‘You’re thirty-two, Josh. Don’t you ever want to settle down?’

Josh thought of his home, an abandoned lifeboat station that he’d converted himself, slogging away in what little spare time he had to lovingly convert it into a stunning home. He thought of his plasma-screen TV, his high-performance car and the boat he was restoring. He thought of the punishing hours he spent at the hospital in the accident and emergency department and the fact that he lived life to his own timetable. He didn’t want to change a thing. ‘My life works well just as it is.’

‘And does that make you happy? Being on your own…’ For a moment Mac’s tone was serious. ‘Is that really what you want?’

Josh gave a wicked grin that was totally male. ‘I’m not often on my own. And when I am…’ he replaced his shades in a smooth movement ‘…I’m resting.’

Mac laughed and shook his head in exasperation. ‘So who’s the lucky woman at the moment? I haven’t seen anyone around.’

‘There’s currently a vacancy,’ Josh said airily, ‘but I’m considering a few applicants. I always enjoy the interview process.’

‘When are you going to grow up?’

‘When Cornwall runs out of decent-looking women.’ Josh glanced at a girl running towards the waves in a minuscule bikini. ‘Which judging from today isn’t going to be any time soon.’

Mac followed his gaze. ‘You are as shallow as the average rock pool, do you know that?’

‘Me?’ Josh planted a hand in the middle of his chest and looked affronted. ‘I’m just terribly misunderstood. I’m a dedicated doctor who needs an antidote to the stress of daily living. You, on the other hand, have turned so respectable since I sorted out your love life that I’m reluctant to be seen in your company in case you damage my reputation as a heartless playboy.’

‘You don’t choose who you fall in love with,’ Mac said mildly, glancing round for the dog, ‘and one of these days it’s going to happen to you. And I’m going to be there to rub your nose in it.’

Josh turned his gaze back to the waves, wishing he were out there. The sea glistened and sparkled in the summer sunshine and the waves curled and foamed as they hit the beach.

The female surfer was up on her board again and he sucked in a breath as his eyes slid down the girl in masculine appreciation. ‘How the hell does she balance?’

‘Same way you do,’ Mac said wearily, ‘by using her feet and her body.’

‘I haven’t got that body.’ Josh shook his head in wonder. ‘She shouldn’t be able to balance. According to the theory of relativity, she should be tipping forward.’

‘Theory of relativity?’

‘Yeah.’ Josh flashed him a wicked grin. ‘The size of her backside relative to the size of her—’

‘OK, I get the message.’ Mac whistled for the dog, shaking his head in blatant disapproval. ‘With you, it’s all about appearance, isn’t it? She’s probably as thick as a plank.’

Josh narrowed his eyes. ‘With a body like that, who cares?’

Mac rolled his eyes. ‘I can’t understand why some thoroughly modern woman hasn’t blacked your eye before now.’

‘Because I’m irresistible,’ Josh suggested, his eyes darkening as the girl jumped neatly off her board and tucked it under her arm, shaking her wet hair out of her eyes. ‘She’s coming this way. Any moment now she’s going to notice me. Watch and learn, bro’. I think that vacancy of mine is about to be filled.’

He gave a wicked smile and Mac gave a grunt of disgust.

‘I’ll get ready to resuscitate her when she’s knocked flat by the size of your ego. Has it occurred to you that she might not actually be interested in you?’

‘Are you kidding?’ Josh grinned and flexed his muscles. ‘Brain and brawn. What more could a girl possibly want?’

He stood still and watched as the girl turned back into the waves, lay on her board and paddled out to sea again without a glance in his direction.

‘Obviously losing your touch,’ Mac drawled, glancing at his watch. ‘Come on. What you need is some cold water on that libido of yours. Let’s go home. You can take a shower and have some lunch with us before you go back to patching up that boat of yours.’ He whistled for the dog and Josh’s face brightened at the prospect of lunch.

‘Has she cooked Indian? I love it when she cooks Indian.’

‘I’ve no idea. Whatever you think of my sad existence, even I’m not reduced to discussing menus with my wife.’ Mac fended off the dog as it bounded up to them, soaking wet and tail wagging madly. ‘But I doubt it’s Indian, on a Sunday. More likely to be a roast of some sort. She’s very traditional, my Louisa. Hopeful, down! Sit. For goodness sake, sit, you stupid dog!’

Josh wondered whether there was a woman in the world who would have the same effect on him as Louisa had on Mac. Probably not, he decided. He tried to imagine himself in his brother’s position, about to become a father for the first time. He couldn’t think of anything more terrifying. He’d thought about children, of course, but only to dismiss them with a shudder. He just couldn’t work out where they’d fit into his life. And he wasn’t about to give anything up, that was for sure. His job as a consultant in the A and E department didn’t leave much time for anything else, but what little time he had was spent with his boats or windsurfing. He certainly didn’t want to spend that precious time changing nappies. No, his life worked perfectly well the way it was. He could do without the whole family scene, although he had to admit that he enjoyed being with his brother, and his sister-in-law certainly knew how to make a cosy home.

‘Well, whatever she cooks will be delicious.’ He turned and prepared to head off the beach towards the dunes that ran along the bottom of Mac’s garden. A series of shouts stopped him and he turned, staring at a group of surfers in the water with a frown.

‘What’s the matter with them?’

‘Over here!’

Josh narrowed his gaze and watched as several people dragged a man out of the water and onto the beach. Even from that distance he could see the blood. ‘Oops.’ His tone was cool but his blue eyes were sharp and alert. ‘Looks as though someone’s had a knock on the head.’

Mac cursed under his breath. ‘It’s supposed to be my holiday,’ he muttered as they both broke into a run, Hopeful at their heels. ‘But it seems that even on my holiday I have to look at an injured person.’

