Italian Doctor, Sleigh-Bell Bride

by Sarah Morgan

  ‘I was so stunned by what you said that I didn’t even stop you walking away. But you did me a favour. I realised that there was no point in holding back and giving you time to adjust to the fact that we were together. I could see that words alone wouldn’t be enough to convince you that I love you.’

  Hardly daring to breathe, Liv gazed at the glittering diamond and then at him. ‘Stefano, you couldn’t have found a woman with less to offer you. I don’t have any money at all and—’

  ‘Fortunately I have more than enough for both of us.’ His possessive gaze was fixed on her in blatant appreciation and she felt herself blushing.

  ‘Don’t look at me like that.’

  ‘I’m going to be looking at you like that for the next fifty years at least, tesoro,’ he drawled softly, ‘so you’d better get used to it.’

  Liv lifted a hand to her throat. ‘I want to be with you more than anything, you know that. But I can’t marry you.’

  His dark eyes narrowed ominously. ‘Liv—’

  ‘How can I marry you? I don’t have a single penny in my bank account and you’re a multi-millionaire. You’ve bought me a ring that must have cost more than I earn in a year! It’s very easy for you to dismiss that, but it matters! If I marry you, you’ll think I’m a gold-digger,’ she said passionately and when he started to roar with laughter she glared at him in exasperation. ‘Why is that funny?’

  ‘Because for a moment I really thought you were refusing me,’ he gasped through his laughter, ‘and having never proposed to a woman before, you might have done irreparable harm to my arrogance and my ego.’

  ‘I’m being serious, Stefano.’

  ‘So am I. Fortunately for both of us, I have considerable experience with gold-diggers, tesoro. Believe me, you don’t have any of the necessary qualifications.’

  ‘You don’t understand. I like the fact that you have money,’ Liv said honestly, watching for his reaction with something close to dread, afraid that she might drive him away. ‘I like the money, Stefano! I like the fact that you don’t have to worry about paying bills. I like the fact you can just wave your credit card, snap your fingers and solve a million problems. I even like being given diamond earrings and beautiful clothes! There. Does that shock you?’

  ‘Liv, you’ve been counting every penny for the past four years. It’s entirely natural that having access to money should come as a relief. To not like the money would make you stupid, no? And you certainly are not stupid.’ He was watching her with a considerable degree of amusement in his eyes. ‘Just enjoy it. Why are you worrying?’

  ‘Because I’m afraid you’ll think my feelings for you are tied up with the money.’

  Stefano smiled and took her face in his hands. ‘Liv, I’ve always known what your feelings for me are, tesoro. Fortunately for me, you aren’t experienced enough to hide them. I can even describe the moment when you first realised that you loved me.’

  Her eyes widened. ‘You can?’

  ‘Of course. It was when you woke up in my bed the morning after the ball.’

  ‘Oh.’ Liv gave a shocked laugh. ‘How can you be so confident about everything?’

  ‘Because, unlike you, no one has ever dented my self-esteem.’ Bending his head, he kissed her gently, his mouth lingering against hers. ‘I love the fact that you can’t hide your feelings. I also love your kindness, your honesty, your total selflessness, your amazing confidence and skill at work, your sense of humour, your incredibly sexy body—’

  ‘Stop!’ Laughing, Liv shook her head and pulled away slightly. ‘That’s not me you’re describing. I’m not used to so many compliments.’

  ‘Then get used to it because there is no end of compliments coming your way, tesoro.’ Gently, Stefano stroked her flushed cheek with the backs of his fingers then he lifted the ring out of the velvet case. ‘Stop worrying about the money and enjoy it. Given that my life is about to become your life, it would be a little complicated if you didn’t like the money.’

  He really wanted to marry her?

  It was too much to absorb. ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’ Liv stared at the beautiful ring in his hand. Her heart was pounding, her legs were shaking and she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ‘I’ve shut myself away for so long. That first night when you took me to that Italian restaurant, I just wanted to shrink into the woodwork.’

  ‘I had a good time, but you had absolutely no confidence.’

  ‘It had been ages since I’d been out with a man and I had no idea what to say. I was worried that you were terribly bored.’

