Her off-limits boss...

Is worth breaking the rules for!

In this Single Dad Docs story, physiotherapist Maggie Green’s instant attraction to her buttoned-up new boss Dr. Alex Kirkland might be against the rules, but since becoming an amputee she’s determined to live life to the full—including embarking on a fling! As their chemistry intensifies, Alex and his adorable son’s acceptance of Maggie for who she is, makes her long for something she never thought possible...a family.

Single Dad Docs quartet

Book 1 – Tempted by Her Single Dad Boss by Annie O’Neil

Book 2 – Resisting Her English Doc by Annie Claydon

Look out for the next two books, coming soon:

Book 3 – The Single Dad’s Proposal by Karin Baine

Book 4 – Nurse to Forever Mom by Susan Carlisle

“Both the main characters were fascinating and I loved their back stories, as they’re so different, and yet, they’re so great together.”

—Harlequin Junkie on One Night with Dr Nikolaides

“Annie O'Neil is a master of her craft when it comes to feeling what her characters feel and the whole mix together is what made me adore this story.”

—Goodreads on Reunited with Her Parisian Surgeon

ANNIE O’NEIL spent most of her childhood with her leg draped over the family rocking chair and a book in her hand. Novels, baking, and writing too much teenage angst poetry ate up most of her youth. Now Annie splits her time between corralling her husband into helping her with their cows, baking, reading, barrel racing (not really!) and spending some very happy hours at her computer, writing.

Also by Annie O’Neil

One Night with Dr Nikolaides

The Army Doc’s Christmas Angel

Single Dad Docs collection

Tempted by Her Single Dad Boss

Resisting Her English Doc by Annie Claydon

And look out for the next two books

The Single Dad’s Proposal by Karin Baine

Nurse to Forever Mum by Susan Carlisle

Available February 2019

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Tempted by Her Single Dad Boss

Annie O’Neil

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 9781474089692

TEMPTED BY HER SINGLE DAD BOSS

© 2018 Annie O’Neil

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

MILLS & BOON

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This one goes with a big fat happy heart to Susan,

who corralled us together; Christine, who kept us

sane; and Karin, whose spirit kept the flame well and

truly burning. You’re all amazing. I’m so delighted to

have “discovered” Maple Island with you all. Perhaps

we’ll meet there again one day? Big love x Annie

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

“OW!” MAGGIE HADN’T meant to yelp. Keeping her cool for her young patients was paramount.

Had the ferry surfed a huge wave or hit something? Just make sure the children are unhurt.

“Everyone okay?”

She heard a pair of yesses as she peeled her hands off the ambulance floor. “Looks like the ocean’s a bit rough outside of Boston Harbor, kiddos. Maybe the ferry captain’s seen Moby Dick!”

Without looking, Maggie knew her knees would be bloodied and a bump would be growing on her head. How she’d managed to fly past the ambulance’s two vacuum mattresses and conk her head on the gurney wheels was beyond her. She quickly pushed herself back up to a sitting position and checked her patients. They were the priority here, not her.

The ten-year-old twins seemed fine, if a bit wide-eyed at the sudden movement. The ferry journey to the Maple Island Clinic hadn’t been billed as a funfair ride. Nor was it meant to be. The weather had checked out fine, which was precisely why they’d opted for crossing on New Year’s Day before the predicted snow moved in.

She looked down at her knees and saw a bit of blood seeping through the dark fabric as her right hand gingerly checked for...yup...a grade A head bump.

What a way to make a first impression at her new job.

She winced at the misplaced vanity as she tried to pull her wild tangle of red curls back into submission. This wasn’t a beauty contest. Not landing on the kids had been the goal, particularly since their spinal injuries had been from collapsing scaffolding. The last thing they needed was her falling on them right after they’d been released from critical care.

She shoved away the rush of fear that had come with the sudden movement and reminded herself of her priorities.

Arriving at Maple Island with the children safe and sound was the goal. She was good at goals that involved patients. It was only the personal stuff that needed work.

“Billy, you all right up there?” She received a grunt from the paramedic who’d driven them onto the ferry. Better than a moan, she supposed. Or nothing.

“Looks like I should’ve stayed put and kept my seatbelt on, shouldn’t I?” Talking endlessly wasn’t necessarily going to calm them down but—

The piercing screech of the ferry’s alarm came so short and sharp Maggie almost gave her roller-coaster scream. Not the best “responsible adult” response. She was meant to be soothing the patients, not freaking them out. As her last boss had constantly reminded her, not everyone was a finely wired adrenaline junkie.

Not everyone had to give themselves a reason to live at the age of thirteen, though.

Before she could get her seatbelt on, another lurch flattened her to the floor again. Oof.

“We’ve got a bit more than we bargained for in terms of adventure, haven’t we, kids?” They both responded with something indecipherable beneath the screech of the siren.

Clonk.

A small tub of supplies found a perch on her head.

Mercifully the siren stopped.

Maybe it had been a pod of whales.

“Sorry, Maggie. Was on the phone with Vick. Everyone all right back there?” Billy stuck his head into the back as he untangled himself from the coiled radio cables. “Vick just doused herself in hot coffee up on the passenger deck.”

“Ouch.” Maggie winced. Painful way to get through a New Year’s Day hangover. “Did she burn herself?”

“Nah. But she’s going to check if anyone up there needs help. The weather’s closed in. Total blinder. I’d better ring the clinic and let them know this isn’t going to be a straightforward journey.” He held up the tangle of wires as proof the radio was out of commission. “Do you have the clinic’s emergency number?”

Maggie glared at him then flicked her brown eyes toward the children. “Ixnay on the ary-scay alk-tay, my friend.”

He looked at her blankly, then huffed. “I don’t do pig Latin.” He made a gimme, gimme gesture with his hand. “Number for the clinic, please, Mags.”

Maggie recited it from memory, reminding herself that Billy had valiantly maneuvered the ambulance onto the ferry’s small car deck when Vicky, the original driver, had announced an urgent need for coffee. They could’ve parked diagonally if they’d wanted to. Not one other car had followed behind them onto the dinky car deck. Had every other person in Boston read a different weather report from the one she’d had or were they all just hungover, like Vicky?