Josh was ahead of him, his powerful legs eating the distance as they raced across the sand. ‘Relax. I’ll take this one.’ He dropped to his haunches, aware that the girl he’d been watching was already on her knees beside the injured man, her hair trailing down her back.

In one brief glance he saw two things. First, that she was a redhead and, second, that she was stunning.

He flashed her the smile that always guaranteed him female attention whenever he wanted it. ‘Don’t worry. I’m a doctor.’

‘I’m a doctor, too.’ She spoke in cool, clear tones designed to wither a man at a hundred paces, not even wasting a glance in his direction. ‘And you’re in my light.’

Josh ignored the smothered laughter from his brother, too intrigued by the girl to care about the teasing he was going to receive later. The sight of her in a black wetsuit was having an alarming effect on his blood pressure. She had a body straight out of a bad boy’s dreams.

But she wasn’t paying him the slightest bit of attention. She was saving that for the injured man, and as she looked down Josh found himself staring at her thick, dark eyelashes, fascinated by their length.

She was gorgeous.

‘He’s bleeding badly from his arm. Must have caught it on a rock when he came off the board. He was caught by the wave and the board gave him a bash on the head. I saw it happen,’ she said briskly, her fingers gently exploring the man’s head wound before moving to his arm. ‘It’s an artery. He’s cut an artery. Damn.’

As she shifted the man’s wetsuit, blood pumped skywards and she swiftly applied pressure and elevated the limb. ‘It’s a very jagged cut. I need something to use as a pad…’ Glancing around, she spotted the man’s friends hovering. ‘One of you take the laces out of your trainers and give me your T-shirt.’

One of the men took a step backwards, looking decidedly green.

‘It’s just blood,’ the girl said, a hint of impatience in her tone, ‘and the sooner one of you gives me a T-shirt, the sooner I can stop it. Come on!’

Josh watched in fascination as one of the men meekly did as she instructed. Quickly and with the minimum of fuss she bound the wound and turned her attention to the man’s head.

Josh ran a hand over the back of his neck, for the first time in his life feeling totally redundant in a medical situation. He kept waiting for her to do something wrong so that he could intervene, but she was doing everything right and she didn’t even seem to want help doing it.

She leaned closer to the patient, her body a slim curve in the tight wetsuit. ‘Hello? Can you hear me?’ Her voice was brisk and professional. ‘Can you tell me your name?’

The man groaned and screwed up his face. ‘My head…’

‘I know about your head and I know about your arm.’ Her slim fingers were on the man’s scalp, feeling for damage. ‘But now I need you to tell me your name.’

The man closed his eyes and the girl frowned slightly. Then she leaned closer to him and gave a sniff.

‘He’s been drinking.’ Her nose wrinkled in distaste and she glared at his friends who were still lurking close by, looking as though they’d rather be anywhere else. ‘Was he drinking before surfing?’

One of them shifted. ‘Maybe, just a bit.’

‘A bit?’ She gave them a look designed to freeze boiling water. ‘One of you get on the phone and call an ambulance. He’s going to need to go to hospital. I can’t tell what’s the bang on the head and what’s the alcohol. What’s his name?’

‘Dave.’ One of the lads shrugged. ‘He only had a couple of beers.’

‘Before surfing? He should have known better. And so should you lot.’ The girl shot them a look of contempt and then turned her attention back to the patient. ‘Dave, I’m going to put a dressing on your head and then get you to hospital. You’re going to need an X-ray and some stitches, and next time either drink or surf but don’t do both together. I need another T-shirt to bind his head.’

Finally she looked up at Josh and immediately she stilled. Slanting green eyes locked with his and widened as something powerful and indefinable passed between them.

Josh considered himself an expert on all things female but he’d never seen eyes like those in his life before and he couldn’t look away. Neither, it would seem, could she.

Mac cleared his throat. ‘Earth calling all doctors…’

The girl blinked and dragged her eyes away from Josh, but a betraying pink touched her cheeks that had nothing to do with the hot August sunshine and everything to do with powerful chemistry.

‘Have you got anything which we can use as a dressing for his head?’

Josh was having trouble concentrating. ‘I—er…’

‘Take your T-shirt off, Josh,’ Mac suggested kindly. ‘It might cool you down. You look a little hot.’

Josh dragged his gaze away from the girl and glared at his brother. ‘Take your own T-shirt off.’

‘Louisa bought me this for my birthday. And I’m not the one who’s overheating.’

Josh swore softly and dragged his T-shirt over his head, deriving some satisfaction from the fact that the girl stared at his muscular chest for several seconds before grabbing the garment and turning her attention back to the patient.

Josh watched her with masculine speculation. He was experienced enough with women to know when one of them was interested and the girl with the green eyes was definitely interested, despite her pretended indifference.

He’d felt the attraction like a physical force and he knew that she had, too.

She was securing his T-shirt in place when they heard the ambulance siren.

The ambulance drove onto the sand and Mac gave a nod of recognition as the crew hurried towards them.

‘His GCS is twelve,’ the girl told them, and proceeded to give them a fluent account of the patient’s injuries. ‘In view of the blood loss from the artery, I want to get a line in and then we need to ship him off as fast as possible. He’s going to need surgery on that wrist and possibly a CT scan. He’s been drinking. Make sure you tell them that in A and E.’

Josh watched in admiration as she found a vein with apparent ease, strapped the Venflon in place and nodded to the paramedics.

‘All right. He’s all yours.’ She stood up, her damp hair trailing down her back like a blaze of fire.

Anticipating the moment when he could get the girl on her own and swap essential details, Josh paused briefly to chat with one of the paramedics who he knew well, but when he finally glanced up, the girl had vanished.

He frowned and glanced around him but there was no sign of her.

Damn.

Mac gave a grin and slapped him on the shoulder. ‘Well, bro’, that was a first. A woman who didn’t notice you. Think you’ll ever get over it?’

‘She noticed me.’ Josh was still looking around the beach. She had to be somewhere. She couldn’t have just vanished that quickly. ‘She definitely noticed me.’