  ‘You have never bored me,’ Stefano breathed, ‘and I couldn’t believe that you hadn’t been with a man for so long.’

  ‘I just wasn’t interested,’ she admitted, checking that Max was still patting the horses. ‘I suppose I was terrified of rejection. Anna despaired of me, but I honestly couldn’t imagine wanting to have sex ever again. Then I met you and sex with you was so amazing that suddenly I couldn’t imagine living without it. You’ve turned me into a sex maniac.’

  With a husky laugh, Stefano took her hand in his and slid the ring onto her finger. ‘Then the sooner we are married, the better. I am willing to sacrifice myself by marrying a sex maniac,’ he said dryly, ‘just as long as there is no confusion as to whose woman you are.’

  Liv stared down at the diamond that sparkled on her finger. ‘It’s stunning.’

  ‘It tells the world that you are mine.’ Stefano gave a satisfied smile and Liv tore her eyes away from the ring, a lump building in her throat as she looked up at him.

  ‘What can I ever give you in return?’

  ‘Love, tesoro.’ His hands strong and confident, he drew her against him. ‘You’re giving me love, and that’s a gift beyond price.’

  ‘Yuck!’ Max scrambled up beside them. ‘Did she say no or something?’

  Still sniffing, Liv pulled out of Stefano’s arms. ‘I said yes, Max.’

  ‘So why are you crying?’

  ‘Because I’m happy.’

  Max stared at her bemused and then exchanged a look with Stefano, man to man. ‘She cries when she’s sad and she cries when she’s happy. Girls are so confusing, aren’t they?’

  ‘Very confusing.’ With a smile, Stefano released Liv and lifted the child onto his lap. ‘How would you fancy coming to live with me, Max?’

  ‘For ever?’

  ‘Yes, for ever.’

  Liv couldn’t help it. The tears were pouring down her face and she turned her head and buried her face in Stefano’s sleeve, feeling like a complete idiot and so deliriously happy that she wanted to dance with joy.

  Max was concentrating on the important issues. ‘Will we live in your apartment?’

  ‘To start with. But then I thought we might look around for a nice big house. We need a garden so that we can have a goal.’

  ‘My own goal?’ Max bounced on his lap and Stefano winced.

  ‘I hope you didn’t want more children,’ he muttered under his breath, and Liv started to laugh because her life suddenly seemed so amazing and everything around her was just perfect.

  ‘Can we go and get married straight away in case you change your mind?’

  ‘He won’t change his mind.’ Max settled himself between them. ‘Stefano was lonely until we came along. He had no Christmas decorations of his own, can you believe that? Now he has us, we’ll be able to help him with his Christmas tree every year. And you’ll be able to sleep in his bed, like married people are supposed to.’

  The sleigh bells jangled as the horses moved back up the road towards the chalet and Liv and Stefano exchanged a look over the top of his head.

  ‘I love you, Stefano.’ Saying the words suddenly made it all seem real and she suddenly discovered that it was perfectly possible to smile and cry at the same time. ‘I love you so much and this is the best Christmas I could possibly have imagined.’

  His dark eyes flared with emotion. ‘And I love you, tesoro. You’re mine. Always.’


  ‘Oh please!’ Giggling and squirming between them, Max covered his ears and shuddered. ‘Someone let me out of here before I’m sick. I’m sure Father Christmas doesn’t have to listen to this in his sleigh.’

  * * * * *

  USA TODAY bestselling author

  SARAH MORGAN

  welcomes you to the Big Apple in her new fresh and sexy Made in New York series!

  Follow three best friends as they maneuver their way through love, careers and life in the bustling and exciting city of Manhattan.

  Made in New York series (available in 2016):

  MIDNIGHT AT TIFFANY’S (e-novella)

  SLEEPLESS IN MANHATTAN

  SUNSET ON CENTRAL PARK

  MIRACLE ON 5TH AVENUE

  “Morgan’s brilliant talent never ceases to amaze.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  For more irresistible romance, don’t miss these great titles in Sarah Morgan’s charming Puffin Island series!

  The windswept, isolated and ruggedly beautiful Puffin Island has a way of bringing people together in the most unexpected ways… Find out how in:

  FIRST TIME IN FOREVER

  SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL

  ONE ENCHANTED MOMENT

  These brothers are more tempting than dessert and twice as sinful!