She’d checked the weather about a hundred times. It was meant to be calm today, snow tomorrow.

The clinic would go ballistic if anything happened to these two. And she wouldn’t blame them. They’d been through enough. The terror of their house’s scaffolding collapsing on them. Spinal surgery. Critical Care. Parents having to wage war with the insurance company and carry on working so they didn’t lose what little money they did have. It had been a horrific holiday season for all of them. The one silver lining had been the clinic taking them gratis. She wasn’t going to let anything stand in the way of them getting the rehab they deserved. Not the weather. Not a cranky paramedic. Not on her watch.

“Actually...” she pulled out her own phone “...I’d better do it.”

“Why?” Billy’s arm shot out and only just missed her face as they both sought to stabilize themselves from another lurch.

“Because Boston Harbor’s put me down as the contact and I’m the one signing the children over. My job. My responsibility.”

“You’re their physio. I’m in charge of the ambo, which makes me king of everyone who’s in it.”

She knew Billy wasn’t trying to get one up her, but the caveman approach made her bridle.

Don’t let fear guide you. You can’t control everything.

That’s what she’d told herself after that night. The night her blind trust in Eric had exploded into painful emotional shrapnel.

It was years ago. Move on. Not everyone was judging her. Billy didn’t even know about her...her situation...so...

It was time to stop tarring everyone with the same brush.

They both pitched toward the right side of the ambulance as another wave bashed the side of the boat.

What the heck was happening out there? Armageddon?

Doing her best to not freak the children out, she tried appealing to Billy’s macho side. “Go on, Billy. Be a hero and find out what’s going on.” She threw in a lame, “It’s my name on the paperwork,” then wiggled her phone between them as if that settled the matter.

The truth? They did need to find out what was happening and she wasn’t sure her sea legs were up to whatever was happening out there. Besides, if something truly bad was going on, she needed a plan to get the children off the ferry, stat. No way was she losing them or exacerbating their critical injuries. Not when they’d already dodged the entrance to death’s door a little less than a week ago.

Billy threw the radio cables onto the passenger seat of the front cab. “You know what I think?”

No. And judging by the narky tone of Billy’s voice she didn’t want to.

“I think someone wants first dibs on the boss man.”

“Ha! Hardly.”

She waited for him to get out of the ambo before she let her yeah, right face drop.

Okay. Totally. But it wasn’t a factor right now. In an emergency.

She only did crushes from a distance. The second she stepped on to Maple Island? It would be work only.

Besides, her “crush” was nothing more than professional admiration.

Dr. Alex Kirkland was the answer to her prayers, professionally.

She was good at her job and working for Alex would only make her better. Not that she’d even spoken to him yet. She’d been hired by the clinic’s co-founder, Cody Brennan, when he’d been over visiting a post-op patient she had been treating at Boston Harbor.

This was the chance of a lifetime and she wasn’t going to let her poor taste in boyfriends destroy her future. It had taken three long years to build herself back up again after what Eric had done to her and no way was she going to let his arrival back in Boston push her back to that soul-destroying emotional precipice again.

She thumbed through her phone, barely catching her balance as the ferry reacted to another impact. There were high screeching sounds this time. The unmistakable scream of metal on rock.

Her heart dropped to her knees. Her badly bruised knees.

Didn’t matter.

Maggie did another quick check of Peyton and Connor’s stats. All good, despite the fact that being bounced around like this wasn’t strictly on the rehab list. Just as well she and Billy had agreed to keep the children strapped into the ambulance instead of stretchering them onto the semi-exposed passenger desk as one officious cost-cutting administrator at Boston Harbor Hospital had suggested. Er...anyone ever heard of patient safety? She might be a goofball on any number of fronts, but patient welfare was definitely not one of them.

“You two all right?” She received a pair of dopey smiles. The painkillers were obviously doing their job. Excellent. The last thing she wanted was to add fear to the mix.

A crisp, efficient male voice answered the ringing phone with the name of the clinic.

“Hello? It’s Maggie Green here from Boston Harbor. May I speak with Dr. Kirkland please?”

“This is he.”

An unexpected trill of anticipation twirled around her heart and squeezed it tight. Alex Kirkland was legendary when it came to rehabilitation. His clinic. His terms. The place was a wonderland for a dedicated rehab physio. A job there was a true professional coup.

And a great place to hide away from ex-boyfriends.

The ferry came to a sudden halt then just as quickly felt like it was falling backwards. She yelped and braced herself to avoid falling on the children.

“Is everything all right?” he asked.

She wanted to say yes. She wanted to say everything was on track. Instead...she was going to have to set aside her deep-seated instinct not to ask for help.

“Not really. I’m on the ferry with the Walsh twins and—Whoa!”

Alex’s voice clicked into the type of quick, professional tone an emergency operator would use. He was calm, assuring. “Maggie, can you still hear me? Are you with the children now?”

“Yes.”

“Are they all right?”

“Yes. We’re on the ferry as scheduled. Dr. Valdez got us all sorted at the docks, but it—Oops!”

Her hands flew out to brace herself and in the process knocked a supplies basket off the wall. She arched her body so the small boxes of gauze would fall on her and not Connor. The last thing he needed was more things falling on him.

“Maggie, where is Dr. Valdez now?”

She inched her way back to her seat and buckled herself in again.

“He had to stay in Boston to do an emergency surgery. The children are fine, but a fierce storm’s blown in unexpectedly and the ferry seems to have run into some trouble.”

The back door to the ambo flew open, along with a huge gust of wintry air. It was Billy. His features had turned ashen. “We’ve hit a rock. A big huge—”

Maggie drew a line across her throat and pointed at the children. She mimed closing the door as she tried to keep her voice steady. “We appear to have had a bit of a collision.” As she watched Billy struggle to close the doors behind him, her mind reeled with ways to get the children off safely. The wind was obviously too strong for a helicopter. Not to mention that their clear day had turned into one with zero visibility. They must be halfway between Boston and Maple Island. Only half an hour on a good day. On a bad one? She didn’t have a clue.

