скачать книгу бесплатно
Seduced By The Heart Surgeon
CAROL MARINELLI
One night with a playboy…As head of PR for the elite Hollywood Hills Clinic, ex-socialite Freya Rothsberg knows image is everything. Yet her own facade of calm control is shattered when she meets outrageously sexy heart surgeon Zack Carlton at a wedding. One wild night of passion later, Freya is shocked to realise that Zack is the clinic's newest recruit!Playboy Zack exposes Freya's every secret yearning for a fairy-tale ending. He's an expert with damaged hearts—does she dare trust him with hers?The Hollywood Hills ClinicWhere doctors to the stars work miracles by day—and explore their hearts' desires by night…
Welcome to …
The Hollywood Hills Clinic
Where doctors to the stars work miracles by day—and explore their hearts’ desires by night …
When hotshot doc James Rothsberg started the clinic six years ago he dreamed of a world-class facility, catering to Hollywood’s biggest celebrities, and his team are unrivalled in their fields.
Now, as the glare of the media spotlight grows, the Hollywood Hills Clinic is teaming up with the pro-bono Bright Hope Clinic, and James is reunited with Dr Mila Brightman … the woman he jilted at the altar!
When it comes to juggling the care of Hollywood A-listers with care for the underprivileged kids of LA anything can happen … and sizzling passions run high in the shadow of the red carpet. With everything at stake for James, Mila and the Hollywood Hills Clinic medical team their biggest challenges have only just begun!
Find out what happens in the dazzling
The Hollywood Hills Clinic miniseries
Available from April 2016!
Dear Reader (#ulink_a017e963-d4dc-50dd-b267-1ec7c50d0259),
I was thrilled to be asked to write the first story in The Hollywood Hills Clinic series. It was wonderful to work with so many amazing authors and to hear the exciting plans that they had for their characters.
I always start out with a clear plan for my heroes and heroines, and then they just tend to stray off-course—but never more so than Freya and Zack. I kept trying to warn them that they might live to regret their one night of sizzling passion. They chose not to listen!
Truly, I don’t blame them a bit.
I can’t wait to read the entire continuity and see how the other heroes and heroines behaved.
Or not!
Happy reading!
Carolx
CAROL MARINELLI recently filled in a form asking for her job title. Thrilled to be able to put down her answer, she put ‘writer’. Then it asked what Carol did for relaxation, and she put down the truth—’writing’. The third question asked for her hobbies. Well, not wanting to look obsessed, she crossed her fingers and answered ‘swimming’. But, given that the chlorine in the pool does terrible things to her highlights, I’m sure you can guess the real answer!
Seduced by the Heart Surgeon
(The Hollywood Hills Clinic, Book 1)
Carol Marinelli
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Contents
Cover (#u798a2b4d-a34e-57a6-a6d7-69283cda4d67)
Introduction (#u2ebec59a-826f-528e-b2c0-be126b321a17)
Dear Reader (#u690e235c-8309-5600-8677-7fe23c435db9)
About the Author (#uf505ffec-245f-53c3-947c-02768a9170d7)
Title Page (#u60a8ec59-80ff-5e24-9da1-9f8177476473)
CHAPTER ONE (#u4e5f72dc-2392-5032-b300-8eeacb5aa98c)
CHAPTER TWO (#u0b65ccdc-16ee-53a4-a3f0-576683556e51)
CHAPTER THREE (#ub3eb2117-e256-5806-8f85-f78c7b54637c)
CHAPTER FOUR (#u32008434-8bd0-5d08-bce9-bcfbd7c0f194)
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)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINETEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_934a182c-ec49-5ed5-84ce-c7e44f431966)
‘YOU ALREADY KNOW, don’t you, Freya?’
‘Know what?’ Freya frowned as she attempted to pull up the zipper on her friend Beth’s wedding dress. It had slipped up easily at the final fitting just last week so Freya gave it another tug but it refused to budge. ‘Have you...?’
Freya stopped herself from continuing with the question. She, more than most, knew just how much damage that a throwaway comment about weight could cause and she certainly didn’t want to inflict that pain on Beth. Especially not on her wedding day, but, hell, the dress was tight.
Then it dawned on Freya why she was having so much trouble getting Beth into her wedding dress. Beth had declined Freya’s offer of champagne as they prepared for her late afternoon wedding and the girls’ night in at Freya’s apartment last week had been a very tame affair.
