Hot Docs On Call Collection

No. Probably not. But now? Was she going to just let him drop a bombshell about their past and then walk away a second time?

Actually, he hadn’t. She’d told him to leave. And he had. If he’d tried to express his undying love for her, she probably would have thrown it back in his face. She hadn’t been ready to forgive him.

And now?

“What should I do?”

“Do you love him?”

Mila nodded.

“Can you live with what he did, knowing why he did it?”

Could she? She searched her heart. She hadn’t known about his dad. Or about Cindy. But James was a man of integrity, she’d seen that time and time again. He’d been trying to spare her in the best way he knew how.

“Yes. I think I can.”

“Then if I were you, I’d hunt the man down and make him grovel. A lot. And then I’d forgive him.”

Mila smiled. “I think I’m probably the one who needs to do the groveling. At least this time. I pushed him away, Freya, and didn’t even give him a chance to finish explaining.”

“Then maybe you should press Rewind and give him that chance.”

“Maybe I should.” She reached out and grabbed her friend up in a gentle hug. “But first you have to tell me where he is.”

“I can do better than that. Zack knows this guy...”

By the time Freya had finished laying out the plan, Mila found something seeping into her heart that hadn’t been there for the last six years: hope.

CHAPTER TWELVE

SOMEONE WAS CHASING HIM.

James had just pulled up anchor, not to mention pulling his head out of his ass and finally acknowledging what his heart had known all along. He couldn’t live without her. He didn’t know exactly how to make this right but he had to at least try.

He wanted it all. And that included Leo.

He’d hurt her twice. Once by leaving her at the altar, and once by sleeping with her before he’d told her the truth about what he’d done all those years ago. He wouldn’t blame her if she told him to get the hell off her doorstep—well, technically it was his doorstep since she was staying in his guest house. That was if she hadn’t already left.

Leo calling him Papá so soon after he’d told Mila the truth had been the last straw. He hadn’t earned the right to be called that by anyone, least of all a young boy who’d known pain and fear most of his life. His reaction had been to run, instead of fighting for what he wanted.

But he was done running. Done allowing his life’s course to be charted by his father’s sins. And by his own past.

James was going to find Mila and tell her exactly what he’d wanted to tell her that day in Leo’s hospital room. That he loved her. That he wanted to make this work, and he was willing to do whatever it took to make her forgive him for what he’d done.

He glanced back again. The dinghy was still there, bouncing over the choppy waters and zigzagging to avoid his wake.

What the hell? James was moving under his engine’s power. He could just ramp up his speed or set his sails so that they would catch more of the wind and pull away from his pursuer with ease. It wasn’t a coast-guard vessel. Maybe it was a member of the paparazzi, looking for more dirt on the Rothsberg family. As if there wasn’t enough already.

And if the person decided to follow him farther offshore? They could get themselves into a situation that could turn deadly. He wasn’t willing to risk it. It would be better to just cut speed and give the fool a piece of his mind.

Just then his phone pinged, signaling he’d received a text.

Perfect.

Suddenly, the normal stab of irritation was replaced by nerves. Or maybe a premonition.

Forgetting about the person behind him for a moment, he glanced at the screen of his cell phone.

Would you mind slowing down so I can catch you?

He blinked and looked closer. Mila’s avatar was displayed at the top of the message.

Catch him?

He looked back again to see the person at the wheel was now waving at him like a crazy person.

Damn it!

Mila. What was she...?

He immediately cut the engine and turned the wheel so the bow would face into the wind. By the time the dinghy pulled alongside, he’d dropped anchor and had come over to the side to yell, “Throw me a line.”

With hair plastered to her head and soaking wet from head to toe from sea spray, she was still the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. He’d been heading to LA to try to win her back. And she was here.

And she could have gotten herself killed!