Where the hell was she?

‘Which is why she hung around to get better acquainted. Face it, brother, she’s the one who got away. I saw her face when you used your “I’m a doctor” chat-up line. She was not impressed. I’m a doctor, too, and you’re in my light.’ Mac was still laughing as he recited her words exactly. ‘And she was bloody good with that patient. Knew exactly what she was doing. I wouldn’t mind having her in our department. That really would be a first. A woman who doesn’t notice you.’

Josh narrowed his eyes, remembering that one, intense moment when their eyes had locked. ‘She noticed me.’

‘Well, she certainly didn’t hang around to further the acquaintance,’ Mac drawled. ‘And apart from the body, which I have to admit was impressive, she didn’t seem like your usual type. For a start, she could string words into a sentence. And she’s clearly a doctor, and a good one at that. You never date doctors.’

‘Only because I can’t stand the conversation over the dinner table.’ Josh yawned. ‘It’s much more interesting to date someone in a different profession.’

But he would have made an exception for the girl with the green eyes.

Mac shot him a wry look as they strolled back along the beach to the dunes that led to his garden. ‘I never realised you were so interested in conversation. I thought all your relationships were enacted beneath the sheets.’

Josh grinned. ‘Absolutely right. What better place is there?’

CHAPTER TWO

KAT unzipped the neck of her wetsuit and stood still with her back against the jagged rocks, waiting until she judged it safe to reappear.

Only when the two men had walked a safe distance along the beach did she emerge and retrieve the surfboard that she’d left at the water’s edge. By then the ambulance had gone and the crowd had dispersed.

Maybe it was cowardly of her to avoid them, but she knew that if she’d hung around then the handsome, blue-eyed doctor would have entered into a conversation that she didn’t want to have. The strength of her reaction to him had shaken her and she sensed that it was mutual. She’d recognised the look in his eyes and knew exactly which direction the conversation would have taken.

And she just didn’t want to go there.

Did he think she was some sort of brainless idiot? she wondered bitterly as she tucked the board under her arm and walked in the opposite direction along the beach towards her tiny cottage. ‘I’m a doctor,’ he’d announced in a tone that had suggested that using those words usually delivered a willing female into his lap.

What had he expected her to do? Gasp and faint?

She gave a snort of derision, carefully dismissing the memory of the strange sensation she’d felt in the pit of her stomach when their eyes had met. As if a pair of broad shoulders and a near-perfect bone structure was going to be enough to interest her. She’d met men like him before and she’d learned to keep them at a distance. They weren’t worth the trouble.

And, anyway, she already had one man in her life and that was enough.

At the thought of Archie she looked around her and gave a nod of satisfaction. At the first opportunity she was going to take him down to the beach and show him what she’d discovered today. They were going to have such fun together, living in this place. It was a whole new life, as far removed from their tiny flat in the depths of busy, faceless London as it was possible to be.

All she could see for miles was coastline. Wild cliffs, crazy sea and soft grass all blended together to make Cornwall. And it had the best surfing anywhere in England.

A five-minute walk along the beach in the opposite direction brought her to the little row of fishermen’s cottages, which almost touched the sand. Kat stopped dead and stood for a moment, breathing in the fresh sea air, feeling the sun burning through her wetsuit, unable to believe that she had the right to call this wonderful place home.

Hers.

She couldn’t contain the smile.

It was like a fairy-tale.

Acting on an impulse that was totally out of character, she’d paid the deposit, taken out a huge mortgage and moved in. And now they lived here. She and Archie.

A new life.

Her gaze shifted slightly to the abandoned lifeboat station that stood proudly at the head of a slipway near the cottages. It had been sympathetically converted into a luxury home, and from her vantage point on the beach Kat could see that the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living area gave the occupant fabulous views over the Cornish coast. On the abandoned slipway that led down to the beach there was a boat, obviously in the process of being restored, and a wetsuit lay over a bench.

Whoever lived there obviously had taste and style and clearly loved the sea, she mused as she dumped her surfboard in the tiny shed in her new garden and walked towards her cottage with a smile on her face.

She had a few hours before Archie was due home and she intended to finish the unpacking, shower and then devour the new textbook on accident and emergency medicine that she’d ordered from a store in London. Not that a few hours’ reading would make much difference to her performance in a busy A and E department, she thought ruefully, experiencing a sudden attack of nerves at the thought of starting her new job in the morning.

Would it be very different from London? she wondered, and then gave a shrug. Accidents were accidents wherever they happened and whatever the mechanism. She was a good doctor, she reminded herself firmly. She had nothing to be nervous about. Whatever was thrown at her here, she’d be able to cope.

Her new life was about to begin.

And she was looking forward to it.

* * *

‘So, how was the weekend? Did you manage without me yesterday?’ Josh strolled onto the A and E unit early the next morning and grinned at a staff nurse who was just going off duty after a night shift.

‘Just about, but it was a terrible struggle,’ Hannah said solemnly, removing her locker key from her pocket and jangling it in the palm of her hand. ‘I suppose you were sailing or surfing or something similarly wet and watery? Did you have an exciting day?’

Josh thought of the girl on the beach. ‘Not as exciting as it might have been,’ he murmured regretfully, glancing at the whiteboard on the wall and scanning the list of patients. ‘So—we’re pretty full already, I see. Did you do any work at all last night or were you leaving it all for me?’

‘Filing my nails took longer than anticipated,’ Hannah said brightly, but she lifted a fist and punched Josh on the arm. ‘For your information, buster, none of us managed more than a snatched glass of water last night, so if you want to live to catch another wave on that board of yours, don’t make that remark to anyone else! Least of all the new doctor, who is waiting in Mac’s office. On first meeting she seems really nice, and I don’t want you teaching her bad habits.’

‘New doctor?’ Josh was still frowning at the whiteboard. ‘What new doctor?’

