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Resisting Her Army Doc Rival
Sue MacKay
Flirting with danger!Infuriating, irresistible army doc Sam Lowe is the last person Madison Hunter wants to work with. He challenges her and soon the only thing hotter than their rivalry is their growing chemistry!But Maddy hides scars that tell a heart-breaking story, and Sam has his own emotional wounds. He’s determined to take his heart with him when he leaves the army base, yet as he sees beneath Maddy’s tough exterior, it becomes more and more clear that his heart belongs with her…
Flirting with danger!
Infuriating, irresistible army doc Sam Lowe is the last person Madison Hunter wants to work with. He challenges her, and soon the only thing hotter than their rivalry is their growing chemistry!
But Maddy hides scars that tell a heartbreaking story, and Sam has his own emotional wounds. He’s determined to take his heart with him when he leaves the army base, yet as he starts to see beneath Maddy’s tough exterior, it becomes more and more clear that his heart belongs with her...
Madison wanted Sam as much as he did her. But fear had her fighting her desire all the way. Something he understood completely.
But...one kiss. What harm could that do? It wouldn’t mean there was more to come, but it would satisfy an ache.
Or create a bigger one.
There was that.
One kiss would definitely crank up the heat into an inferno.
But he had to taste her. Had to know those lips—had to satisfy a quest he’d begun unknowingly only days ago. At the same time it was as though all the barriers he’d erected were tightening, warning him, Don’t do it. But the clawing need for affection and sharing was stronger.
‘I think I’ll head inside.’ Madison stood before him, looking sad and lost.
Sam did what he shouldn’t. He ignored those damned warnings.
Dear Reader (#u33cd5417-ba4e-5353-b19a-5759563b7091),
Almost everyone has scars—mental and/or physical. Some are minor, others serious, but all affect the person carrying them. These scars and how they’re coped with are what make people interesting.
In Resisting Her Army Doc Rival Captain Madison Hunter has had more than her share of bad luck, which has left her unable to show anyone her body and thus keeps her away from getting close to men. Captain Sam Lowe isn’t bothered by that—he’s got his own guilt to deal with, and he finds Maddy fascinating and beautiful. But she’s no longer the bright, bubbly personality he vaguely remembers from school. And the sadness lurking in her eyes and her fear of smoke has him pulling up the barriers around his soul so fast it’s bewildering. But there’s something about this woman he can’t ignore. If he was ever to put his heart on the line and get close to someone it would be Maddy who’d make him do it.
This story didn’t come easily for me. There’s a lot of pain in my hero and my heroine, and I really wanted them to have their moment—to learn to live freely again and know what it’s like not to be on guard all the time. But they didn’t make it simple for me. Oh, no. Every word and emotion was dragged out onto the page, and I’m relieved they finally got their happy ending.
I hope you root for these two as you read their story.
Drop by and let me know if they affected you as they did me: sue.mackay56@yahoo.com. Or visit my website: suemackay.co.nz (http://www.suemackay.co.nz).
Cheers,
Sue MacKay
Resisting Her Army Doc Rival
Sue MacKay
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
SUE MACKAY lives with her husband in New Zealand’s beautiful Marlborough Sounds, with the water at her doorstep and the birds and the trees at her back door. It is the perfect setting to indulge her passions of entertaining friends by cooking them sumptuous meals, drinking fabulous wine, going for hill walks or kayaking around the bay—and, of course, writing stories.
Books by Sue MacKay
Mills & Boon Medical Romance
Midwife...to Mom!
Reunited...in Paris!
A December to Remember
Breaking All Their Rules
Dr White’s Baby Wish
The Army Doc’s Baby Bombshell
Visit the Author Profile page at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk) for more titles.
To the most gorgeous and precious wee people in my life. Grandies Austin and Taylor. I love you to bits and can’t believe how lucky I am to get Austin hugs and Taylor smiles.
And to Laura McCallen for your unfailing patience to see me through this story. (At least you appeared patient from my end. ) :)
Praise for Sue MacKay (#u33cd5417-ba4e-5353-b19a-5759563b7091)
‘I highly recommend this story to all lovers of romance: it is moving, emotional, a joy to read!’
—Goodreads on
A December to Remember
Contents
Cover (#u1afbd224-a7b2-5d10-90b5-86742f1a7421)
Back Cover Text (#u6a721387-366f-5a1a-8aa8-fc457d3bbb73)
Introduction (#u140f279d-386d-58f5-8fee-5308b91b105e)
Dear Reader (#u33daf1f8-2416-5757-9b1e-e745948f837d)
Title Page (#u26d3a20d-a531-506b-bc69-e9283e8f6baa)
About the Author (#ua2e0c8ca-2cf9-52af-9702-a2dde9bf2bd3)
Dedication (#u89e66890-d017-525d-aec8-d939eb720195)
Praise (#ua66316ac-3115-5c1a-80c1-eb8440de30a9)
CHAPTER ONE (#u27c8439d-372e-59a4-9256-8d5227a703ca)
CHAPTER TWO (#u8abda42e-4971-5531-8f44-c0f02a50e044)
CHAPTER THREE (#u2da74958-22c9-50ff-9628-07c2413a0ba5)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#u33cd5417-ba4e-5353-b19a-5759563b7091)
CAPTAIN MADISON HUNTER stepped out of the New Zealand Air Force freight plane and onto the tarmac, relieved to be on terra firma at last, flying being her least favourite of the things she had to do. Then the searing heat of the Sinai Peninsula slammed into her, ramping up the discomfort level and making her gasp.
‘Who needs this?’