She threw the rope, and James quickly lowered a couple of bumpers down the side of the sailboat to keep the vessels from slamming together in the current. He then tied the dinghy’s line to one of the metal cleats on deck. Dropping the rope ladder he kept for swimming outings, he held it steady as Mila grasped the sides and began to climb. When she was close enough, he grabbed her hands and hauled her the rest of the way on board.

“Were you hoping to wind up like those Jet Skiers we ran into a few weeks back? What the hell were you thinking?”

“I was thinking I wasn’t going to let the prince turn back into a toad for a second time.”

He blinked at her. Maybe that ride out to him had been bumpier than he’d thought. “Come again?”

“Never mind.” She took a step closer. “Freya told me what your father did to those women. What he tried to do to you.”

Leave it to his sister to interfere. Although this time, maybe she’d been right to.

He swallowed hard. “That is one person I don’t want to talk about ever again.”

“You don’t have to.” She reached for his hand. “Let’s talk about us instead.”

A spark of something came to life in his chest. She’d said “us.” As in there might be a chance for him to undo the mess he’d made? “You basically told me there was no us.”

“I know. And I’m sorry. I should have heard you out.”

“I was just heading back to make you do exactly that. And to ask you to forgive me.”

“You were?” Her head tilted as if she was surprised.

“Yes.”

She laughed. “Well, I guess I could have saved myself the trouble of hunting you down, then, couldn’t I?” She glanced down at the dinghy.

“Is that thing even licensed?”

“Of course it is. And I caught you, didn’t I?”

“You did. You look like you’ve driven one of those before.” He had to admit she’d maneuvered the tiny boat beautifully.

“I have. Many times. In Brazil, while doing my medical missions.” Her face turned serious as she gestured at his boat. “I do forgive you, but now that I’m here I have to tell you this scares me a little, James. It always has, even when we were together.”

“What does?”

“The fancy boat, expensive fund-raisers, the world-class clinic.” She glanced again at the dinghy bouncing far below them. “That little boat...is me. It’s what I’m happy with. I believed for six years that I wasn’t enough for you, and I’m afraid—”

“Not enough for me?” He grabbed her and hauled her to him. “You were always too much. Too beautiful. Too kind. Too...everything. And I didn’t want what I’d done to somehow touch you and destroy everything you are. Just like my dad destroyed the lives of who knows how many women and children.”

He kissed her cheek. “I never wanted kids, for that very reason. I’m scared too, Mi. Scared I won’t be enough for Leo. For you.”

“You are. Of course you are.” She reached up and touched his face. “When I saw the way you looked at him...I knew I’d never stopped loving you.”

He gulped, a wave of emotion sweeping up from his gut and moving to his lungs. His throat. His mouth. He tried to speak and failed, so he shook his head and then tried again. “You love me?”

“Yes.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a tender kiss against his jaw. “Do you love me?”

“I always have.” That one thing he did know. And right now, it was the only thing that was keeping him going.

“Then it’s time we both stopped running from the truth and found a way to be together.” She lifted her phone. “Text me back.”

“What?”

“Freya says you haven’t texted anyone in six years.” She trailed light fingertips down the side of his temple. “So text me. Tell me you’re going to stay with me this time—that you won’t keep anything from me ever again. And...I’ll believe you.”

James tipped up her chin and slid his lips over hers. Once, twice, three times until he was in danger of dragging her down to his cabin and making love to her then and there. But that’s not what she wanted. She’d asked him to do something, and he needed to do it. To make them both believe this could work.

Taking her hand, he went over to the steering console and picked up his phone. He slowly depressed the letters on the keypad, and then for several nerve-racking moments stared at the words he’d typed, his thumb hovering over the Send button. He pressed it. Set the cell phone back on the glossy teak surface beside him.

A tiny lion roared from somewhere nearby, ruining the seriousness of the moment. Mila’s phone.

Smiling, her eyes on his, she drew the instrument out of her pocket and stared at the screen.

The words he’d typed were seared into his head, he could almost hear them spoken aloud as her eyes skipped across the text.