The ferry was being bashed around by the waves so there wasn’t a chance in the universe the tiny lifeboats would be of any use. Unless they were sinking.

Oh, jeezy-peeps. They’d better not be sinking.

“Can you send anyone to fetch us? We might be in somewhat of a pickle here.” The biggest type of pickle, actually. The life-or-death kind if this was going the way she feared. Maggie bit down on the inside of her cheek so hard she drew blood.

“Leave it with me.” Alex’s rich southern voice was exactly the solid reassurance she needed to hear. “Your priority is the children.” Then the phone went dead.

She stared at the phone. The man certainly wasn’t one for small talk.

Right now isn’t the time for pleasantries, you idiot!

Besides, he was ex-military, wasn’t he? All the doctors she’d worked with who had served were more about action than chitchat.

“You two twin berries all right?” Maggie started taking everything down from the sides of the ambulance that could fall, doing her best to sound calm when everything inside her was freaking right the heck out of Dodge. Chances were they were going to have to get out of the ambulance asap.

An obstetrics kit fell off its wall hook. She grabbed it just in time.

Don’t panic. Don’t panic.

She swept a lock of black hair away from Peyton’s face with one of her rainbow-color painted nails. “How you holding up there, hon? You okay?”

The ten-year-old was looking pretty pale, but then again blunt trauma to her spinal column was no laughing matter. Neither was the resulting Brown-Sequard syndrome. The rare spinal injury could have been deadly. A wooden shard from the scaffolding that had collapsed on her and her brother had pierced her spinal cord, triggering the neurological response. Dr. Valdez had stopped the spinal fluid from leaking and, whilst she still was experiencing some numbness and sensory loss, it looked as though she would not suffer permanent paralysis.

The minor fractures she’d received to her spinal column? Well. Time and a positive attitude were going to be both the twins’ best friends for the next few months. An amazing surgeon from Spain had helped, too. And not sinking in an ambulance on a ferryboat just off the coast of Boston? That would also be a factor.

She pinned on a smile. “It looks like New Year’s Day is a bit more wild than we thought.”

“I’m okay if Connor’s okay,” Peyton whispered.

Boom!

This time it was Maggie’s heart that took the blow. These two kids. They tugged at just about every single one of her heartstrings. She’d been in the hospital when the twins had been brought in on Christmas Eve.

A few days later, once she’d connected the dots—low-income backgrounds, parents embroiled in a legal tangle with a reluctant insurance company, the charitable offer from the Maple Island Clinic to cover the long-term rehab—she’d realized they were headed for the same place and had volunteered to oversee the transfer to the island when Dr. Valdez wasn’t able to make it, even though it meant she’d arrive a week earlier than she’d been contracted for.

Not that it was the best excuse in the universe to get out of Boston fast.

She gave Connor’s dark hair a gentle scrub. He’d also taken a severe blow from the scaffolding, but at least he’d missed out on getting a spinal puncture wound from the splintered beams that had shattered when the scaffolding clamps had given way. Peyton had really taken the brunt of this one.

Their recovery after surgery at Boston Harbor had been one of those “wait and see” issues. Never nice for the patient. More traumatizing for the parents.

Her own parents had just about had a meltdown when...well... They’d eventually got over it and she was getting on just fine now. All things considered.

She smiled down at Connor. “You all right, bud?”

“Wicked cool.” Connor gave her a double thumbs-up, even though his arms were strapped down along with the rest of his body. Any sort of movement could compromise the exacting surgery he’d just had. She gave herself a fist bump within his eyeline then returned his thumbs-up.

How was she going to get these kids safely off this boat?

The ferry shifted and groaned again. Her insides went liquid with fear. Was this their Titanic moment?

“All good, kiddos. Everything’s okay,” she lied. “Thank goodness you two are strapped in, right?”

They probably ought to get them out of the ambo and upstairs, where they stood a better chance of not being sucked into the icy Atlantic waters, but...with the ferry moving around so much, what if they dropped them?

It’d be like walking around with unpinned, kid-shaped grenades.

She shot Billy a look. One she hoped asked, Any bright ideas?

Billy mouthed something about finding the crew and climbed out of the ambo with another gush of wintry wind.

In a vain attempt to make this seem fun and not terrifying, Maggie took two big fistfuls of her flame-red hair and held them out whilst making a goofy face.

Total failure.

At ten years old, Peyton and Connor were old enough to roll their eyes at adults trying to be cool and still young enough to be scared.

“You two hold steady there.” Maggie winced. As if they had a choice. She knew more than most how hard it was to be told not to worry when the only option was to rely on other people.

“Maybe you should call Dad.” Peyton’s eyes were still red-rimmed from the emotional farewell with their parents at the hospital.

“That’s a great idea, Pey.” Maggie cherry-picked the information that would scare them least. “We’ll send him a text, but I’m pretty sure he’s at work.” She didn’t think. She knew. Both he and Mrs. Walsh had been told by their employers that if they didn’t show up to work, they would lose their jobs. This on top of their insurance company’s refusal to pay out. As if the Walshes had been the ones to will the arctic winter winds to blow both the house’s porch scaffolding and the porch onto their children on Christmas Eve.

They might be poor, but the last thing the Walshes were was negligent.

“Maybe a helicopter will come rescue us,” Connor suggested.

Maggie made an “Ooh” noise, followed by an I don’t think that’s gonna happen frown.

“The weather isn’t good enough for a helicopter to fly in, dummy,” Peyton snapped at her brother.

At least Peyton was feeling good enough to name-call. It was when fear became silence and then silence became acceptance that it swallowed you whole. Maggie had fought that battle thousands of times in her own life and had found that smiling at adversity really was the best way to deal with life’s challenges.

Right. Operation Positive Thinking!

“We’re going to be fine. Probably just stopping for a pod of harbor seals or something.”

“It’s a pod of whales. Seals are bob, harem, colony or rookery. Besides, the harbor seals don’t come round the cape in winter. It’s harp and hooded seals in January.”

“Well, that’s very interesting, Connor. What else do you know about seals?” Distractions. Perfect. Maggie put on her best interested face as Vicky jumped into the front cab of the ambulance, along with a howl of wind.

