Second Chance with Lord Branscombe

by Joanna Neil

  The course of true love never did run smooth...

  ...and Dr. Sophie Trent knows that better than most! Her romance with Nate Branscombe ended in disaster years before—and now the handsome heir to the local estate is back.

  Sophie has enough to think about without this charismatic aristocrat’s distraction, but as they work closely together he stirs up feelings she thought she’d left firmly behind her. Can the one that got away finally help Sophie face the past...and convince her that true love is here to stay?

  Nate slipped his arm around her waist, holding her close.

  She knew she ought to move away, but it felt good to have him hold her—to have him so close that she could feel his long body by her side—and she couldn’t bring herself to break that contact. Instead, Sophie wanted him to wrap his arms around her. His nearness was intoxicating.

  ‘You’re lovely,’ he said huskily, his gaze lingering on the pink fullness of her mouth. ‘It means so much to me to have you here with me like this. I’ve missed you all these years we’ve been away from each other. I kept thinking about you all the time we were apart.’

  ‘Did you? Me too...’

  It was true. She’d never been able to stop thinking about him. And now she was lost in his spell, enticed by the compelling lure of his dark eyes and mesmerised by the gentle sweep of his hands as they moved over the curve of her hips, drawing her ever closer to him.

  He bent his head to her and gently claimed her lips, brushing her mouth softly with his kisses. Her whole body seemed to turn to flame and she melted into his embrace, loving the way his arms went around her. Her limbs were weak with longing. She wanted his kisses...yearned to know the feel of his hands moving over her.

  Dear Reader,

  I’ve always loved coastal settings, and this book has one of my favourites—an English Devonshire village clustered around a sheltered bay. At the centre of this community is the manor house and its estate, overlooking all—the proud heritage of the Branscombe family through generations. What could be a better, more perfect background for an enduring love story?

  But, as you know, the path of true love never runs smooth, and Nate and Sophie have more than their fair share of troubles. How can their love survive the hostility that simmers between their fathers? Or overcome the overwhelming problems that cascade down upon Nate’s head?

  It takes a special kind of man to win against all the odds—and I hope you’ll agree with me that Sophie deserves the best!

  Happy reading.

  With love,

  Joanna

  Second Chance with Lord Branscombe

  Joanna Neil

  www.millsandboon.co.uk

  JOANNA NEIL loves writing romance and has written more than sixty books for Mills & Boon. Before her writing career started she had a variety of jobs, which included being a telephonist and a clerk, as well as nursing and work in a hospital pharmacy. She was an infant teacher for a number of years before her love of writing took over. Her hobbies include dressmaking, cooking and gardening.

  Books by Joanna Neil

  Mills & Boon Medical Romance

  Dr Right All Along

  Tamed by Her Brooding Boss

  His Bride in Paradise

  Return of the Rebel Doctor

  Sheltered by Her Top-Notch Boss

  A Doctor to Remember

  Daring to Date Her Boss

  Temptation in Paradise

  Resisting Her Rebel Doc

  Her Holiday Miracle

  Visit the Author Profile page at millsandboon.co.uk for more titles.

  For my family, with thanks for their unfailing love and support through the years.

  Praise for Joanna Neil

  …‘a well-written romance set in the beautiful Caribbean.’

  —Harlequin Junkie on Temptation in Paradise

  ‘I really enjoyed this read. Sometimes the tension between Matt and Saffi was simply crackling… If you enjoy Medicals this is a good, solid read…well worth it.’

  —Harlequin Junkie on A Doctor to Remember

  Contents

  Cover

  Back Cover Text

  Introduction

  Dear Reader

  Title Page

  About the Author

  Dedication

  Praise

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Extract

  Copyright

  CHAPTER ONE

  ‘IT’S BEAUTIFUL OUT HERE, isn’t it?’ Jake smiled as he looked out over the sea and watched the waves rolling on to the shore. ‘I never get tired of looking at that glorious view. I’m just glad I get the chance to come and sit here after work sometimes.’

  ‘Me too.’ Sophie returned the smile and then concentrated on carefully spooning golden sugar crystals into her coffee. It gave her a bit of time to think. She ought to be content, no doubt about it, but she couldn’t get rid of this nagging feeling that before too long everything in her world was going to be turned upside down.

  On the surface everything was running smoothly. What could be better than to be here on a late Friday afternoon, taking in the fresh sea air with Jake, on the terrace of this restaurant in the delightful little fishing village they called home? On the North Devon coast, a small inlet in a wide bay, it was an idyllic place to live.

  A faint warm breeze was blowing in off the blue water, riffling gently through her long honey-blonde curls and lightly fanning her cheeks. From here she could see the rocky crags that enclosed the peaceful cove and she could hear the happy shouts of children playing on the beach below, dipping their nets into rock pools that had been left behind by the outgoing tide. She had every reason to be happy.

