Forbidden to the Playboy Surgeon

by Fiona Lowe

  ‘I feel pretty good. How are you?’ A familiar frown creased his brow. ‘You look tired.’

  She wanted to bask in his concern for her but she’d done that before and it hurt too much. Now, far too much was at stake. ‘Yes, well, it’s been a big few days.’

  He gave her a wan smile. ‘It has. Please come in.’ He stepped back from the doorway so she could enter but as she passed him she could smell his delicious shower-fresh scent and her heart raced.

  She immediately tried to slow it down. The only thing being at his house meant was that he wanted to talk to her. What he planned to say would either cause the crack in her heart to break open for good or it would heal it.

  ‘Go through.’ He indicated she walk the length of the hall and she was very aware of the noise her heels made clicking against his polished floorboards. It echoed into the strained silence.

  She entered a large, light-filled space that combined a kitchen, dining area and family room that opened out onto a walled garden. The evening was warm and the sweet perfume of wisteria drifted in through the open French doors. So this was his house? It wasn’t the soulless stainless steel and chrome bachelor pad she’d imagined. If anything, it looked of a style and design that was ripe to be filled with the children he was too scared to have.

  ‘I thought we could sit outside?’ he suggested politely.

  From the moment he’d opened the front door he’d been the perfect host, and if he were going to continue in the same vein when there was so much at stake, she’d go mad. With a shake of her head, she set her handbag down on the dining table next to a vase overflowing with roses, scented lilies, daisies and hypericum berries. They were a beautiful arrangement and most likely get-well-soon flowers, although she wondered at the pink and mauve colour palette for a man.

  ‘I’m a firm believer of ripping a sticking plaster off fast.’

  His brows drew down. ‘Sorry?’

  ‘Alistair.’ His name came out on a sigh. ‘I don’t want to go through the charade of you offering me a drink and something to eat and then breaking my heart. Just do it now and get it over and done with.’

  He looked disconcerted as if they were actors in a play and she’d just gone off-script. He pulled out a chair for her.

  ‘I don’t need to sit down if I’m leaving in a minute.’

  He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced out towards the garden before looking back at her. ‘You’re not making this easy.’

  She shrugged. ‘I didn’t think that was my job.’

  ‘No.’ He drew in a deep breath. ‘I love you, Claire.’

  She steeled herself against the thrill that traitorously stole through her. ‘I know you do. But for us those three words are hardly reassuring.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Claire...’

  Her heart quivered and she found one hand clutching the edge of the table and the other curling around her belly as it lurched and rolled.

  ‘I’ve been a fool and...’

  What? His words began to penetrate her fog of despair. She clawed back her concentration and watched him carefully.

  His eyes held sorrow. ‘If I had my time over I’d have handled everything differently. I’m standing here before you now begging you to take a chance and risk sharing your life with me.’

  For a moment, her astonishment seemed to almost stop time and then her heart leapt at his words—her words. He was saying to her exactly what she’d said to him in the hospital. ‘You want to embrace love?’

  He reached out his arms. ‘I want to embrace love. I want to embrace you and a life together.’

  More than anything in the world, she wanted to rush into his arms but something—survival—kept her rooted to the spot. ‘And children?’ She asked the question softly, barely daring to speak the words out loud for fear they would bring her world crashing down on her again.

  ‘Yes.’ He nodded slowly. ‘That is, if we’re fortunate enough to have them. You’re right, Claire. If our kids face challenges, we’ll be there with the resources to help.’

  Relief and joy—so sweet and strong—surged through her making her sway but still she held herself back from the security of his arms. It was important to her—to them both—that she understood exactly how he’d got to this point. ‘What happened to change your mind?’

  ‘You happened.’ He stared down at her while his left hand stroked her hair. ‘Five years ago, when I collapsed and got the pacemaker, I saw it as a second chance at life. I also believed it came with a very big condition. I couldn’t risk having kids and there are very few women out there who don’t want the full package of marriage and children. So I focused on work and having fun. When a woman tried to get too close, I broke things off. It was always that easy until I met you.’