Freya worked it out just a split second before her friend said it.
‘I’m pregnant!’
Oh, Freya was very grateful for that split second because her eyes had screwed closed as yet another friend revealed their happy news, but by the time Beth had turned around, Freya had composed herself and was smiling.
‘That’s fantastic news, Beth.’
‘Don’t pretend that you didn’t know.’
‘I honestly had no idea,’ Freya admitted.
‘I didn’t have even one of the cocktails you’d made!’
‘I thought it was a bit odd,’ Freya admitted, because Beth loved a drink. ‘I just believed you when you said that you were detoxing for the wedding.’
Oh, it had been a tame night. Two of the women were pregnant, one was breastfeeding and now Freya understood why Beth had also declined the cocktails that Freya had prepared. For Freya, it had been a long night of being told, It will be your turn soon, and asked, Are you still not seeing anyone? Her friends didn’t know about her fertility issues, so they hadn’t been deliberately insensitive. She could have told them that day that she’d had blood work done and when Hilary was back from her trip she would be having some further tests to see if she might be a candidate for IVF through an egg donor.
Freya didn’t really open up to anyone, though, not fully.
‘So when did you find out?’ Freya asked Beth.
‘Two weeks ago. I was devastated at first, I have to admit.’
‘Devastated?’ Freya checked. She knew very well that Beth and Neil both wanted a family and so she wondered if they had found out that there was something wrong with the baby.
‘Well, I was very upset,’ Beth clarified. ‘We’ve been saving up for the honeymoon for ages and had paid for all drinks to be included...’ Beth rolled her eyes at the perceived inconvenience. ‘I’m fine about it now.’
Fine!
Freya did her best not to dwell on that word.
Finally the zip was up and she arranged the huge bow on Beth’s dress.
Freya knew that she overthought everything but, really, to use the word fine to describe the news that you were pregnant irked her!
‘Have you told your parents?’ Freya asked once she had unclenched her jaw.
‘Not yet. Neil’s going to reveal the news during the speeches, so we can capture everyone’s expressions. Can you warn the cameraman?’
‘Sure.’
‘You won’t forget?’
‘I never forget,’ Freya said. ‘That’s why you’ve got me planning your wedding, remember!’
Oh, Freya was on edge and trying not to be but Beth really was a bridezilla.
‘Okay, done. Wow. You look amazing!’ Freya said. ‘Simply stunning.’
No one could ever tell when Freya was lying. It was why she was so successful in PR.
The dress that Beth had chosen was a long sheath of ivory tulle, tied in the middle with a huge satin bow.
Like an oddly wrapped parcel, Freya thought.
Worse, Beth had chosen similar for Freya to wear. Hers was knee-length, though, and the shade of Freya’s dress was Antique White. Freya felt as if she was wearing an old teabag. Her brunette hair had been teased into curls and Beth had insisted on red lips for them both. The only saving grace was that the bow on Freya’s dress was smaller.
They looked like two poodles who’d been badly clipped, Freya thought as she stared at their reflections.
‘Are you wearing a bra?’ Beth checked.
‘It didn’t work with the dress,’ Freya said.
‘Well, put some plasters on them,’ Beth said. ‘I don’t want your nipples in my photos.’
There was a knock at the door and, of course, brides didn’t answer doors, so Freya opened it and smiled when she saw Beth’s father, realising it was time for her to head down and check the last-minute details.
‘Right, I’m going to go down and make sure everything is in place,’ Freya said. ‘Enjoy every moment and leave all the worrying to me.’
‘I shall.’ Beth nodded. ‘It’s all set for midnight?’
‘It is.’
‘I want everyone watching us kiss as we ring in the New Year.’
‘They shall be.’
‘Thanks for organising everything.’
‘Well, it’s been a lot more fun sorting out flowers and table plans than getting everyone at The Hills to glam up for the new brochure...’
‘They’re already a glam lot.’
‘I know they are.’ That hadn’t been what Freya had meant but there wasn’t time for all that now. ‘I’ll see you down in the hotel chapel.’
‘Don’t forget the plasters,’ Beth reminded her. Freya smiled and picked up her posy of red flowers to match her red lips then stepped out of the room and let out a very long breath.
Again she had lied. This wedding had been hell to organise.
