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A Nurse to Tame the Playboy
Maggie Kingsley
A Nurse to Tame the Playboy
Maggie Kingsley
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Table of Contents
Cover Page (#u9f3bc4f8-d8f0-5e79-ab5d-55cb3bec5365)
Title Page (#ub2d5ad1c-a1ef-509a-8e76-79eb5f8ffeac)
About the Author (#u5a06183d-399d-5ca0-a04d-92af70928c82)
Dedication (#u16f34ed7-efae-57c5-abd3-1724a698241e)
Praise for Maggie Kingsley: (#u5ccb30cc-c974-5282-9627-ef2b8ea959cc)
Chapter One (#u73a13e37-128a-5ed8-ae5a-be6552f312a1)
Chapter Two (#u0061e9aa-efb5-5ec1-a159-8715364c8e1d)
Chapter Three (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
MAGGIE KINGSLEY says she can’t remember a time when she didn’t want to be a writer, but she put her dream on hold and decided to ‘be sensible’ and become a teacher instead. Five years at the chalk face was enough to convince her she wasn’t cut out for it, and she ‘escaped’ to work for a major charity. Unfortunately—or fortunately!—a back injury ended her career, and when she and her family moved to a remote cottage in the north of Scotland it was her family who nagged her into attempting to make her dream a reality. Combining a love of romantic fiction with a knowledge of medicine gleaned from the many professionals in her family, Maggie says she can’t now imagine ever being able to have so much fun legally doing anything else!
For my father, who was always my severest critic, and who I very much hope would have enjoyed this book.
Praise for Maggie Kingsley:
A BABY FOR EVE
‘Maggie Kingsley is a superb writer of romantic fiction…Her breathtaking storytelling prowess ensures that all of her books sparkle with terrific characterisation, nail-biting drama and outstanding emotional punch, and A BABY FOR EVE is certainly no exception! I’ve been reading category romances for a very long time, but I’ve never come across a novel that has moved me so much. A BABY FOR EVE is extremely well-written, intelligent, sensitively told, heartwarming and heartbreaking, and destined to become one of the classics of category romance.’
—Cataromance.com
THE PLAYBOY CONSULTANT
‘Maggie Kingsley brings to life a heroine and a hero to cheer for, along with a host of other captivating characters.’
—RT Book Reviews
Chapter One
Monday, 10:05 p.m.
IT WAS a truism known to every woman over the age of twenty-five, Brontë O’Brian thought wryly as she gazed down through the large observation window at the man standing below her in the forecourt of ED7 ambulance station. There were two types of men in the world. There were the dependable men, the reliable men, the men who—if you had any sense—you settled down with, and then there were men like Elijah Munroe.
‘He’s quite something, isn’t he?’ Marcie Gallagher, one of the callers from the Emergency Medical Dispatch Centre, observed wistfully as she joined her.
‘So I’ve heard,’ Brontë replied.
And not just heard. She knew exactly how tall Elijah Munroe was—six feet two—how his thick black hair flopped so endearingly over his forehead, how his startlingly blue eyes could melt ice, and how his smile always started at one corner of his mouth, then spread slowly across his face, until every woman—be she nineteen or ninety—was lost.
‘Unfortunately, Eli doesn’t do long term,’ Marcie continued, and Brontë nodded.
She knew that, too. She knew that for a couple of months every woman Elijah dated walked around on air, completely convinced he was The One, until one morning with a smile—always with that smile—he was gone.
‘I’m surprised one of his ex-girlfriends hasn’t skewered him with a surgical instrument,’ she observed, and Marcie shrugged.
‘What reason could you give? It’s not like he promises he’ll stay. He’s always upfront about not being into commitment.’
‘Very clever.’
‘Honest, surely?’ Marcie protested.
No, clever, Brontë thought firmly, as she noticed that Elijah Munroe had been joined by the head of ED7 ambulance station, George Leslie. Very clever indeed to always be able to get exactly what he wanted by appearing to be upfront and on the level, but then she’d never thought Elijah was a stupid man.
‘Only a leopard who never changes his spots,’ she muttered under her breath, but Marcie heard her.
‘You know him?’ she said, curiosity instantly plain on her lovely face, and Brontë shook her head quickly.
Which wasn’t a lie. Not a complete lie. Elijah having dated three of her ex-flatmates before just as quickly dumping them hardly qualified as knowing him, especially as the one time they’d met in Wendy’s hallway he’d walked straight past her without a word. A fact which still rankled considerably more than it should have done.