I love you, Mila. You and Leo. And anyone else who might be tucked inside you in the future. Will you marry me? We can do the whole damn wedding ceremony through texts, if you want—vows included. Just say you want to be with me.

Moisture rimmed her eyes, one tear sliding down her cheek. “I do. I want to be with you.”

“Thank God.” He brushed the tear from her face and then took the phone and laid it beside his own. “And now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, we won’t be needing those for a while.”

A smile came to her face. “No? And why is that?”

“Because I want any future communication to be up close and personal. Starting now.”

With that, James swept her off her feet and headed below deck, where he wouldn’t need texts to tell her how he felt. He planned to show her. From this moment and far into the future.

EPILOGUE

HE WAS STILL HERE.

The vows hadn’t been texted, they’d been recited. Her wedding veil gently lifted. And he was kissing her. As if he couldn’t get enough.

James hadn’t run this time. And neither had she.

Clutching the lapels of his tuxedo, and surrounded by their friends from The Hollywood Hills Clinic and Bright Hope, Mila had all she could possibly need.

He finally let her up for air, and clapping erupted from all around them. Freya handed back her bouquet, while Zack passed one of the pair’s sleeping twins to his radiant wife. Now a year old, Tobey and Willow Carlton were a sight to behold this beautiful November day.

And Leo...

Mila’s eyes sought him out and found him next to Rosa, the woman’s arm protectively curled around his shoulders. He was out of his casts and walking with just the help of a crutch. Soon he wouldn’t even need that. Adam Walker had performed a second surgery to do some fine-tuning of the tendons in his feet. It had gone wonderfully, and Adam, seated next to Gabriella and Rafael, two other doctors from James’s clinic, said Leo would have normal function. An outcome Mila was extremely grateful for.

And soon Leo would be theirs. The adoption papers were due to be filed next week. His uncle had relinquished all rights and so the barriers were being lifted one by one.

Mila hadn’t gotten pregnant during that infamous pool session, but she had a few months later. And this time the missing birth control had been intentional, James’s way of physically proving to her that he would be there for her this time. She finally understood why she hadn’t been able to make things work with Tyler. It was because she’d never stopped loving James. Thank God they’d both realized it in time.

Mila had also been right about Tyler and Avery. The couple had eloped two weeks ago. Her friend had sent her congratulations through Freya along with a promise to be back at work in a few days. She couldn’t be happier.

Taking her hand and lifting it to his mouth, her new husband kissed the ring he’d just placed on her finger. “Don’t ever take it off,” he murmured.

“I won’t.”

And then they were running down the aisle of the church, past Flo and Nate, Lola and Jake, Grace and Liam, and so many others who had made their lives richer. The only one who wasn’t there was Michael Rothsberg. Mila and James had agreed they weren’t going to let him cast a pall over their lives a second time. But James’s mom had come—and she’d offered to help Rosa with Leo until they got back from their honeymoon. She’d then kissed Mila’s cheek and wished her many happy years. In turn, Mila had hugged her tight and thanked her for making James the man he was today.

“I can’t take any credit for that, honey,” she’d murmured in that mellow Southern drawl Mila had heard countless times in films. “James is the man he is because that’s the man he decided to be.”

And the man he’d decided to be was strong yet compassionate. He’d avoided treating children for years, but for the first time he was considering teaming up with Mila for a medical mission. She’d go back to Brazil, where James would do reconstructive surgery on kids who so desperately needed it, while Mila did what she did best, provided health services to at-risk moms and children.

When they exited the church, she wasn’t prepared for the flash of cameras everywhere as they ran toward the limousine. But, tucked against James’s side, it was a small price to pay for the happiness she’d found.

One of her white high-heeled shoes caught in a crack on the sidewalk and popped off in mid-stride. It flipped end over end before landing on the pavement behind them. Soon it was lost in the sea of paparazzi that closed in on them.

“My shoe!” She hobbled forward a few feet, the difference of the lost inches on one foot slowing her down.