  ‘I’ve always been difficult,’ she said, half joking and half serious.

  A slow smile broke over his handsome face. ‘You’re the most wonderfully difficult woman I’ve ever had the pleasure to know. You’re also the only woman I’ve ever fallen in love with. It threw me so completely that I’ve behaved abominably.’

  The only woman I’ve ever fallen in love with.

  All those beautiful women who’d preceded her and yet it was her—the woman with the learning challenges and a lifetime of idiosyncrasies—she was the one he loved. He wanted to share his life with her come what may. Make a future with her.

  Tears pricked the back of her eyes and she raised her hand to his cheek, welcoming the feel of his stubble grazing her palm. ‘You were scared.’

  ‘I can’t believe how close I got to losing you.’ His voice cracked and he cleared his throat. ‘Thank you for coming to the hospital and talking sense to me.’ His forehead touched hers. ‘Thank you for loving me.’

  She blinked rapidly as her legs trembled. ‘Thank you for loving me.’

  His arms wrapped around her, pulling her in so close and tight she could barely breathe. ‘Claire?’

  ‘Yes.’

  He set her back from him so he could see her face. ‘Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?’

  His proposal stunned and thrilled her and she found herself struggling to speak. ‘I... That’s... I... Yes,’ she finally managed to splutter out. ‘Yes, yes, yes.’

  He grinned at her, his face alight with love. ‘Thank goodness for that.’ Cupping her cheeks in his hands, he tilted her head back and kissed her with firm, warm and giving lips.

  She sighed into him, letting him take her weight and absorbing the solid feel of him against her. His touch and feel radiated love, support and infinite generosity. When he eventually broke the kiss, he said, ‘By the way, these flowers are for you. A peace offering for my stupidity. I don’t mind if you throw them at me.’

  She gave an unsteady laugh as she tried to unpack everything that was happening—how hopelessness had been turned on its head to become happiness. ‘I can’t throw them at you. That would be a waste. They’re too beautiful.’

  ‘So are you.’ He kissed her again. ‘Will you come outside into the garden? Please.’

  The entreaty in his voice made it impossible to deny him. ‘I think it’s probably safe for me to do that now.’

  He grinned and gripping her hand he tugged her across the room and out into the garden. A silver champagne bucket stood on a table and protruding from it was the neck of a bottle of champagne with distinctive gold, orange and black foil. A platter of antipasti covered in a fine net cloth sat beside it along with two champagne flutes.

  He gave her a sheepish look. ‘I’d planned to propose to you out here. I wanted to do my very best to make it as romantic as possible. Make it something you’d remember.’

  His love and care circled her in warmth. ‘And I went and threw a spanner in the works. Sorry.’

  He laughed. ‘Hey, I still got the girl so I don’t mind
at all.’ He removed the foil covering on the top of the champagne bottle and then his long, surgical fingers popped the cork. The fizzing liquid quickly filled the fine crystal glasses.

  When he’d set the bottle back into the ice bucket, she stepped into his arms and ran her hands through his hair. ‘You’ve got more than just me.’

  He gazed down at her. ‘In-laws, you mean? My mother’s keen to meet you, and we can take a trip to—’

  She pressed her fingers to his lips as she shook her head. ‘I don’t mean my family. I mean our family.’

  He looked increasingly bewildered so she took pity on him. ‘It turns out I didn’t have gastro.’

  His eyes widened into silver moons. ‘You’re pregnant?’ Hope and awe tumbled from his whispered words.

  ‘Six weeks.’ She couldn’t stop a broad smile despite knowing she needed to urge caution. ‘It’s still early days and you know that anything could hap—’ She gave a squeal of surprise as her feet suddenly left the ground.

  Alistair spun her around and around, his face alight with sheer delight. ‘You’re amazing. This is amazing.’