“Is the ferry sinking?” Peyton’s hands strained against the straps holding her onto her tray gurney.

“Ha! No.” Maggie threw a quick Will it? look at Vicky, whose return expression wasn’t very reassuring. “It won’t sink. Even if it does, you’re with a hydrotherapist. Perfect person to be with.”

The ferry lurched again. This time it was obvious the boat was tipping in the wrong direction.

Don’t panic. Don’t panic.

“I thought your therapy used horses, not water.” Connor’s voice wobbled as he spoke. “You said we could ride with you one day.”

“Absolutely. We will ride together and swim together. I do all sorts of different things.” Including screw up her life so much she ended up on a sinking ferry on New Year’s Day with two kids who seriously deserved a break but who weren’t getting one.

Adrenaline was normally her friend. She was going to have to make it her best friend today.

“Lay it on me, Vick,” she whispered out of the children’s earshot. “What’s going on?”

Vicky grabbed a couple of reflective vests out of the glove compartment and turned to her, looking utterly terrified. “Billy’s helping with the lifeboats. We need to get the kids out of here right now.”

No news was good news.

That’s what Alex was telling himself anyway. He stared at the phone again. Twenty attempted calls and each time it had cut out.

No news is good news.

When it involved a sinking ferry? No news could be the worst possible kind of news.

He’d already had enough of that in his life, thank you very much.

He pulled off his woolen hat and gave his sandy blond hair a scrub. Every nerve ending in his body was crackling with barely contained frustration. If jumping into the sea and swimming would have got them through the storm faster, he would’ve done it.

The urge surprised him. Particularly given the barely disguised nickname he knew his staff had for him.

Dr. Protocol.

His fingers tightened round the brass railing in the small enclosed helm area Salty kept in immaculate condition.

There were rules for a reason.

Rules Mother Nature didn’t feel inclined to pay much attention to.

It was insane to be out in this weather at all. He had a young son to look after. A clinic to run.

She needs your help.

They all needed his help.

He pushed the thoughts away. This wasn’t some magic chance for him to leap in and change history. His wife had been killed in action. There hadn’t been a single thing he could’ve done about it.

She could’ve followed orders and she’d still be alive.

His preference of fact over the futility of what-might-have-been laid the argument to rest. What’s done was done.

Right here, right now? He had patients who needed his help and Maggie Green had better be following emergency guidelines to a T.

He looked across at Old Salty, the island’s resident commercial fisherman who had volunteered to bring him out here. His last name was Harrington. Alex had never learned his first. All the islanders called him by his nickname, so he did, too.

The septuagenarian’s piercing blue eyes popped out beneath the navy captain’s hat he near enough always wore. A snow-white beard. Bit of a pot belly. He’d look like a nautical Santa if he wasn’t so damn grumpy all the time. Then again, there weren’t all that many folk willing to risk it all for a pair of young patients stranded on a sinking ferry off Boston Harbor. The man was made of the stern stuff of previous generations. The type who actually had walked to school through three feet of snow.

In fairness, Maple Island virtually overflowed with helping hands when needed. It was a proper community looking after its own. It was one of the reasons he and Cody had picked it for the clinic.

Three years he’d been on the island now. Given the fact the island was home to descendants of the Mayflower, he didn’t know if he’d ever feel anything other than brand new.

But he knew he’d stay. He felt welcome. And that made all the difference.

Didn’t mean the learning curve wasn’t steep. Cody was from California and Alex was from Alabama. A New England storm was still about as foreign to the pair of them as calling a place home for over two hundred years. And with temperatures below freezing, snow predicted and winds howling in from the Arctic Circle he was in completely new territory.

“It was good of Marlee to get in touch with you.”

“She didn’t,” Salty said.

Alex gave him a sidelong look. He obviously wasn’t going to offer up any more information.

Marlee was one of the clinic’s biggest assets and he wasn’t just talking about her bear hugs. If she wasn’t related to someone who could help, she’d gone to kindergarten with them, or had baked cookies with them or had raised her kids with them. The instant she sniffed trouble, she went into turbo drive and before he’d pulled on his first layer of thermals Alex had found himself being bundled into a four-by-four en route to the harbor, along with a set of thick waterproofs. When they’d arrived, Old Salty had already been untying his fishing boat’s thick bow lines off the dockside cleats.

“Should be any minute now.” Salty squinted into the mist, not an ounce of concern about him.

How did he do that? There was a broken-down ferry, possibly taking on water. Two patients on board who should already be in the clinic’s small but up-to-date intensive care unit. And a new employee he had absolutely no information about. Cody had handled the interviews with her so he had no information on what she’d be like. Scared. Capable. Bewildered. Dead?

His phone buzzed. Cody. His human wall to bounce ideas off. Half the time he never knew if Cody was even listening to him. The other half? He’d never met a smarter, more committed surgeon in his life. Two single dads doing their best to bring their children up in a world they never thought they’d be navigating alone.

Or, as Cody had pronounced when they’d finalized their building plans, “Life’s a bitch, and then you build a clinic.”

“Any news on your end, Cody?”

He heard a slapping sound. No doubt Cody’s hand against the counter. Frustration was definitely getting the better of both of them. “No. I was hoping you’d have some. Hey, listen, there’s something I need to warn you about Maggie—”

The line cut out.

Alex stared at the phone. What did he mean? Way to end on a cliff hanger.

“Look over there, boy,” Salty ordered.

Boy?

Alex bit back a mirthless laugh. It had gotten a bit too much use of late.

He hadn’t been a boy let alone felt like one since...far too long.

No point in pretending he couldn’t remember. The last time he’d felt properly young had been the moment he’d fallen in love with his wife. And that had been a long time ago. Best-looking woman in boot camp. Smartest, too. Had known her way round combat medicine as if she’d been born on a battlefield. A heart the size of the whole of New York City. Six years after her death, and he still struggled to believe someone so vital had been snuffed out in an instant. That was the only mercy. She’d never seen it coming.

“You can just make them out there.”