‘The new SHO. She was bright and early.’

‘The new SHO…’ Josh raked long fingers through his dark hair and pulled a face. ‘I’d forgotten the new doctors were starting today.’

‘It’s August,’ Hannah reminded him cheerfully. ‘And actually there are only three of them because most of the old lot are staying on, as you’d remember if you could put your mind to anything other than sailing and surfing.’ She gave a careless shrug. ‘Can’t think why they’ve chosen to stay on, personally. Given the chance, I’d be out of this place like a shot. Talking of which, how’s Louisa?’

‘Very pregnant,’ Josh drawled, ‘and Mac is driving me nuts. He’s totally lost his sense of humour.’

‘He’s certainly worried about her,’ Hannah agreed, ‘and I miss working with Louisa. She’s such a great nurse.’

‘She’s also a great cook, so at least one of her skills is still in use,’ Josh observed, thinking of the delicious lunch his sister-in-law had prepared for him the day before. ‘All right, I’ll grab the SHO, brief her and then we start the day. I hope she’s competent. Have a good sleep.’

Josh strolled down the corridor to his office, suppressing a yawn as he pushed open the door.

A girl stood looking out of the window, but she turned as he entered the room and Josh stopped dead.

Yesterday she’d been wearing a wetsuit and today she was wearing the light blue scrub suit worn by all the A and E staff, but there was no mistaking those incredible green eyes and the fiery hair, twisted on top of her head.

‘Well, well…’ His voice was soft as he let the door swing shut behind him. ‘The girl with the green eyes and the sharp tongue.’ And the perfect body. ‘You ran off yesterday before we could be properly introduced. I’m Josh Sullivan. Pleased to meet you.’

He walked towards her, his hand outstretched, and after a moment’s hesitation she slid her hand into his.

Her fingers were slim and cool. Delicate, like the rest of her, he mused, watching with interest as she quickly removed her hand from his. Did she know that she’d just taken a step backwards?

‘I’m Kat O’Brien.’ Her voice was steady, professional and more than a little chilly. ‘And I didn’t run off.’ Her eyes flashed slightly at the suggestion, and he smiled.

‘Well, you didn’t exactly hang around to chat.’ He cast her a speculative look. ‘O’Brien? A good Irish name. Does it come with a good Irish temper?’

Her eyes held his, accepting the challenge. ‘When provoked.’

His smile widened. ‘I look forward to seeing that.

What about the Kat part? Short for Katy? Kathleen?’

‘Katriona.’

He nodded. ‘Pretty name. Well, Katriona, welcome to Cornwall and A and E. As you’re obviously going to be my new SHO, we’re going to have plenty of time to get to know each other better.’

Was it his imagination or did her fingers curl into her palms?

‘You’re the A and E consultant?’

He nodded. ‘One of them. And you’re on my team.’

Her eyes slid towards the door as if she was expecting someone else to appear at any moment. ‘But I suppose I’ll be working mostly with your senior registrar.’

Josh gave a rueful smile. ‘You would if I had one, but unfortunately we’re a bit down on numbers at the moment, so you’re going to be landed with me. I hope you like hard work.’

She licked her lips. ‘We’re going to be working together?’

‘Well, if you want to learn something about working in A and E, that is the general idea,’ Josh said gently, wondering why she was so tense. ‘Although judging from your performance on the beach, you obviously know quite a bit already. Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself?’

‘What do you want to know?’

Suddenly Josh discovered that he wanted to know everything there was to know. He wanted to know whether she was always so tense and what it took to get her to relax. He wanted to know what made her laugh and what made her cry. He wanted to know what made her happy. He wanted to know what her legs looked like under the scrub suit…

He pulled himself together with an effort. ‘Why don’t you start by telling me where you worked last? Obviously this isn’t your first A and E job.’

She shook her head. ‘No. I did A and E and then a stint in Obstetrics but I missed the buzz of Emergency so I decided to apply for this job.’

‘I’m not surprised. Patching up drunks beats delivering babies any day in my book.’ He gave a mock shudder. ‘So where did you work?’

‘London.’ She named one of the prestigious teaching hospitals and Josh nodded.

That would explain why she’d known what she’d been doing. ‘Obviously good experience. You did well yesterday afternoon.’

She shrugged. ‘The guy just had a banged head.’

‘He’d also been drinking and, as you well know, drinking and head injuries don’t go well together,’ Josh said mildly, strolling over to his chair and sitting down. ‘I was impressed. So was my brother and, believe me, that takes some doing. He runs this department so you’ve got yourself off on the right foot.’ He watched the faint rise of colour in her cheeks. ‘Have a seat. You’ll probably find some of our cases a little different from London, but not much. Did you see any gunshot wounds?’

She perched on the edge of the only chair that wasn’t covered in papers, as if she was preparing to escape if she had to. ‘A couple. They were gang shootings. Just kids, actually.’ She frowned at the memory. ‘They looked as though they should have been in school.’

‘They probably should have been. I’ve only seen one gunshot wound since I’ve been here,’ Josh told her, ‘and that was a farmer who had an accident with his gun. We have quite a few diving-related accidents and, of course, reckless surfers who head-butt the board. Apart from that, it’s the usual round of fractures, road traffic accidents, heart attacks—and that’s just among the tourists. So what brought you to Cornwall, Dr O’Brien?’

Her face was suddenly shuttered. ‘I like surfing.’

Josh was left with a powerful feeling that she’d practised that answer. ‘Where are you living?’

‘I’ve rented somewhere.’ Her tone didn’t encourage further questioning.

Knowing when to probe and when to back off, Josh backed off, making a mental note to watch her interaction with the staff. Working in A and E was a stressful experience at the best of times, but one of the things that lessened the stress was the support that the medical and nursing staff gave each other. Would Kat fit in? Hannah had obviously liked her immediately…

Was it just him she was chilly with?