‘We’re all eaten up with curiosity, wondering who he’s been dating for the past couple of months,’ Marcie continued. ‘Normally we find out within twenty-four hours, but he’s been remarkably coy about his current girlfriend.’
Coy wasn’t a word Brontë would have used to describe Elijah Munroe. Rat fink, low-life, scumbag…Those were the words she would have used but she had no intention of telling Marcie Gallagher that.
‘It’s quarter past ten,’ she said instead. ‘I’d better get down to the bay.’
‘Can you find your own way there?’ Marcie asked. ‘I’d take you myself, but…’
‘You need to get back to EMDC for the start of your shift.’ Brontë smiled. ‘No problem.’
And Elijah Munroe wouldn’t be a problem either, she told herself as Marcie Gallagher hurried away. So what if she was going to be shadowing him around the Edinburgh streets for the next seven nights, watching his every move? She was thirty-five years old, knew exactly how he operated, how many hearts he’d broken, and that knowledge gave her power.
Oh, who was she kidding? she thought as she turned back to the observation window in time to see Elijah smile at something George Leslie had said and felt her heart give a tiny wobble. Knowing his reputation didn’t make her any less susceptible to his charm, and he had charm by the bucket load.
‘Which means it’s just as well Elijah Munroe only ever dates pretty women,’ she told her reflection in the glass. ‘Pretty women with model-girl figures, and impossibly long legs, and you don’t fit the bill on any of those counts.’
For which she was truly grateful. Or at least she should try to be, she thought with a sigh as she squared her shoulders and walked towards the staircase which would lead her down to the very last man on earth she had ever wanted to work with.
‘Why me?’
Elijah Munroe’s tone was calm, neutral, and if George Leslie hadn’t been his boss for five years he might have been deceived, but George wasn’t deceived.
‘I don’t suppose you’d settle for, “Why not you?‘” he said with a broad, avuncular smile, then sighed as Elijah gave him a hard stare. ‘No, I didn’t think you would. Eli, we both know Frank’s going to be off sick for at least a fortnight. I’ve no one to team you up with, and I can’t send out an ambulance unless it’s two-manned, so unless you’d rather sit on your butt in the office…’
‘I’m stuck with the number cruncher,’ Eli finished for him. ‘You do realise sending her out on the road with me is probably illegal? Okay, so she’s only going to drive, but what if I discover I need help—that I’ve been sent on a two-man job?’
‘Miss O’Brian is a fully qualified nurse. In fact, she was a charge nurse in A and E at the Waverley General until a year ago,’ George Leslie declared triumphantly, and Eli frowned.
ED7 ambulance station might be situated in the heart of Edinburgh’s old town, which meant most of the patients he collected ended up in the Pentland Infirmary, but he’d occasionally had to go to the Waverley and he couldn’t remember any nurse called O’Brian.
‘George—’
‘Eli, if the ambulance service have decided she’s not just qualified enough to drive, but also to assist you if required, that’s good enough for me, and it should be good enough for you.’
‘Yes, but—’
‘Seven nights,’ George Leslie said in his best placating tone. ‘Seven night shifts when she’ll drive you around—’
‘Noting down all she considers to be ED7’s inefficiencies—’
‘Which is why it’s vital you keep her sweet,’ George Leslie declared, then his lips twitched. ‘And I know how easy it is for you to keep women sweet.’
‘Anyone ever tell you you’d make an excellent pimp?’ Eli said drily, and his boss’s smile widened.
‘Oh, come on, Eli, it’s common knowledge you’ve a way with the ladies.’
‘And right now I’m on the wagon. And before you ask,’ Eli continued as his boss’s eyebrows rose, ‘it’s not because I’ve contracted a sexually communicable disease. I’ve just decided to take a break from dating for three months.’
‘Eli, I’m not asking you to get inside Miss O’Brian’s knickers,’ George protested. ‘Just to be as pleasant and as winning as I know you can be with women. Look, there’s a lot riding on this government report,’ he continued swiftly as Eli opened his mouth clearly intending to argue. ‘There’s talk of amalgamating stations, job cuts—’
‘But we’re already pared right back to the bone,’ Eli declared angrily, and his boss nodded.
‘Exactly, but in the current economic situation the authorities are looking for ways to save money, and if they can shut down a station they will.’
‘But—’
George Leslie put out his hand warningly.
‘Miss O’Brian’s just arrived,’ he said in an undertone. ‘I’ll leave you to introduce yourself, but you be nice to her, okay? There’s a hell of a lot riding on her report.’