  Be sure to also catch the O’Neil Brothers trilogy available now!

  SLEIGH BELLS IN THE SNOW

  SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER

  MAYBE THIS CHRISTMAS

  “Uplifting, sexy and warm, Sarah Morgan’s O’Neil Brothers series is perfection.”

  —Jill Shalvis, New York Times bestselling author

  All available now in ebook format.

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  HQN Books is proud to present Made in New York, the fabulous new trilogy by USA TODAY bestselling author Sarah Morgan!

  Read on for an exclusive extract from MIDNIGHT AT TIFFANY’S, the enchanting novella that introduces the trilogy…

  She paused outside the glittering windows of Tiffany’s and he raised his eyebrows.

  “You like jewelry?”

  “Yes,” she murmured, “but that isn’t why I stop here. It’s a romantic place.”

  “It’s a store.”

  “It’s a store that sells dreams. I often come here late at night. There’s something sparkly and perfect about it.” She shook her head and gestured with her head toward a couple standing to the left of them, hand in hand. “See that woman’s face?” she whispered. “She looks ecstatic.”

  “Of course she’s ecstatic. He’s about to open his wallet and spend a fortune on her.”

  The couple wandered off hand in hand and Matilda sighed.

  “That isn’t why she’s ecstatic. She’s happy because she’s with him. It was in her eyes and in her smile. He makes her happy and they were choosing something that would tell the world they love each other. I’ve always thought working here must be fun. You see people at their best.”

  “And at their most terrified. I thought he looked pale. People working here probably need advanced emergency response skills.”

  It made her laugh. “You’re not a romantic.”

  “I’m a realist. A pragmatist. So far, all I know about you is that you spend a lot of time observing other people’s lives, have a secret life as a writer and have another job that you won’t share. You’re a secretive person?”

  “Not secretive.” She paused, realizing that was going to sound ridiculous given everything she’d told him. “I’m not always that great in big crowds of people. I’m more of a one-on-one person.”

  “One-on-one?”

  The atmosphere cracked with sexual tension, intense and deliciously unfamiliar. She paused, uncertain what to do with it.

  This wasn’t love, was it? This was fun. And there was nothing wrong with having fun.

  So why did it feel as if she were standing on the top of a very high cliff, about to plunge into deep water?

  She wasn’t a brave person. She’d never been a brave person.

  She lived a small life in this big city, a tiny flickering candle eclipsed by bigger, brighter lights.

  They walked past the Plaza, to the edge of Central Park.

  The first spots of rain started to fall, scenting the air and dampening her emergency dress for the second time in one night.

  If she was going to make a move, it had to be now. Right now.

  But she wasn’t. She couldn’t.

  “So here we are.” She kept her voice light, trying to mask her disappointment and frustration with herself. “Central Park. Your final destination. Where do you live?”

  “I’m staying in an apartment a couple of blocks from here.”

  It was impossible not to be impressed. “Well, if you can afford to rent around here, then whatever it is you do with your life, you must be doing it very well.”

  The rain was falling more heavily now, huge cooling drops that landed on the trees with a hollow patter, drenching leaves and saturating paths.

  “Where do you live?”

  She thought of her cramped apartment and then took a deep breath. “I live in New York City, and that’s all that matters to me. I’d rather live in a small room here than a big apartment anywhere else in the world.” Not that she’d be able to afford a big apartment anywhere, but the principle was true. She tipped her head back, looking at the buildings rising above the shadows that were Central Park. The rain trickled through her hair and she smiled. “There is something magical about this city. I always have the sense that something unexpected could happen.”

  “Unexpected?” His voice was soft and he drew her against him with purpose. “You mean like this?”

  And without giving her a chance to ask what “this” was, he took her face in his hands, lowered his head and kissed her.

  What happens when Matilda decides to follow her heart and take a risk on the delicious man she’s just met?

  Find out in:

  MIDNIGHT AT TIFFANY’S

  ISBN: 9781459291737

  Italian Doctor, Sleigh-Bell Bride

  Copyright © 2008 by Sarah Morgan

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.

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