“Leave it.” James scooped her up, her wedding dress billowing over his arm while the photographers seemed to eat it up. “Prince Charming might have needed a shoe to find his true love, but I don’t. I have you right here. And I never intend to let you go.”

With that, they climbed into the sleek black vehicle, and James proceeded to show her the truth of that statement. It was fine by Mila. Because she intended to do the same: to hang on to this man for the rest of her life.

Hot Docs on Call: One Night to Forever?

Their One Night Baby

Carol Marinelli

Forbidden to the Playboy Surgeon

Fiona Lowe

Mummy, Nurse…Duchess?

Kate Hardy

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Their One Night Baby

Carol Marinelli

Their sexy cease-fire!

Working together to save Paddington Children’s Hospital, paramedic Victoria Christie and Dr. Dominic MacBride never fail to challenge each other. Until one night they discover a new way to relieve the tension...by turning their arguments into reckless abandon!

Dom came to Paddington’s to escape a betrayal and has no intention of falling in love—but when Victoria reveals she’s pregnant he finds himself reevaluating his lone-wolf status. Now he’s fighting for the woman who fires his blood, and their surprise baby!

CHAPTER ONE

‘HELLO, BEAUTIFUL!’

Victoria’s smile was friendly as she walked into the lounge ahead of Glen, to where little Penelope Craig, or Penny, as she liked to be known, lay on the sofa. Victoria had already had a conversation with Julia, Penny’s mother, in the hallway.

Usually, two paramedics dressed in green overalls entering a home would be a somewhat nerve-racking sight for a six-year-old, but little Penny was more than used to it.

‘Victoria!’

Even though she was unwell, little Penny sat up a touch on the sofa where she lay, and her huge grey eyes widened in delight. She was clearly pleased that it was her favourite paramedic who was here to take her to Paddington Children’s Hospital, or the Castle as it was more generally known.

‘She hoped that it would be you coming to take her,’ Julia said.

Victoria gave a friendly smile to Julia and then went to sit on the edge of the sofa to chat to her patient. ‘Yes, I was just thinking the other day that I haven’t seen you in a while.’

‘She’s been doing really well,’ Julia said.

There was a three-way conversation going on as Victoria gleaned some history from Julia and also checked Penny.

Penelope Craig had been born with a rare congenital heart condition and had spent a lot of her life as a patient at the Castle, but for a while she had been doing well. Her dark hair was tied in braids and she was wearing pyjamas. Over the top of them was a little pink tutu that she wore all the time.

Penny was going to be a ballet dancer one day.

She told that to everyone.

‘Your mum said that you’ve not been feeling very well today?’ Victoria said as she checked Penny’s pulse.

‘I’m nauseous and febrile.’

Whereas most children would say that they felt sick and hot, Penny had spent so much time in medical settings that she knew more than a six-year-old should.

She was indeed febrile and her little heart was beating rapidly when Victoria checked her vital signs.

‘She’s being admitted straight to the cardiac unit,’ Julia said as Victoria checked Penny over. It wasn’t an urgent transfer but, given Penny’s history, a Mobile Intensive Care Unit had been sent and Victoria was thorough in her assessment.

‘Though,’ Julia added, ‘they want her to have a chest X-ray first in A&E.’

Which might prove a problem.

Accident and Emergency departments didn’t like to be used as an admissions hub, though it was a problem Victoria dealt with regularly. In fact, just three days ago she had had an argument with Dominic MacBride, a paediatric trauma surgeon, about the very same thing.

Victoria just hoped he wasn’t in A&E this evening, as they tended to clash whenever she brought a patient in.

Generally though, things were better at Paddington’s than at most hospitals. The staff were very friendly and there was real communication between departments.

And also, Penny was a little bit of a star!

They’d just have to see how it went.

‘I like your earrings,’ Penny said when Victoria had finished taking her blood pressure.

‘Thank you.’