He tugged his wool hat back on and followed the line of Salty’s thick finger as he pointed toward a dark object in the distance largely obscured by the murky weather.

“Got it. Let’s get those children on board this boat and get them back to the clinic before anything else goes wrong.”

CHAPTER TWO

DOCKING A BOAT to an engine-less ferry perched on a jagged rocky outcrop in the midst of a winter storm was no mean feat. It wasn’t sinking at the moment—but it certainly wasn’t sitting at an angle that was going to hold for much longer if the waves grew any fiercer.

With each surge and lift of the fishing boat he could see the ambulance. He’d half expected to see it on its side, doors flapping and a whole lot of other things that weren’t very pleasant.

It was upright and solidly strapped to various posts by four thick docking ropes. Someone was a clever-clogs.

“Right, boy. That’s the Flying Cod cinched in. You want to get these little ’uns on board and back to the island?” Salty nodded at the rope ladder one of the ferry’s crew had just flung their way.

“Absolutely.”

Alex pulled himself up and over the railing and ran. He only just managed to pull himself to a halt as the double doors at the back of the ambulance swung open.

The storm, the high-octane adrenaline that came with the insane rescue mission, Old Salty’s salty language...none of it had the impact she did.

Hair like spun gold and flames. The biggest pair of brown eyes he’d ever seen. There were probably flecks of gold in them if the light was right. Pitch-black lashes giving them that added visual punch. Cheeks pinked up with the cold or...hell, he didn’t know why a woman’s cheeks pinked up. All he knew was that he’d better get some oxygen back into his lungs so he could speak.

She had a rope on her shoulder coiled up like a lasso.

“Hope that’s not for me.”

Kicking himself would be a good option about now.

She gave him a sideways look and a quick up-down scan. “Could be if you play your cards right.”

Was he—? Were they—?

This wasn’t flirting, was it?

“We should get a move on.”

Nice one, Alex. Way to roll out the charm.

“Absolutely.” She gave him a bright smile. “We probably need all hands on deck—like a human chain—in case the sea goes all bouncy-bouncy on us again. Although that’s why we put up the guide lines.” They both turned and looked at the ropes holding the ambulance in place. He saw now that there were more ropes tied at a higher level, serving as hand grips.

“You did this?”

She shrugged as if tying a vehicle with two extremely injured children inside of it during a freak winter storm was an everyday sort of thing for her. “With help from the ambo team and the ferry crew. You’re Dr. Kirkland, right? Maggie Green.”

She put out a hand.

He ignored it.

There’d only been one other woman who’d sucker-punched him into sensory overload quite so fast and the only place he could visit her was at her graveside.

Maggie’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if trying to get the measure of him. She withdrew her hand and gave him a nod in a way that suggested she saw him for what he was. A man at war with himself.

That made a change. Most people thought he was an uptight stick-in-the-mud. Rules. Regulations. The world’s most boring man.

He wasn’t that guy.

He hadn’t been, at least.

“All right, doc?” Billy appeared from around the corner, pulling on a reflective waterproof with the Boston Harbor logo sewn onto the front.

A wave bashed the side of the ferry and threw them all off balance. Maggie fell forward from her perch in the ambulance door. Alex lunged forward, just managing to keep the pair of them upright.

His breath caught as she steadied herself, using his chest as an anchor. It was the first time he’d ever been grateful to be wearing five layers of clothes. Her hand on his bare chest? Just thinking about it shot his temperature up to the stratosphere.

Her eyes widened as they met his. A hot, intense connection froze the pair of them in place.

“You all right, you two?” Billy stepped forward.

As quickly as she’d fallen, Maggie pulled herself back into the ambulance doorway.

What the hell just happened there?

“Right.” Alex needlessly clapped his hands together. There was hardly a cast of thousands standing at attention. “Everyone we need here?”

Billy nodded. “Vicky, me, and Maggie, of course.”

As if he wasn’t aware of the flame-haired beauty who’d burst out of the ambulance like a film starlet ready to take the world by storm.

Billy pointed toward Salty’s boat. “There’re a couple of ferry crew over there by your fishing boat. Should be enough. A few passengers upstairs if we need ’em, but I would say they’re more hungover than helpful. We’ll take your lead.”

Alex’s years in the military kicked to the fore. He walked with Vicky and Billy toward Salty’s boat, issuing sharp, exacting instructions about how they’d load the twins onto the vessel using Maggie’s pre-established guidelines. He knew he sounded curt, like an automaton, but it helped blinker his thoughts. Right up until Maggie jumped down out of the cab and walked toward him. She was all legs and then some. From the tips of her high-profile athletic shoes to the farthest reach of her sprawl of flame-colored curls, she moved like a cross between a jungle cat and a supermodel, as if walking along an unsteady ferry deck with a storm raging around her was the most natural thing in the world.

“Dr. Kirkland? Where do you want me?”

All sorts of places it wouldn’t be appropriate to go into right now.

He shook his head. He felt like he was being invaded by an Alex he had never met before. One part Viking and one part Don Juan. In other words, one hundred percent opposite from the man he needed to be right now.

“Dr. Kirkland?” Maggie held up her hands and gave her fingers a wiggle. “Where do you want them and what do you want them doing?”

An explicit image of Maggie raking her colorful nails down his naked back blindsided him.

Her presence was more than distracting. She was lighting up all sorts of primal sensors he’d long thought were dead. Sparks and shocks were crackling against his insides as if someone was trying to start up an ice-cold truck in his privates.

He pulled off his hat again and scrubbed his hands through his hair. Half of him wanted to send her back to Boston on the bright yellow rescue boat he could see approaching at the far end of the ferry. The other half? He crushed the thoughts into the darkest corner of his brain he could find. He’d deal with that later.

“Stay with the ambo. We’ll sort out the swiftest transfer method and let you know when we need you.”

She pushed herself up to her full height, eyes flashing with something he couldn’t put a name to. Anger? Frustration?

“Listen here, Mr. Southern Drawl. That cute little accent and sexy hero act of yours isn’t going to work on me. I’m here to help, not stand around and look pretty.”

She did that all right. Without even trying.