‘Right. Well, let’s give you the tour.’ He rose to his feet and lifted a couple of files off his desk. ‘I need to drop these with the girls on Reception so we might as well start there. Welcome to Cornwall, Kat.’

* * *

First days were always so nerve-racking.

Not knowing the people, not knowing your way around or the routine. Not that there was much routine in A and E, Kat acknowledged as she followed Josh through to Reception, trying to keep up with his long stride.

Part of her just wanted to get stuck straight into a challenging trauma case. At least then she’d feel comfortable.

Or maybe she’d never feel comfortable working with a man like Josh.

Why did it have to be him?

She thought she’d done well yesterday. Every time he’d come into her thoughts she’d resolutely pushed the memory away, assuring herself that she was never going to see him again. He’d just been a guy on a beach. Probably on holiday, she’d told herself. And now here he was, virtually her boss. And he was going to be under her nose every day.

She almost groaned aloud at the thought.

He was a man designed for maximum impact. Staggeringly handsome and more than a little disturbing. With that glossy dark hair and that wicked smile, he reminded her of a pirate. She could imagine him standing on the deck of a ship, planning daring escapes, plunder and the seduction of women. And as for those blue eyes—the way he looked at her made her insides feel funny.

Kat closed her eyes, irritated with herself. What was the matter with her? She wasn’t one to dream about pirates! In fact, she had her feet well and truly on the ground. If a man was good-looking, she just didn’t notice, and the reason she didn’t notice was because she wasn’t interested. She wasn’t on the market.

She was happy with Archie and men like Josh Sullivan held no appeal for her.

But judging from the way the receptionist’s eyes lit up when she saw the young consultant, she was in a minority of one. Clearly he was everyone else’s idea of a heartthrob.

‘Hi, Josh.’ A girl wearing a badge saying Paula, Senior Receptionist, A and E beamed in his direction. ‘Glad you’re finally here. There’s lots going on. That’s why I’m hiding away here in the back office, rather than manning Reception. I’m thinking of locking the doors and putting up a “closed” sign.’

‘Well, we’ve got an extra pair of hands to help us clear the decks,’ Josh said easily, smiling at Kat. ‘Say hello to Dr O’Brien. She’s just joined us. This is Paula. She runs the place and keeps us all in order. Anything you need to know, start with her. This is her control room. Out there…’ He jerked his head and gave a shudder. ‘That’s the battlefront, staffed by her generals.’

Kat felt some of the tension melt away under Paula’s friendly smile. ‘Hello, Paula.’

‘She’s come all the way from grimy London,’ Josh said, dumping the files on Paula’s desk. ‘But I’m sure she’ll soon recover. Here you are. Don’t say I never give you anything.’

‘You finally finished with them? You’re a star.’ Paula took the files and stacked them neatly. ‘Did Mac take a look?’

‘The only thing my brother looks at these days is his pregnant wife,’ Josh drawled, turning to Kat. ‘Mac is a senior consultant here and Louisa, his wife, worked here as a nurse until a few weeks ago.’

‘She’s on maternity leave?’

‘Pottering round the house, waiting for it all to happen. Never seen a woman so big in my life. She’s giving birth to a hippo, no doubt about it.’ Josh sprawled in a vacant chair and turned his attention back to Paula. ‘So how’s Geoff?’

Paula’s smile faded and she gave a little shrug. ‘Not great at the moment, to be honest. He’s very down, but I suppose that’s natural. I do my best to be upbeat, but it’s pretty hard in the circumstances.’

Josh’s eyes narrowed. ‘Has he been back to the neurologist?’

‘He’s got an appointment tomorrow morning.’

‘Do you need time off?’

Paula shook her head and looked away, shuffling some papers. ‘It’s fine. His mum is taking him.’

‘Why aren’t you taking him?’

Paula hesitated and her hands stilled. ‘We’re too busy, Josh.’ Her voice cracked slightly and she cleared her throat. ‘You know what this place is like in the summer—it’s the crazy season. Five million tourists all deciding to do stupid things at the same time.’

Josh grinned and stretched long legs out in front of him. ‘Slack day, then.’

Paula laughed in response to his humour but her eyes were strained. ‘Absolutely.’

‘You’re to take the morning off,’ Josh said quietly, his blue eyes suddenly serious and his voice firm. ‘I’ll poach from one of the other departments to cover you and I’ll clear it with Mac.’ He stood up and put an arm round her shoulder, giving her a quick hug. ‘Take the time you need but come and find me afterwards and we can talk about it. It must be the pits for you both.’

Kat saw Paula struggle with tears. ‘You can’t give me the morning off.’

‘Just did.’

‘But—’

Josh stifled a yawn. ‘You’re boring me now, Paula.’

Paula wiped her eyes discreetly and blew her nose. ‘Thanks, Josh.’

‘No thanks needed. And I hope it isn’t as bad as you’re anticipating. Right, well, that’s enough staff bonding for one morning.’ Lightening the atmosphere, Josh winked at Paula and walked towards the door, gesturing for Kat to follow him. ‘See you girls later.’

They walked back into the main area which was the hub of the department, Josh moving to one side as a staff nurse scurried past, clutching a pile of brown X-ray folders.

Kat was still thinking about what she’d witnessed. ‘Her husband is ill?’

‘He has MS.’

Multiple sclerosis. Kat made a sympathetic noise. ‘Is he bad?’

‘He has the relapsing and remitting variety so he has patches where he’s good, but he’s relapsed twice this year so he’s being assessed for beta interferon.’

Kat nodded. ‘It’s not an area I know much about.’

Josh gave a rueful smile. ‘Frankly, neither did I until Paula’s husband was diagnosed a year ago. Then I rapidly became best friends with our local neurologist and picked his brains. He’s a good chap. He’s helped them a lot.’

Kat hid her surprise. He’d done that for a colleague?