  The truth was, though, that she’d been on edge this last couple of weeks...and there could be only one reason for that. Ever since Nate Branscombe had returned to the Manor House her emotions had been on a roller-coaster ride. Maybe she should have expected him to come back once he’d heard about his father’s health taking a downward turn. Deep down, she’d known all along he would have to visit his father, Lord Branscombe, sooner or later, but when she’d heard he’d actually turned up she’d been swamped by a feeling akin to panic. She’d gone out of her way since then to avoid running into him.

  ‘This is the perfect place to relax,’ Jake said, oblivious to her subdued mood. He sipped his coffee and then glanced at his watch. ‘I can’t stay for too much longer, though...much as I’d like to—I have a meeting to go to.’

  ‘Ah—the joys of working in hospital management!’ She glanced at him, her mouth crinkling at the corners. It was what he was born to do, streamlining what went on in various departments of the local hospital.

  Jake Holdsworth was a clever, likeable young man, good-looking, with neat dark hair and compassionate brown eyes. He was a couple of years older than her at twenty-eight, but they’d known each other for several years since he used to regularly come to the village to visit a favourite aunt. They’d become firm friends. Eventually, though, they’d gone their separate ways when they each left home to take up places at university—she went to Medical School and Jake went off to study Hospital and Health Services Management. It was one of her proudest moments when she was at last able to call herself Dr Trent.

  ‘Oh, yes! Budget meetings, purchasing committees, dealing with the complaints of cl
inicians! It’s all go!’

  ‘But you love it.’ Their lives had been busy, as each of them worked towards building their careers, and it was only lately they’d met up again. Jake had a keen sense of humour and she liked spending time with him. He always managed to put her at ease, to help her set aside her troubled family situation for a while, to make her forget that life could be a struggle sometimes. He was a restful kind of man and she enjoyed talking to him.

  He was nothing at all like Nate Branscombe—the very opposite, in fact. She frowned. Somehow, Nate had the knack of stirring up strong passions in her—for good or bad—but, either way, they were feelings she would far sooner forget. More often than not, he left her in turmoil.

  Nate had the kind of bone-melting good looks that sent her heart into overdrive the moment she saw him. Women couldn’t get enough of him but, as far as he was concerned, it was all easy come, easy go. His girlfriends each thought they would be the one to change him, but she could have told them they were wasting their time. He would never make that final commitment.

  Maybe that was why Sophie had always held back from him. He wanted her, there had been no doubt about it, and she’d been so...so...tempted, but she wasn’t going to fall for him, like all the others, and end up being hurt. Nate liked women, enjoyed being with them, having fun, getting the most out of life, but she wondered if he’d ever meet the woman who was right for him. Or maybe Nate was aware that the women he’d dated simply didn’t make the grade to be the wife of a future lord.

  ‘Are you okay? You’re a bit quiet today.’ Jake studied her thoughtfully. ‘Have you had a tough day at the hospital?’

  ‘Oh—I’m sorry. I was miles away.’ Jerked out of her reverie, Sophie made an effort to pull herself together. ‘No, it was fine.’

  ‘Is it some problem closer to home, then? Are you worried about your family?’ Jake gave her a wry, coaxing smile before finishing off his coffee and resting his hands on the table, his fingers loosely clasped.

  She shrugged her shoulders. ‘The usual, I suppose. According to my brother, Rob, my mother’s acting weird again, and Jessica’s a bit upset because Ryan has to go away to work.’

  He gave a sympathetic nod. ‘It’s not the best timing, is it? How far advanced is her pregnancy?’ He hazarded a guess. ‘Third trimester?’

  She nodded, smiling. ‘Thirty-seven weeks or thereabouts. The baby could decide to put in an appearance any time now.’

  His mouth made a flat line. ‘Not a great time for her to be on her own, then?’

  ‘No.’ Sophie frowned. ‘Mum and my stepdad are fairly close by for her, though.’

  She glanced around as she heard the sound of footsteps approaching. ‘Your table’s over here, sir,’ the waitress was saying, showing Lord Branscombe to a table set in a quiet corner by the wrought-iron balustrade. As he followed her, Lord Branscombe was walking slowly, each step measured and cautious. He straightened, looking towards the table. A bright spray of scarlet surfinia spilled over from a tall cream-coloured planter nearby and beyond the rail there was a mass of green shrubbery, providing a modicum of privacy from some of the other diners.

  James Branscombe acknowledged the waitress briefly, but came to a halt halfway across the terrace. He seemed to be struggling for breath, a hand clutched to his chest, and the waitress watched him worriedly.

  ‘Are you all right?’ she asked. ‘I didn’t think— The steps up to the terrace are quite steep... Perhaps I should have taken it more slowly...’

  ‘Please, don’t fuss,’ he said in a gruff voice. ‘Just bring me a whisky, will you?’

  ‘Of course. Right away.’ His command had been peremptory but, even so, the girl escorted Lord Branscombe to his table and made sure he was seated before she hurried away to get his drink.

  Around them, Sophie noticed the hubbub of conversation had died down. People cast surreptitious glances towards the occupant of the table in the corner and then began to speak in hushed voices. Lord Branscombe, for his part, ignored them all, lost in a world of his own. In his early sixties, he looked older, his hair greying, his face taut and a deep furrow etched into his brow.