Usually Victoria wore no jewellery at work. It was impractical, given that she never knew what her day might entail. Her long dark brown hair was tied up in its usual messy bun and, of course, she wore no make-up for work. So yes, her diamond studs stood out a touch.

The earrings had been a gift from her father and Victoria wore them for special occasions. She had been at a function yesterday and had forgotten to take them out.

Penny was ready to be transferred to the hospital. For such a little child, often Glen or Victoria would carry them out, the goal being not to upset them. Once though, Victoria had referred to the stretcher as a throne and Penny, who loved anything to do with fairytales, had decided that she rather liked it.

Penny insisted on moving onto the stretcher herself and Julia took a moment to check that she had all of Penny’s favourite things to bring along. They were very used to a ‘quick trip’ to Paddington’s turning into a longer stay.

‘Ready for the off?’ Victoria asked, and Penny gave her regular thumbs up.

Spring was a little way off just yet, and so even though it was only early in the evening, it was dark outside.

‘Are you just starting or finishing?’ Julia asked as Victoria took her seat in the back of the ambulance with them.

‘Just finishing,’ Victoria said.

‘Have you got anything planned for tonight?’

‘Not really,’ Victoria answered, and turned her focus to Penny.

In fact, Victoria was going out on a date.

A second one.

And she was wondering why she’d agreed to it when the first hadn’t been particularly great.

Oh, that’s right, she and Glen had been chatting and he had suggested that she expected too much from a first date.

Not that she said any of this to Julia.

Victoria gave nothing away.

She was very discerning in her dealings with people. She was confident yet approachable, friendly but not too much.

The patients didn’t mind; in fact, they liked her professionalism.

Socially, she did well, though tended to let others talk about themselves.

Victoria relied on no one.

She and Glen had worked together for two years and it had taken a long time for Victoria to discuss her private life even a little with him. Glen was a family man, with a big moon face that smiled rather than took offence at Victoria’s sometimes brusque ways, and he loved to talk. He was happily married to Hayley and they had four hundred children.

Well, four.

But while Glen chatted away about his wife and children and the little details of his day, Victoria didn’t. Certainly she wasn’t going to open up to her patient’s mother about her love-life.

Or lack of it.

Julia, as she often did, told Penny a story as the ambulance made its way through the Friday rush hour traffic. They weren’t using lights and sirens; there was no need to, and Penny was too used to them to want the drama.

‘I think it looks like a magical castle,’ Penny said as Paddington Children’s Hospital came into view.

The Victorian redbrick building was turreted and Victoria found herself smiling at Penny’s description.

She had thought the same when she was growing up.

Victoria could remember sitting in the back seat of her father’s car as he dashed to get to whatever urgent matter was waiting for him at work.

‘That’s because it is a magical castle,’ Victoria said, and Penny smiled.

‘It’s her second home,’ Julia said.

It had been Victoria’s second home too.

She knew every corridor and nook. The turret that Penny was gazing at could be accessed from a door behind the patient files in Reception, and had once been Victoria’s favourite space.

She would sneak in when no one was looking and climb up the spiral stairs and there she would dance, or dream, or simply play pretend.

On occasion she still did.

Well, no longer did she play pretend, but every now and then Victoria would slip away unnoticed and look out to the view of London that she somehow felt was her own.

‘Such a shame they’re closing it down.’ Julia sighed.

‘It’s not definite,’ Victoria said, though not with conviction. It looked as if the plan to merge Paddington’s with Riverside, a large modern hospital on the outskirts of the city, would be going ahead.

There was a quiet protest taking place outside, which had been going for a few days now, with protestors waving their placards to save the hospital.

Victoria’s father now worked at Riverside. The only real conversations she had ever had with him were about work. The function she had attended yesterday had been for an award for him, and in a conversation afterwards Victoria had gleaned that it really did seem the merger was going to go ahead.

Of course, the beautiful old Paddington’s building was prime real estate.

As always, it came down to money.