  She threw back her head and laughed, revelling in more joy than she’d ever known. The circular motion eventually caught up with her and she suddenly gripped his shoulders. ‘Feeling sick.’

  He stopped abruptly and set her down on the chair. ‘Sorry. Drink this.’ He picked up the champagne and then laughed and put it down again. ‘I’ll get you something else.’

  When he returned a short moment later the world had stilled on its axis and she was feeling a little better. She accepted the glass of apple juice he’d poured into a champagne glass.

  Squatting by her side, he picked up his champagne flute. ‘To my darling Claire, for opening my eyes and giving me back my life.’

  She leaned in and kissed him, her heart so full it threatened to burst in her chest. ‘To my darling Alistair, for opening my eyes so I can appreciate my strengths and skills.’

  ‘You’re most welcome.’ He grinned up at her. ‘Someone wise once told me that we’re good for each other.’

  ‘And don’t you forget it. I love you, Alistair North.’

  ‘I love you too, Claire Mitchell. Here’s to a life lived to the full. To facing challenges head-on and to the joy of children.’

  She thought about what they’d taught each other. ‘To enough routine to make life enjoyable and enough spontaneity to keep it fun.’

  They raised their glasses and clinked. ‘To the future.’

  And then he kissed her and she knew she was home.

  EPILOGUE

  ‘DO YOU THINK international travel with children comes under the heading of spontaneity and fun?’ Alistair asked with a wry smile as he tramped along a wide, golden sand beach with a baby carrier on his back.

  Claire laughed as she adjusted the baby carrier on her own back. ‘Nothing about travelling with babies and all of their associated gear can be called spontaneous.’

  ‘Their creation, however, was both spontaneous and fun,’ Alistair teased as he slid his hand into hers and squeezed it.

  ‘It was.’ She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. She was more in love with him now than on the day she’d said, ‘I do,’ in the beautiful stained-glass chapel at the castle and she was absolutely stunned that it was even possible. ‘Bringing the twins to my homeland is fun.’

  The twins—a boy and a girl now eleven months old—squealed in delight. Thrashing their arms wildly, they touched hands now that their parents were walking close enough so they could reach each other from their carriers.

  Claire breathed in the fresh, salty air and felt peace invade her bones. She enjoyed London but she loved Australia and its wide-open spaces more. She couldn’t quite believe she—they—were here in Queensland. The last nineteen months had been momentous. Two weeks after Alistair had proposed, he’d accompanied her to the routine pregnancy ultrasound. As she lay on the table with her hand encased in Alistair’s, excitement on hearing the baby’s heartbeat had turned from joy to shock and back to joy again when they’d heard two heartbeats.

  ‘Twins? But how?’ she’d asked inanely.

  Alistair had laughed. ‘Any twins in your family?’

  ‘Dad has twin brothers.’

  ‘There you go,’ he’d said, kissing her on the forehead. ‘Now this is the sort of inherited condition I can get behind.’

  Being pregnant and studying for her exams had been tough but with her study regime and Alistair’s help—both practical and emotional—she’d passed. The good news had arrived just before she’d gone into labour. A paediatrician had been on hand at the birth to check for any cardiac irregularities but both children were declared to have healthy hearts. Their six-month check-ups had all been normal and they were kicking goals on all their developmental milestones, although Claire noticed Emily did things just that little bit earlier than Noah. It was typical girl power.

  Parenthood had brought with it both joy and delight along with exhaustion, but she and Alistair were used to functioning on limited sleep courtesy of years of working in hospitals. It didn’t faze them too much. They’d become experts at walking the floor, bouncing the pram and driving around London in the wee small hours, all sure-fire ways to get unsettled babies back to sleep. The biggest surprise—and the most appreciated—had been Alistair’s decision to cut back his work hours so he could be around more for hands-on help. Claire, loving motherhood but missing work, took up the two days a week that Alistair had dropped. It was a perfect solution. Just recently, with the twins close to their first birthday, they felt they’d found their groove and had decided to bring them out to Australia to meet her parents as well as taking a well-earned beach holiday.