Which was great, just great, Eli thought as his boss hurried away. He didn’t want to be ‘nice’, he didn’t want to be the poster boy for the station. All he wanted was for this number cruncher to go away and annoy the hell out of someone else but, dutifully, he pasted a smile to his face and turned to face the woman he was going to be sharing his ambulance with for the next seven nights.
At least she wasn’t a looker, he decided as he watched her walk towards him. Having managed to stick to his ‘no dating’ decision for the past two months, it would have been plum awkward if she’d turned out to be a looker, but she was…ordinary. Mid-thirties, he guessed, which was younger than he’d been expecting, scarcely five feet tall, with short brown hair styled into a pixie cut, a pair of clear grey eyes, and her figure…He tilted his head slightly, but it was impossible to tell whether she was buxom or slender when she was wearing the regulation green paramedic cargo trousers, and bulky high-visibility jacket which concealed pretty much everything.
‘Thirty-six, twenty-six, and none of your business.’
His head jerked up. ‘Sorry?’
‘My measurements,’ she replied. ‘You were clearly scoping me out, so I thought I’d save you the trouble.’
Not ordinary after all, he thought, seeing a very definite hint of challenge in her grey eyes. Sassy. He liked sassy. Sassy was always a challenge and, where women were concerned, he liked a challenge.
No, he didn’t, he reminded himself. No dating, no involvement for one more month. He’d made the three-month pledge, he intended to stick to it, and yet, despite himself, a lifetime of pleasing women kicked automatically into place, and he upped his smile a notch.
‘You haven’t,’ he observed. ‘Saved me the trouble, that is,’ he added as her eyebrows rose questioningly. ‘There’s still the unanswered question of, “none of your business.”’
‘Interesting approach,’ she said coolly. ‘Do the staff at this station always assess the physical attributes of government assessors?’
‘Only the pretty ones,’ he replied, upping his smile to maximum, but to his surprise she didn’t blush, or look even remotely confused, as most women did when he complimented them.
Instead, she held up three fingers and promptly counted them off.
‘Number one, I’m not pretty. Number two, charm offensives don’t work on me so save your breath and, number three, I’m here to assess the efficiency of this station so your personal opinion of my looks is completely irrelevant.’
Uh-huh, he thought, wincing slightly. So, Miss O’Brian was no pushover. That would teach him to make assumptions, and it was something he wouldn’t do again.
‘I think we should restart this conversation,’ he said, holding out his hand and rearranging his smile into what he hoped was a suitably contrite one. ‘I’m Elijah Munroe. My friends call me Eli, and I’m very pleased to meet you.’
‘I’m Miss O’Brian, and I’ll let you know in due course whether I can reciprocate the pleasure,’ she replied, shaking his hand briefly, then releasing it just as fast.
Snippy, as well as sassy. Well, two could play that game, he decided.
‘No problem,’ he observed smoothly, ‘but though I fully understand your desire to keep our relationship strictly professional, I feel I should point out that calling you by your full name could prove a little time-consuming in an emergency.’
And that is round three to me, sweetheart, he thought with satisfaction, seeing a faint wash of colour appear on her cheeks.
‘Fair point,’ she conceded, and then, with clear and obvious reluctance, she said, ‘My name is Brontë. Brontë O’Brian.’
A faint bell rang somewhere in the deepest recesses of his mind, but he couldn’t for the life of him quite grasp it.
‘Brontë. Brontë…’ he repeated with a frown. ‘Could we possibly have met before? Your Christian name…It sounds strangely familiar.’
Damn, damn, and damn, Brontë thought irritably. Why couldn’t her parents have called her something completely forgettable, like Mary, or Jane? If they’d given her an ‘ordinary’ first name she would have remained as forgettable as she’d obviously been that night in Wendy’s hallway, and she most certainly didn’t want to jog his memory.
‘It probably sounds familiar because of the Brontë sisters,’ she said quickly. ‘As in Charlotte—’
‘Emily, and Anne,’ he finished for her, then grinned as she blinked. ‘And there was you thinking the only books I would read would be ones with big, colourful pictures, and three words across the bottom of every page.’
It was so exactly what she’d been thinking that she could feel her cheeks darkening still further, but no way was she going to let him get away with it.
‘Of course I didn’t,’ she lied. ‘I just didn’t take you for a fan of Victorian literature.’
‘Ah, but you see that’s where a lot of people make a mistake,’ he observed. ‘Taking me solely at face value.’