‘Anyway…’ He smiled in her direction. ‘Quick tour and then we’ll try and make a dent in the mass of patients in the waiting room. Like most A and E departments, we run a triage system here so the triage nurse assesses everyone when they arrive and decides on the urgency of their case. But I’m a bit of a control freak so I still cast an eye over the stretcher cases when I arrive. Let’s start by showing you Resus…’

He shouldered open the swing doors that led to the resuscitation room but before he could speak a nurse hurried up to him.

‘Ambulance Control just called. They’re bringing in a girl found collapsed on the beach. There was a party last night—plenty of drink—and her friends left her to sleep it off. She’s semi-conscious and won’t wake up properly.’

Josh dragged on gloves and threw an apologetic look in Kat’s direction. ‘So much for showing you around.’ He turned back to the nurse. ‘Get the team together.’

As he finished speaking the doors to Resus crashed open and the ambulance crew hurried in with the girl on a stretcher, followed by a flurry of A and E staff. Swiftly the paramedics transferred her to the trolley.

‘This is Holly Bannister, seventeen years of age, on holiday for a few days with her friends. She’s been in and out of consciousness, very agitated, GCS of six,’ the paramedic handed over, detailing their observations since they’d been called to the girl.

‘Any relatives?’

‘Just a group of friends in Reception,’ the paramedic told them, and Josh gave a grim smile as he checked the girl’s airway.

‘I have a suspicion that she needs to advertise for new friends. OK, folks, I want an ECG a blood pressure and a temperature. Make that a rectal temperature. Kat…’ he lifted his eyes from his assessment of the patient ‘…I want you to talk to those friends. Find out what happened. I want to know everything there is to know about last night’s beach party, but most of all I want to know what she took.’

‘What she took?’ Kat looked at the teenager, who was now writhing and thrashing on the trolley. ‘You think she’s taken drugs?’

‘Almost certainly. My money’s on MDMA—ecstasy. She’s agitated, hypertonic, sweating, dilated pupils…’ He looked at the nurse who was checking the girl’s observations. ‘Temperature?’

‘Thirty-nine point five.’

Josh nodded. ‘Let’s get a line in and then calculate her weight and give her 1 milligram dantrolene per kilogram IV.’

Kat slipped out of Resus and went to find the friends. There were two of them, one dark and one blonde, and they were huddled in Reception, looking the worse for wear. Kat looked at Paula. ‘Where can I talk to a couple of teenagers?’

‘Take them into the relatives’ room,’ Paula said immediately, handing her a key. ‘Back through the door and first on your left. Let me know if you need tea.’

Kat smiled her thanks but she had a feeling that it wasn’t tea the teenagers needed, it was a good shake.

She walked over to them. ‘Are you with Holly?’

The dark-haired girl gave a sheepish nod. ‘Is she OK?’

‘Not at the moment,’ Kat said coolly. ‘I need some information. Do you mind coming with me, please?’

They exchanged wary looks but followed her without argument, each of the girls dressed in the traditional teenage ‘uniform’ of strappy tops, hipster jeans and big belts, and wearing the obligatory bored expression.

‘All right.’ Kat closed the door and turned to look at them. ‘You don’t need me to tell you that Holly’s very ill.’

The blonde girl was chewing gum. She glanced at the other and then gave what was supposed to be a casual shrug, but Kat caught the fear in her eyes. ‘She just had too much to drink and she isn’t used to it.’ She transferred her gum to the other side of her mouth. ‘It’s no big deal.’

Kat kept her tone neutral. ‘What was she drinking?’

‘I dunno.’ The girl shrugged again, her expression sulky. ‘Alcopops mostly. It was a pretty wild party. Whatever was going. I wasn’t really watching.’

In other words, she’d been drinking herself. For a moment Kat tried to remind herself that these were young kids, just beginning to push at the traces, test the limits. Was she being too hard on them? Then she remembered the girl lying in Resus and the grim look on Josh’s face.

They needed to know that pushing at the traces had consequences. ‘Who arranged the party?’

The blonde girl rolled her eyes. ‘Like we’re going to tell you that! I don’t think so!’

Kat kept her voice steady. ‘If you want to help Holly, you’ll tell me. I’m not the enemy here.’

The girls exchanged looks again and the one chewing gum gave a careless shrug. ‘Some guy we met in one of the pubs. He throws parties all the time on the beach.’

‘And was he offering drugs as well as alcohol?’

There was a sulky silence but Katy saw the panic in the dark-haired girl’s eyes and decided that she was the one with a conscience. ‘Holly is really ill,’ she said quietly, ‘and we need to know everything we can if we’re going to make her better. We need your help. Anything you can tell us might help. Anything.’

‘If?’ The girl stopped chewing and looked at her in alarm. Smudges of the previous night’s make-up darkened her eyes and her face was alarmingly pale. She looked tired and very much the worse for wear. ‘What do you mean, if? She’s going to be all right, isn’t she?’

Kat shrugged, unable to give the reassurance the girl was looking for. ‘I have no idea, but if she’s taken drugs and you know anything about it, now is the time to tell me.’

The girl swallowed, her breathing rapid, indecision flickering over her white features. ‘She took E,’ she blurted out suddenly, ‘but it couldn’t be that. She’s taken it before and she’s always been fine.’

Ecstasy.

So Josh had been right in his initial assessment, Kat thought. He was obviously smart as well as good-looking. Or maybe drug-taking on the beach was a common occurrence in this part of Cornwall? She had no idea, and made a mental note to ask him about it at the first opportunity.

The other girl closed her eyes and gave a sigh of exasperation. ‘Oh, for God’s sake, Tina.’

‘Well, what was I supposed to do?’ Tina turned on her defensively, her make-up smudging as the tears started to fall. ‘I’m not going to stand around here while Holly dies, am I? I don’t want that on my conscience, thanks very much.’ She gave a little sob and wrapped her arms around herself, looking more like a child than a teenager.