Wait a minute. Sexy hero? Hardly. Work-focused single dad with about as much fun in his entire body as Maggie looked to have in her pinkie finger would be a better description. And a “cute” accent? Where he came from, all his accent did was ensure everyone knew he was from the wrong side of the tracks. It was why he’d joined the military. Which side of the tracks a person came from didn’t hold much sway on a battlefield.

Alex cleared his throat and readjusted his stance to that of commanding officer—a role he’d relinquished the day his wife had been killed. “Precisely why I need you to stay at the ambo. We’re loading the patients one by one. At my clinic we don’t leave juvenile, post-operative spinal injury patients on their own.”

What the—? Who’d drained his personality and refilled him with formaldehyde?

Maggie’s dismissive shrug confirmed she didn’t think much of his behavior either. “I wasn’t planning on abandoning them. And in my world? We call patients by their names. They have them, you know. Peyton and Connor Walsh. They’re kids. And they’re scared. Might be a good idea to come over here and introduce yourself before you carry on barking orders at everyone.”

Irritation flared in him hot and bright. He took patient care immensely seriously. He’d set up the clinic with the highest of standards for precisely that reason, and here she was giving him How to Treat a Patient for Beginners tips.

She was right, of course. Infuriating. But right.

“Hello...” Maggie waved a hand in front of his face. “Anybody home?”

Alex frowned. “There is a procedure to be followed. Chitchat can come later.”

“Wow.” Maggie didn’t even try to hide her distaste at his response.

He held up a hand and started ticking off questions on his fingers. “Have you checked on their life vests? The cover for transport? The waterproofing. The transfer protocol?”

“Obviously. We kind of saw to that when the ferry smashed into the rocks and we all thought we might drown.” She stared at him for a moment then started to laugh. “Omigawd! I didn’t put two and two together, but you’re him.”

“Who?” He was her boss, for one. That should be clear enough. His name was stitched onto his jacket. Made it easy to identify staff in moments of chaos. Just like this one.

“Dr. Protocol.”

He winced. Nice to know his reputation for exacting adherence to procedure had preceded him.

“Sorry. Sorry. That was meant to be my inside voice.” She teased her shoulders into performing an impish shrug of apology to match her rueful I really messed that up face.

Alex gritted his teeth.

She quirked an eyebrow at him.

I’m waiting, it said. And a whole lot more.

Everything about Maggie Green spoke to that perfect triple of determination, energy, and willingness to take risks. That sort of optimism wasn’t something you learned. It was something a person embodied. And Maggie positively glowed with it. A stark contrast to the cloud he was pretty sure shadowed him on most days.

In other words, if he was the phoenix burned to ashes, she was all flame.

Exactly the type of person they needed working with patients teetering on the ledge between despair and recovery.

Annoyingly.

The idea of three months working with Maggie Green was settling in about as easily as he’d taken to the mandatory grief counseling after Amy had been killed. Very. Poorly.

Maggie looked at him for a minute, arms crossed, jaw twitching with expectation. “C’mon, Dr. Kirkland. Come say hi.”

She turned without waiting for a response, those long legs of hers taking the few yards between him and the ambulance in a handful of strides. She turned around and crooked her arm, a smile teasing at the corners of her mouth as she beckoned him to join her. “I promise they don’t bite.”

Then she winked at him.

CHAPTER THREE

MAGGIE CLAMBERED INTO the back of the ambulance hoping her expression read more Hey, kids! We’re about to have an adventure rather than the more horrifying alternative.

Had she really just winked at her new boss?

How completely and totally mortifying.

She wasn’t a winker. She wasn’t even a flirt. And yet just five seconds in Alex Kirkland’s presence and for some insane reason she’d thought she’d had a little glimpse into his soul. Seen a kindred spirit. Which was completely insane. Bring on the straitjacket! Maggie Green’s finally lost the plot!

If only his gorgeous southern accent hadn’t wriggled its way down her spine the way it had. The man wasn’t just sexy. Less than a handful of seconds in his arms and he’d dug up all sorts of sensations she hadn’t banked on feeling ever again. Since when did she get all tingly in her fastidiously padlocked magic garden?

Mercifully, Vicky stuck her head into the back of the ambulance instead of Alex and the proverbial ball started rolling.

Twenty hair-raising minutes later the impressive seadog manning the fishing boat was pulling up to a classic old-fashioned marina on Maple Island. The tide was high and docking was no easy feat as the waves kept were bashing up against the fishing vessel.

Despite the relative silence in which they had traveled back to the island, she was as aware of Alex Kirkland as he seemed to be of her.

Which was why focusing solely on her charges had made the bumpy journey easier. The last thing she needed was to be going all doe-eyed on her new boss. She didn’t do romantic relationships. Not even for cantankerous, butterfly-inducing, green-eyed procedure devotees whose delicious personal man scent was now embossed on her memory...forever.

If they could bottle Eau d’Alex Kirkland? The patient load at Maple Clinic would double. Overnight. Not that he seemed like the kind of guy who liked a fan club. Quite the opposite, in fact. When she’d accidentally winked at him he’d looked as though he’d have fled for the hills if they hadn’t been on a boat.

A handful of men and women all wearing thick winter coats with the Maple Island Clinic logo embossed on them were at the docks. Alex jumped out first and rattled off a few instructions. That seemed to be his thing. But something told her he was doing it now because he was unsettled. And it wasn’t the patients who’d been doing the unsettling.

Whatever. She was used to being the elephant in the room.

She was also used to bringing out the worst in people. It was her thing. With patients she could wrestle the fury into submission. With Eric? It had nearly crushed her, but she’d found a way to get back up again. Swinging.

Whatever it was she’d unzipped in Alex, suffice it to say he wasn’t the only one feeling unsettled.

“Are you sure you and Salty can manage from your end?”

Alex’s green eyes pierced straight through to the one area of her confidence she’d thought unshakable. Her ability to follow through physically. It wasn’t as if she had dedicated her whole life to being “capable” or anything.

“Absolutely.” She threw her cockiest smile back at him. “So long as you and your posse are up to being on the receiving end of our superpowers.” She turned to Salty. “You up for throwing some shade on the clinic crew dockside?”