‘Beats Waiouru in winter any day,’ quipped the communications major striding alongside her. His energy was embarrassing after all those hours crammed between cargo crates, doing nothing more intelligent than playing endless rounds of poker.
‘Guess that’s because you’ve been here before. Right now I’d be happy marching through snow and sleet,’ Madison retorted, thinking longingly of the isolated army base where she’d done her basic training, hell hole of the North Island that it was.
‘At least your boots will be dry.’
‘True.’ Sodden boots were the bane of army exercises back home. They never dried out before the next foray. Looking at the dusty ground in front of her, she finally smiled. ‘This couldn’t be more different. Exciting even.’ If she could ignore the heat.
Heaving the thirty-kilogram pack higher on her back, Madison rolled her shoulders to ease the tightness. Didn’t work. Sweat streamed over her shoulder blades, down her face, between her breasts. Must have been out of my mind when I signed up. ‘Did I miss the clause in my contract saying beware of sun, sand, dirt, and sweat enough to drown a small creature?’
‘Page three,’ quipped Major Crooks.
‘I take it the high temperature is relentless.’ Dry heat shimmered against the white block buildings, while the air was almost cracking. Off-duty soldiers lounged in what little shade they could find.
‘I never got used to it on my last tour.’ He pointed across the dusty parade ground. ‘See that building to the right? It’s the medical unit.’
Madison scoped the basic structure with a faded red cross painted above the door. Less than what she’d worked in on base at home, more than she’d been led to believe she’d find here. Had to be a positive. ‘I might drop in after a shower.’ If she didn’t fall asleep standing under the water. Her body ached with fatigue. There hadn’t been a lot of sleeping going on during the flight. She probably stank like a piece of roadkill about now.
A man stepped through the medical unit’s entrance, and paused. Tall and broad shouldered, his body tapered down to the narrow hips his hands settled on. Looking in their direction, his gaze finally settled on her.
Sam Lowe? As in the guy every girl from high school had fallen in love with Sam Lowe?
Her knees sagged, and not from the load on her back.
Seriously? Someone she knew from home when home had been Christchurch? Now, there was a surprise that lightened her mood a notch. Not that they’d been friends in any way but she’d grab at any familiar face in an alien environment; until she’d settled in, any rate. Unless she’d got it wrong, and that wasn’t Sam.
‘Are you all right?’ Major Crooks asked.
‘Fine. Where’re our barracks, do you know?’
He pointed. ‘Over to the right, behind the mess block are the officers’ quarters.’
‘Thanks, I’ll catch up with you later.’ Right now Madison wanted to check out the man she thought she recognised, but was probably so far off the mark she’d sound stupid uttering his name.
She squinted through the heat. No doubting the vision that reminded her of standing on the side of the rugby field, barracking for their high school team as he led them to yet another win. It was definitely Sam Lowe striding towards her, those long legs eating up the ground like nothing bothered him. It probably didn’t. Those shoulders and the cocky tip of his head backed up what her eyes were seeing, but there was little else she knew about him, she realised.
‘Captain Hunter, Madison.’ The man had the nerve to snap to attention in front of her. And grin. He still does that. Smiled and grinned his way into and out of every situation he faced. An expert, no less, she now recalled. Still arrogant? Well, she wasn’t a spoilt brat any more—if she’d ever been—so possibly he’d changed, too.
‘Sam,’ she replied, at a loss for words. She didn’t trust unexpected surprises. They tended to backfire on her.
He said, ‘Welcome to the Sinai.’
Her voice returned, spilling out more than was necessary. ‘I can’t believe this. We’re both in the army, posted to the same region, on the same base?’ What were the odds? They even had rank in common. Her teeth ground back and forth. Slim to zilch. Showed how wrong she got things these days, despite the harsh lessons she’d endured already. A medical insignia told her more. ‘You’re a doctor, too.’
He nodded. ‘We’ve been expecting you.’
‘As in me personally?’ Of course her name would’ve been on the staff list that’d have come through days ago. But, ‘I doubt you realised who I was,’ she retorted, suddenly on edge in front of that dazzling smile, and needing to shield herself from its dangerous intensity. So? Relax. She knew how to cope with men, had learned the hard way to always be careful and cautious. Just ignore them. Easy-peasy.
‘As in a new medic, fresh from home and not worn down by the day-to-day grind of living in camp.’ He widened his grin. ‘And, yes, as in Madison Hunter, high school prefect and science genius.’
Oh, yeah, it would be too easy to fall into that grin, and forget the pain of being betrayed after trusting a man with her heart once already. Reining in the bewilderment overtaking her faster than a speeding bullet, she stood to attention. ‘So we’ll be working together?’
‘I’ll be out of your hair next week.’
He wasn’t getting anywhere near her hair. But was he admiring it? Yeah, he was. Something like shock diluted that brazen glare he’d been delivering.
Fair cop. She did look very different these days. Her waist-length hair had fallen prey to the hairdresser’s scissors the day after she’d joined the army. Crawling under barbed wire through mud and snow while dressed in full army kit had made the thick locks she’d considered her best feature very unattractive and in need of constant attention. What had Sam been talking about? Apart from hair? ‘So you’re one of the medics I’m replacing.’
‘Afraid so.’ His shoulder moved, oh so nonchalantly.
That grin was now crooked. Instead of loosening the hold it held over her, she was drawn in deeper. It was beguiling and threatening in an I-can’t-afford-to-check-this-out kind of way. Desperate for a distraction—no, Sam already had that role—Madison glanced around the compound. She checked out the perimeter fence and saw women, men and children sitting in a huddle, resignation on their faces.