‘Oh, get a life. She is so not going to die,’ the other girl said in a derisive tone, and Kat shot her a cold look.

‘She could do. Have you any idea how dangerous drugs are?’

The girl rolled her eyes defiantly. ‘She’s just drunk, that’s all…’

‘How many did she take? Do you know?’ Realising that she stood more chance with Tina, Kat directed her questioning towards the other girl. ‘If you know, please tell me. It’s really important.’

Tina stared at the floor. ‘One,’ she mumbled, not looking at her friend, ‘just the one. Then she just keeled over. We all just thought she was drunk. She’s taken them before and she was OK.’

Kat let out a long breath but gave Tina a smile. ‘Thank you for telling me the truth, that was very brave of you. Why don’t you go back out to Reception and get yourselves some water from the machine? It might make you feel better. We’ll let you know how she is as soon as there’s some news.’ She walked towards the door and opened it, pausing in the entrance. ‘Oh, one other thing. Do you have the phone number of her parents? We’re going to need to call them.’

Tina blanched and the other girl shook her head, her jaw lifted in a stubborn tilt. ‘You’re joking, right?’ Her tone was nothing short of rude and confrontational. ‘No way are you phoning her parents. You can forget it!’

Kat resisted the temptation to shake the girl. ‘They need to know that their daughter is in hospital—’

‘But we can’t! We’re not even supposed to be here,’ Tina blurted out, panic flitting across her face, her voice choked with tears. ‘Our parents think we’re having a sleepover with a girl in our class. They don’t even know we’re in Cornwall.’

Kat sighed and ran a hand over the back of her neck. What a mess. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said gently, ‘but we need to inform her parents. I’m sure if you give it some thought, you’ll understand that.’

Tina burst into tears and the other girl sat down on a chair with a plop, her face suddenly white.

‘My dad’ll kill me,’ she muttered, lifting her head and glaring at Tina. ‘This is your bloody fault! You never should have given her the stuff. You were so out of order!’

‘I didn’t give it to her,’ Tina choked, tears streaming down her face, and Kat took a deep breath, deciding that she had no choice but to intervene.

‘Look, it’s important that I tell the team that she’s taken ecstasy, so I’m going to do that now, and when I come back I want the phone number of her parents, OK?’

One glance at their ashen, sulky faces told her that it clearly wasn’t OK at all, but she decided that she didn’t have time for them at the moment. Holly was the priority.

‘Paula…’ She stuck her head into Reception. ‘Can someone keep half an eye on those two for a moment, please? I need to go back to Resus and speak to Josh.’

‘No problem. I’ll do it myself.’ Paula stood up and Kat gave her a grateful smile then walked briskly back to Resus.

It was a hive of activity, with Josh delivering instructions in cool, calm tones that kept everyone focused.

‘Kat?’ He glanced in her direction and raised a dark eyebrow. ‘Tell me you’ve got news for me.’

‘Ecstasy,’ she said immediately, and he gave a nod, a flicker of respect in his eyes as he looked at her. Clearly he’d anticipated that she’d have trouble extracting the information from the teenagers.

‘Anything else?’

‘Alcopops. It appears she lost consciousness quite early on in the evening, but they all assumed she was drunk.’

‘Presumably they were all too drunk to notice the difference,’ Josh said wearily. ‘Remind me to have a word with Doug, our community policeman. They need to keep a closer eye on the beach in the evenings. OK, folks, let’s give her that sodium bicarb.’

There was a flurry of activity and one of the nurses glanced at the machine with a frown. ‘She has severe tachycardia, Josh.’

Kat looked at the machine and noticed that the girl’s heart rate was incredibly fast.

‘Let’s give her 5 milligrams of metoprolol IV,’ Josh instructed calmly, his blue gaze flickering first to the machine and then back to the girl on the trolley. ‘Her blood pressure is going up, too. Let’s try some nifedipine and then we need to get a CT scan before we transfer her to Intensive Care. My guess is she’ll show cerebral oedema.’

‘Kat?’ Paula popped her head round the door at that moment and held out a piece of paper. ‘There’s the number you were after.’

‘You’re a genius!’ Kat took the paper and smiled at the woman. ‘How did you do it?’

Paula gave a modest shrug. ‘Appealed to the conscience of the little dark-haired one. She’s not such a tough nut as the other one.’

Kat read the number on the paper and gave a sigh. ‘I suppose I’d better phone and tell them where their daughter is.’

‘Is that the parents?’ Josh checked the ECG reading and then glanced across at her. ‘If so, you definitely need to call them. They need to get down here. After the CT scan we’re transferring her to Intensive Care. She’s going to need ventilating. Do you want me to ring the parents or are you OK with that?’

Kat shook her head. ‘I can do it.’

Just about the worst job in the A and E department, she reflected, but she could do it.

She called the parents, gave them the barest information but tried not to worry them, and then returned to Resus to find that they were preparing Holly for a CT scan of her brain.

The girl was unconscious now and something about her pale face tugged at Kat’s heart.

She turned to Josh. ‘Will she be OK, do you think?’

He gave a shrug. ‘Who knows?’ His voice was hard. ‘Drugs aren’t to be messed with.’

‘Weird really…’ Kat frowned. ‘This place is so far away from the streets of London and yet you have the same problems as a big city.’

‘In some ways we have more problems.’ Josh scanned a blood result that someone handed him. ‘That looks a bit better. Where were we?’ He glanced at her, momentarily distracted from their conversation. ‘Oh, yes, the problems of living in a seaside town. Unfortunately, because we have such good surfing beaches, inevitably we attract a pretty lively crowd. A young crowd. Generally it’s all pretty harmless but not always, and there are always unscrupulous individuals out to make money from the unwary. The main problem is usually alcohol. Teenagers come down here to surf and party and they over-indulge. Saturday nights are the worst.’