  At the prospect of the twenty-four-hour journey, Alistair had said, ‘We’re either brave or stupid.’

  ‘We’re both,’ she’d said, kissing him with gratitude. ‘And I love you for it.’

  A pacific gull and a cormorant swooped over the gently breaking waves and then dived, probably having just spotted a school of fish and dinner. The sun, now a vivid orange ball of fire, dropped low to the horizon, shooting out fingers of red and yellow flames that lit up the scudding clouds. Claire felt the chill in the breeze for the first time.

  ‘We should probably take them home.’

  ‘Dinner, bath, bed?’

  ‘For us or them?’ she teased.

  His eyes darkened just the way she liked. ‘Twins first and then us.’

  ‘I’ll hold you to that.’ They turned around and walked back towards the beach access track. Not able to hold back her sigh, she said, ‘I can’t believe we’ve only got one day of our holiday left.’

  ‘What if we stayed?’

  She laughed and gave him a gentle elbow in the ribs. ‘You’re just procrastinating because you don’t want to face the flight back to London.’

  ‘Well, there is that,’ he said with a grin, but then his expression sobered. ‘I’m serious, Claire. What if we stayed and worked in Australia? I enjoyed my time in Sydney as a registrar so I know what I’m in for. I’ve loved this holiday and I love this country. Your mother’s besotted by the twins—’

  ‘There’s not a big call for neurosurgeons in Gundiwindi,’ she said, thinking of her dusty hometown.

  ‘True, but there is in Brisbane. The city’s only a few hours’ drive away for your parents, which is a lot closer than London. Plus, your dad’s talking about retiring closer to the coast.’

  ‘Is he?’

  ‘He told me they’d been looking at properties in the hinterland.’

  Her mother had mentioned something in passing along those lines but she hadn’t thought anything of it because she couldn’t imagine her father ever leaving Gundiwindi. The idea of having her parents closer for support was very tempting, as was the opport
unity for the twins to grow up with grandparents. ‘But what about your mother?’ she asked, trying to be fair. ‘If we stay here, then she misses out.’

  ‘You know as well as I do Mother’s not really a natural at being an extra-pair-of-hands type of a grandmother. She prefers children when they’re older. We’ll Skype her each week and buy a big house with a large guest room and an en-suite. She can fly out anytime she wants to visit. But I can pretty much guarantee she won’t do that until they’re at school.’

  Anticipation and excitement started to bubble in her veins. She stopped walking and turned to face him. ‘You’ve really thought about this, haven’t you?’

  ‘I have.’

  ‘What about our friends and colleagues? The castle? Won’t you miss the old girl?’

  ‘Paddington’s always going to have a place in my heart, because it’s where I met you. But times change and we need to change with them.’

  She’d never asked him to consider moving to Australia because they’d met in London. ‘You’d really do this for me?’

  ‘It’s not a hardship, Claire. Yesterday, when you were at the beach with your parents, I made enquiries at Brisbane’s public and private hospitals.’ He stroked her face. ‘Would you like to go into private practice with me in Brisbane, Ms Mitchell?’

  Marvelling at how lucky she was to have him in her life, she didn’t have to think twice. ‘Yes, please.’ Throwing her arms around her neck, she kissed him, welcoming the future and all it had to offer.

  * * * * *

  EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT

  Their chemistry is undeniable! But will Sullivan Darcy follow his heart when doctor princess Gabrielle Cartier must return home to rule?

  Read on for a sneak preview of

  THE DOCTOR AND THE PRINCESS

  He turned the palm of his hand, extending it out towards her. ‘Give me Gabrielle back, please.’

  She frowned with confusion. ‘What do you mean?’

  He was giving her a knowing kind of smile. ‘I had her. I had her right there with me, then you just flipped back into princess mode.’