  ‘Perhaps he shouldn’t be out and about,’ Jake murmured, echoing what everyone must surely be thinking. ‘He doesn’t look well.’

  ‘No, he doesn’t,’ Sophie said, a touch of bitterness threading her words. ‘But when did that ever stop him?’

  ‘True.’ He sent her a quick worried look. ‘I’m sorry. Of course, you know that to your cost.’

  ‘It’s probably the reason Nate’s back at the Manor House,’ she said, ignoring his last statement. She wished she’d never said anything. After all, what was the point in raking up past history? ‘He’ll be worried about his father.’

  ‘Hmm...about the estate too, I imagine.’ Jake frowned. ‘You must have heard the rumours going around?’

  ‘About Lord Branscombe’s business venture overseas?’

  He nodded.

  ‘Yes, I’ve heard them.’ She winced. ‘According to what I’ve read in the national papers, he’s lost an awful lot of money.’

  ‘Nate won’t like that—the fact that the press have got hold of the story, I mean.’

  ‘No, he won’t.’ Nate already hated the press after the coverage his father had received a couple of years ago when he was taken ill at the controls of a light aircraft. This new story would have stirred his dislike of them all over again. ‘What makes it worse is that he didn’t want his father to have anything to do with the so-called development out there in the first place, but Lord Branscombe wouldn’t listen.’

  ‘Oh?’ Jake raised a brow. ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘I heard Nate and his father having a heated discussion one day when I was out walking the dog. Lord Branscombe wouldn’t listen to reason...but then, he never has.’ And it was James Branscombe’s refusal to take heed of what people said that had left her father in the state he was now. Her lower lip began to quiver slightly and she caught it between her teeth to still the movement.

  Jake laid his hand over hers, clasping her fingers in a comforting gesture. ‘This must be really difficult for you, after what happened to your father.’

  ‘It is.’ She closed her eyes fleetingly. Her father had been a passenger in the single-engine plane that crashed nearly two years ago. James Branscombe had taken the controls against all advice and that decision had left her father with life-changing injuries. He’d suffered a broken back, shoulder and ankle, whereas Lord Branscombe had come out of it relatively unscathed.

  Even now she had trouble coming to terms with what had happened.

  Jake was concerned. ‘You must be upset at the thought of Nate coming back. You and he had something going for a while, didn’t you? Until the accident put an end to it.’

  ‘Maybe I had feelings for him, years ago, when I was a teenager, and then later it all came to the fore again just before my father’s accident...but we wouldn’t have made it work. I realise that, now. We were both studying in different parts of the country for a long while, so I didn’t see him very often...and, anyway, Nate could never commit to a relationship. Things went badly wrong for us after what happened to my father. I think Nate only stayed around long enough to make sure his father was okay. He’s been back a few times since then, but I’ve kept out of his way.’ She braced her shoulders. ‘Do you mind if we don’t talk about it?’

  Right now she couldn’t cope with having it all dredged up again. She steeled herself to put on an appearance of calm and she and Jake talked quietly for a while.

  A few minutes later, though, her outward composure was all but shattered once more. She looked up and saw a man striding confidently across the terrace, heading towards the corner table.

  ‘Nate?’ The word crossed her lips in a whisper of disbelief and Jake gently squeezed her hand in support. It wa
s a shock, seeing Nate standing just a short distance away from her. When she’d seen him, soon after the crash, she’d been upset, out of her mind with worry, and they’d argued furiously over his father’s actions. But when he went away, in her mind, in her soul, she’d still yearned for him.

  Nate hadn’t seen her yet as he stopped briefly to speak to one or two people along the way. Her mind skittered this way and that, trying to find some means of escape, but of course it was hopeless from the start.

  He saw her and his eyes widened in recognition. For a moment or two he seemed stunned. Then he started towards her, a long, lean figure of a man, his stride rangy and confident, the muscles in his arms hinting at a body that was perfectly honed beneath the designer T-shirt and casual trousers he was wearing.

  The breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t think straight any more. All she could do was drink in his image—the broad shoulders, the sculpted cheekbones and the black, slightly overlong, unruly hair that kinked in a roguish kind of way.

  ‘Sophie.’ His voice was deep and warm, a hint of satisfaction there, as though he was more than pleased to see her. He stopped by her table and looked at her, his brooding green gaze all-encompassing, tracing the slope of her cheekbones and the soft curve of her mouth and lingering on the golden corkscrew curls that tumbled over her shoulders. ‘It’s good to see you again. You look wonderful.’

  Unsettled by that penetrating scrutiny, she lowered her gaze. She didn’t know how to react to him after all this time. She was distracted by a whole host of unfamiliar feelings that were coursing through her.

  His glance trailed downwards, taking in the way Jake’s hand covered hers. Then he lifted his head, making a faint, almost imperceptible nod. ‘Jake.’ He gave him a narrowed look and Jake must have begun to feel uncomfortable because he straightened, slowly releasing Sophie’s hand.

  ‘Hi there, Nate. We haven’t seen you in a while,’ he said.

 
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