Kat gave a rueful smile. ‘I can imagine.’

He looked at her. ‘It won’t be anything you haven’t seen before. Teenagers behave like teenagers. It’s just the setting that’s different. Are the parents coming?’

‘They’re on their way,’ Kat told him. ‘They live about two hours away. They didn’t even know Holly was here. The girls said they were having an extended sleepover with a friend at home and then caught the train down here.’

Josh winced. ‘Ouch. Well, they always say that your sins will find you out.’

Finally the patient was transferred, but that seemed to be a signal for the whole of Cornwall to have accidents and the rest of the day was frantically busy.

By the end of her shift Kat’s feet were aching, her head was throbbing and her stomach was rumbling from lack of food.

And she’d thought London was busy…

Josh let out a long breath and glanced at the clock. ‘Long day. I’m conscious that we didn’t have a chance to talk at all. Or eat. Why don’t we go for a drink? There’s a lovely pub a very short drive from here. Sells great food. I can answer all those questions you haven’t even had time to ask.’

Kat stiffened, immediately on the defensive. Was he asking her out? ‘I don’t think so. I don’t—’ She broke off and he lifted an eyebrow in that slightly mocking, sexy way designed to test the resolve of the strongest female.

‘You don’t what?’ His voice was soft. ‘You don’t drink? You don’t drink with colleagues? Or you don’t drink with me? Which is it, Dr O’Brien?’

Her mind went completely blank. She wasn’t used to playing games with men and she had a feeling he was playing games. ‘I have to get home.’

‘And is there someone at home waiting for you, Kat?’ His eyes scanned her face and she felt something shift in her stomach. An awareness that she instantly dismissed.

‘Archie.’ She said the name firmly as if to remind herself as much as him. ‘Archie is waiting for me. Thanks for today, Dr Sullivan.’

Even though they hadn’t had time for a conversation, she’d learned a great deal just from watching him work. She’d seen enough to know that, whatever else he might be, Josh Sullivan was an excellent doctor. He used instinct as well as experience and training, and those instincts were obviously good.

‘Call me Josh.’ He smiled, and there was more than a hint of the pirate in that smile. ‘We’re very informal here, but I’m sure you already know that.’

She did know that, but somehow calling him Josh implied an intimacy that she didn’t want.

There was no way she was becoming intimate with Josh Sullivan.

* * *

Prickly, Josh thought as he walked towards his office to make a start on the mountain of paperwork that awaited him. If he had to find one word to describe Kat O’Brien, it would be ‘prickly’. Like a thorn bush, it was impossible to get too close without risking physical injury.

He sprawled in the chair and narrowed his eyes as he mentally examined the facts.

She was fine from a professional point of view. More than fine. She’d handled those teenagers extremely well and, from what he’d seen so far, her clinical skills were excellent—but the minute they moved from the subject of work the barriers had come up and she’d frozen him out.

Was that because of Archie?

Josh leaned forward and flicked on the computer. The fact that she was obviously involved with someone disappointed him more than he would have anticipated.

She wasn’t available, he told himself firmly, pushing away memories of her body in the black wetsuit. All right, so she had legs to die for and curves designed to drive a man out of his mind, but she was already taken, so as far as Josh was concerned that was the end of it. He didn’t poach.

Katriona O’Brien was a colleague, nothing more, and that was the way she was going to stay.

CHAPTER THREE

KAT paid the babysitter and then tiptoed upstairs and peeped round the door of the bedroom.

‘You can come in,’ a sleepy voice said from the bed. ‘I’m not asleep.’

She slid inside and sat on the bed, wincing as she sat on a plastic boat. ‘Well you should be asleep, young man!’ She moved the boat and added it to the pile of toys in the box by the bed. ‘It’s really late.’

‘I wanted to stay awake until you came home.’

She winced, wrestling with the guilt that went hand in hand with single motherhood and the need to earn a living. ‘I got held up at the hospital.’

‘Lots of people having accidents.’ He nodded wisely. ‘Did you fix them?’

She smiled at the question. ‘I did my best. How was your day at summer camp? Did you meet anyone nice?’

Because it was the summer holidays she’d been forced to find Archie somewhere to go during the week, and fortunately she’d found a wonderful children’s ‘camp’ run by a team of teachers from the local primary school. Given that Archie would be attending the same school from September, it had seemed like an ideal solution.

‘I did magic.’

‘What sort of magic?’ Unable to resist touching him, she smoothed his hair gently, thinking that in the dark like this, snuggled in pyjamas covered in boats, he still seemed like her baby. But she knew he was growing up very fast and she was making the most of every single moment. ‘How did you get to be six? Tell me that. Last time I looked you were still a baby.’

‘Magic.’ Archie looked at her, his eyes huge. ‘Did you know that I can make myself invisible whenever I want to?’

‘Really?’ Kat looked impressed. ‘Wow, I bet that’s really useful.’

He nodded. ‘I did it today in camp. Twice.’

She lifted a hand to free her hair and it tumbled in waves over her shoulders. There was a frown in her eyes as she listened to him. ‘Are you having problems making friends, sweetheart?’ She’d worried like mad about uprooting him but Archie was such a friendly child she’d assured herself that he’d soon settle in. ‘Who did you eat lunch with?’

‘A boy called Thomas.’ Archie sighed. ‘He turned me into a chatterbox.’

Knowing that her son never stopped talking, Kat hid the smile. ‘How did he do that?’

‘Well, he kept talking to me so I had to talk back instead of listening to the captain.’

Kat smiled. The summer camp was run along the lines of a ship with a ‘captain’ and ‘mates’. They were obviously very creative.

‘And did the “captain” tell you off?’

Archie shook her head. ‘Not once I explained I’m not normally a chatterbox. Anyway…’ he stifled a yawn ‘…camp is different to school. No one tells you off. It’s cool.’

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