Salty frowned. “I have no idea what you’re saying, girlie, but let’s get these young ’uns up onto the pier and out of the weather.”

Maggie laughed good-naturedly and moved into position at the end of Connor’s stretcher. The ride hadn’t exactly been a barrel of laughs but they’d made it. If Alex’s predictions were anything to go by, in just a few more minutes they’d be nice and warm in the clinic’s A-grade facilities. She strongly suspected Alex’s predictions were fact-based and nothing less.

She looked up at him from her end of the stretcher and tried not to blink as their eyes met and locked.

She knew then and there that he was going to expect the very best from her. Exactly what she was hoping for professionally. Personally? Not so much.

“Miss Green? Any time now.”

“Yup! On it.” She squatted into place, hoping no one called Alex saw her suck in a sharp breath as her knees registered their complaints. She could practically feel his eyes glued to her. The man was unnerving her. Putting her off her game.

Enough with the excuses. Just get on with it.

“All right, Connor. You ready?” The boy gave them a thumbs-up and sucked in a big inhalation of wintry sea air as Salty and Maggie bent and hoisted his stretcher up and toward the pairs of hands waiting on the dock.

The hands that accepted her end of the stretcher brushed against hers. Electric sparks skittered down her arm and swirled round her chest before floating provocatively down to that freshly unlocked secret place of hers.

No guesses as to who had taken her end of the stretcher. She didn’t dare look at Alex again. Instead she focused on getting Peyton up and into the back of the waiting four-by-four. As she turned on the boat’s crowded deck, her foot caught and snagged on a rope, giving her knee a painful wrench.

Ooh, that hurt. Really, really, really hurt. It’s all right. You can take it. Just a few more minutes and then you’ll be taking a load off.

“You gonna stand there daydreaming or are you going to help me get this girlie onto the dock?”

“Right! Sorry, Salty. Can I call you Salty?”

He leant to pick up his end of the stretcher in tandem with her. “It’s ‘may’, not ‘can.’ And I don’t see why not. Everyone else does.”

Ha. Well, that had put her in her place. “Is there something else you’d rather be called?”

His blue eyes flashed brightly. “Nope.” He lifted his end of the stretcher with a bit of a grunt that could easily have been described as a growl.

There was definitely a story there. One she’d have to get before her contract was up.

“We’ve got her.”

“Hang on a minute,” Salty called out to the clinic staffers, who were already heading to the transport vehicles. “Still got these bags for this little lady to load up.”

“Oh, don’t worry about those, Salty. I’ll get them.” Maggie waved for the medics with the twins to go on ahead as she tried to wrestle her duffel bag away from Salty.

Precious cargo. She was a bit touchy about them. Especially with the boat still bucking around like it was. Proof, if they’d needed any, that Salty’s seasoned negotiation of the ocean to the ferry and safely back to the island again had been a feat in and of itself.

“It’s no trouble,” He put one leg on the dock and one on the boat. The man was pretty nimble for a self-proclaimed “old feller.” He flicked his fingers, indicating she should hand him her large duffels that the ambo crew had kindly jammed into the front cab with them, which she did. “What in the blue blazes have you got in here, woman? A dead body?”

She laughed. Near enough. “I don’t travel light.”

That’d cover her bases for now. He wasn’t to know. No one was until she was ready to tell them. She never liked to make her condition “a thing” until it became...a thing.

“Oh, for the love of—!”

With the bash of a wave came an abrupt swing and shift of the boat against the dock. Salty tried, unsuccessfully to find purchase on the dockside but couldn’t. His “boat” leg slipped between the vessel and the dock and the rest of his body flew forward so rapidly his hands were unable to brace him for the fall. Adrenaline took over as she leapt to Salty’s aid.

Gritting her teeth against her own pain, Maggie managed to climb out of the boat and pull his leg up and onto the dock. She told herself to call for help, but wasn’t entirely sure if she had the breath in her lungs to shout.

“Salty? Salty.” She knelt next to him and pressed her fingers to the pulse point on his throat. Thready. But still there. “Come on, you old seadog. You aren’t going to let a little old storm get the better of you, are you? Certainly not on New Year’s Day, all right?”

Her eyes flicked to his torn yellow coveralls that were now exposing a navy pants leg. She couldn’t see any blood coming through, but the fabric was both dark and wet, so not the easiest way to see it. If he’d suffered a compound fracture the wound would need to be cleaned as soon as possible. Infection was an open wound’s biggest enemy.

Other people appeared then began calling out for more help, a stretcher, blankets, a doctor. Salty kept blinking his blue eyes as though they were trying to bring her into focus. From the look of the bump on his head he could’ve easily suffered a concussion too.

She pulled off her jacket, took off her fleece and curled it round his head like a cushion. “Salty? Can you follow my finger?” She clocked his eye movement as they followed her index finger. It wasn’t brilliant but it wasn’t bad. To distract him from what must be an excruciating level of pain, she kept up her usual bright chatter and carried on performing the handful of neurological exams easily performed on a recumbent patient.

When the clamor of voices fell silent she knew whose body was attached to the solid all-weather boots that appeared in her sightline.

Alex Kirkland.

Much to Maggie’s surprise, Salty tried to push himself up to a sitting position. “Just let me get up, would you? Give me a chance to have a quick run down the dock on it. A couple of laps and it’ll be fine.”

Maggie pushed him back down. “Let’s just hang onto that enthusiasm for a minute, Salty.”

Calmly, steadily, Alex swiftly examined Salty’s leg.

Maggie knew she was holding her breath, but she also knew how bad the injury could be. Soft tissue damage alone could lead to amputation. It had been difficult to tell just how violent a blow Salty’s leg had received, but popliteal artery injury was something to consider. Compartment syndrome. Or infections. Please don’t let him get an infection. There was gangrene to consider, osteomyelitis—

Alex shot her a curious sidelong look. She hoped he wasn’t reading her mind.

“I’m guessing we’re looking at a double oblique fracture,” he said. “Most likely tib and fib, but I don’t want to destabilize it more than it already might be.”

She exhaled. Okay. Better than completely crushed to smithereens.

“I’d rather leave any guesses on the ankle to the radiography team.” The crowd around them collectively gasped as Alex’s comments made the rounds. It sounded bad. It was bad. Alex maintained solid eye contact with Salty. “The good news is nothing’s broken through, but you do present with one gross deformity.”

Despite years of hearing the medical term, Maggie winced. She hated that term, “gross deformities.” Whenever she was with patients she always made a joke of it and called them “beautiful variations.” Being injured or in pain was bad enough. No need to add insult to an actual injury.

Alex shook his head as once again Salty tried to lift himself up. The old man gave a grunt of irritation and lay back down on the dock, his eyes closed tight as Alex continued, “We’re most likely going to have to set the bones, Salty. A pretty good reason not to keep trying to get up and test it out.” Maggie pressed her fingers to Salty’s carotid artery. Irritation had ratcheted up his heart rate. Better than thready, but skyrocketing in the other direction wasn’t great either.

Patiently, and presumably as a time-filler until more help could arrive, Alex continued, “Pending a follow through on any soft-tissue damage and splinting you, with any luck, and some proper physio from Maggie here, we’ll have you up and running in a couple of months.”

“Months?” Salty roared, eliciting a few shrieks from the onlookers who’d thought his closed eyes had meant he had passed out.

Maggie could barely hear her own voice trying to tell him an oblique fracture was a good thing such was the roar of blood careering round her own brain.

Broken was so much better than what she’d imagined.

“Chin up, Salty. You’ll be back in action in no time,” she told the old man.

Alex threw her A Look. “If by ‘no time’ you mean possibly having to go through surgery and attend months of rehab after the fractures have healed, I suppose you’re right.”

Alex’s tone made his stance crystal clear. He didn’t “do” optimism. He did facts.

Maggie’s blood shot from ice cold straight up to boiling point. The facts weren’t all in yet and optimism had helped her over more than a few hurdles in her life.

“Your bedside manner stinks,” she ground out through gritted teeth.

“Both of yers does.” Salty tried to push himself up once more, only to have Alex and Maggie press him back down onto the thick wooden dock planks. “Listen up, the pair of you,” Salty persisted. “All I need is a good hot cup of coffee. One of Fiona’s’ll do. I don’t want any cardamom or turmeric or any sort of nut milk anywhere near my cup of Joe. And I’m hungry so I’d a like a cruller to go with it. While I have that you can tape up my leg, then the both of you can get on over to the clinic so I can shut down the Fish Tank for the night.”

“Erm... Salty?” Maggie shot a look at Alex, who was still very busy glaring at her. “I think the Fish Tank needs to be shut down for a bit longer than that. And perhaps by someone who isn’t you. Do you have any family who can help?”

Salty’s already murderous expression turned even darker. “Nope.”

He folded his arms across his chest and stared at the steel-gray sky that was turning suspiciously darker by the minute.

Someone pushed through the crowd. “Utter rot and nonsense, Salty. You’ve got us, whether you’re happy with it or not.”

Salty shifted his eyes to stare at the new arrival. A man with a bright orange crew cut who could’ve doubled as a leprechaun. Brave, too, as he was wagging his finger at Salty as if he’d been a naughty toddler.

“Tom Brady, I hope you’ve got a cruller in one of those pockets of yours, otherwise I’m not remotely interested in what you’re about to say.”

“You know there are crullers on tap for you every day of the week at the bakery, Salty, but perhaps the doc here might like you to wait a couple of minutes. Now, I’ll get Jim down here and he and I’ll see to the Fish Tank.” He nodded to Alex. “Dr. Kirkland. Good to see you, despite the circumstances. You and your son see in the New Year on your own?”

Alex nodded and gave the man’s shoulder a quick affirmative clap. “I imagine the Brady family saw it in with their usual verve.”

“I’ll have a headache for days,” Tom confirmed with a smile.

Alex laughed and shook his head.

Okay. So he wasn’t Captain von Grumpy to everyone. Just her. If there was any sort of record being taken, she would like it duly noted that she found Dr. Alex Kirkland infuriatingly...he turned to her with a soft apologetic smile playing on those lips of his...gorgeous.

He looked back at Tom. “I think Salty could do with a couple of extra pairs of hands today.”

“That’s settled, then. I’ll get the boys down and they’ll clean her up.”

“Not necessary!” Salty growled.

“Definitely necessary,” said another man who looked an awful lot like Tom Brady. “From where I’m standing, you aren’t looking your best.”

That was one way to put it.

All the blood had drained from Salty’s face. His breath was coming in quick, sharp huffs. The body’s way of coping with pain. If they didn’t get him somewhere dry and warm soon they could add hypothermia to his list.

As if by magic, a woman in a Maple Island Clinic jacket appeared with a backboard.

“Can we get a bit of space around Salty, please, folks?” Alex ordered. “Just need to load him up and get him to the clinic.”

“I don’t know what my insurance is going to think of this,” Salty bit out.

“Doesn’t matter,” Alex said matter-of-factly. “You were doing a clinic rescue mission. All your care is on us.”

A shot of respect crackled along Maggie’s spine. Gorgeous and with ramrod-straight integrity. She sniffed. Didn’t mean his social skills couldn’t do with some improvement, but everyone had their crosses to bear.

Salty grumbled but didn’t resist.

Then Alex started reciting another list of instructions so specific she had to hide her smile.

Dr. Protocol, indeed.

He was obviously a good doctor. His neurosurgical skills were highly lauded in all the articles she’d read about him before she’d taken the three-month contract at the clinic. Ground-breaking this and new innovations that. She’d had run-ins with a lot of surgeons in her time. They could be elitist. Reserved. Brusque. Downright rude. Alex obviously had the brains, but now that she’d watched him interact with Salty and the other islanders who were still pitching in as if this sort of thing happened every day, she realized he also had compassion. And that was a game changer as far as she was concerned. Anyone who could put themselves in someone else’s shoes...

This was going to be a funny few months. Whether it was going to be funny ha-ha or funny peculiar remained to be seen.

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