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The Doctor's Baby Secret
Scarlet Wilson
Expecting the astronaut's baby! Dr. Corrine Carter's job as medical adviser heats up when daredevil Austin Mitchell joins the astronaut training program. And it's soon clear their chemistry is hotter than a Texas summer! For all his cheeky self-confidence, gorgeous Austin makes this relationship-shy doctor feel out of this world. So when their sizzling fling has an unexpected consequence, does Corrine dare to dream of a home and a future with her star-bound pilot?
When that broad frame had walked back into her office the other day she’d felt a familiar ache. The one that would be there whether she was pregnant or not.
This was a guy she’d connected with. This was a guy who could make her burst with happiness one second and have her spitting feathers the next.
He was hot. But he was so much more than hot. She felt safe around him. She felt special. She loved the little twinkle in his bright blue eyes that he seemed to save just for her.
The connection felt real. The connection felt so real. And it was the one she’d been waiting for. The one that other people in love had told her would happen one day.
And now it had. In a set of circumstances she couldn’t have imagined.
Why couldn’t her special guy be someone ordinary … someone normal? Not some hotshot pilot who constantly tried to conquer the world. Not some guy with career ambitions that could leave you breathless.
She banged her head back against the wall. But that was all part of Austin. All part of the guy who had stolen her heart. The guy she’d fallen in love with.
Dear Reader (#ulink_258ca960-9c80-5d1d-894f-e2439ff5b6d6),
This year I had the joy and pleasure of taking my children to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. I don’t know who was more excited—me or them.
I loved it. I loved everything about it. We even had the pleasure of meeting a real-life astronaut, Don Thomas, a veteran of four space flights and a man who has spent forty-four days in space. He was gracious, interesting, and he answered all my kids’ questions. How could I not write about a hero who was an astronaut?
There’s something spectacular about this kind of hero. It was great fun having him figure out if his heart lay in the stars or on earth.
My ambition for this book was to get the words ‘space baby’ in the title. I didn’t quite get my way. Maybe next time. I’m sure I have another astronaut hero I can use …
I love to hear from readers. Please feel free to contact me at scarlet-wilson.com.
Love,
Scarlet Wilson
SCARLET WILSON wrote her first story aged eight and has never stopped. She’s worked in the health service for twenty years, trained as a nurse and a health visitor. Scarlet now works in public health and lives on the West Coast of Scotland with her fiancе and their two sons. Writing medical romances and contemporary romances is a dream come true for her.
The Doctor’s Baby Secret
Scarlet Wilson
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
This book is dedicated to my good friend Frances Mason, my partner in crime, lunch buddy and one of the bravest women I know.
And to all those brave men and women who make that journey into the stars.
Praise for Scarlet Wilson (#ulink_8344f216-285e-5831-a242-933795bf8671)
‘The book is filled with high-strung emotions, engaging dialogue, breathtaking descriptions and characters you just cannot help but love. With the magic of Christmas as a bonus, you won’t be disappointed with this story!’
—Goodreads on A Touch of Christmas Magic
‘200 Harley Street: Girl From the Red Carpet is a fast-paced and feel-good medical romance that sparkles with red-hot sensuality, mesmerising emotion and intense passion.’
—Goodreads
‘I am totally addicted to this author’s books. Not once have I picked up a book by her and felt disappointed or let down. She creates these intense, perfect characters with so many amazing levels of emotion it blows my mind time and time again.’
—Contemporary Romance Reviews on Tempted by Her Boss
Contents
Cover (#u5bd9e3c9-e979-559e-b13d-e515fadb497e)
Introduction (#ua96b628b-b34a-59f1-8c46-00737126b15e)
Dear Reader (#ulink_39002663-b1d0-571b-95b5-b86dea384119)
About the Author (#u3d1945bc-d4c4-5168-ba9d-395dc2d4b74f)
Title Page (#u6eacad0f-9ab1-50c8-b73a-bd2481082ce3)
Dedication (#uce88bb05-116b-5638-9dd2-03f8728aa6d9)
Praise for Scarlet Wilson (#ulink_9611b16b-1cc0-5172-9629-45d8b4d84a49)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_eeb215c4-cae9-5de5-963d-2da579980f7a)
CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_160f11fb-603a-5c27-bebd-c684e01eb59b)
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_6b461d72-be63-55e1-88b0-d9f399dff9bd)
CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_d4f39ff7-ba81-5281-9a13-984a135afb60)
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)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_5d40619a-60d8-5508-b2f0-f7959984e763)
‘HERE YOU GO, Dr Carter. Your successful candidates.’
Corrine’s heart gave a little flutter at the sight of the four buff folders in front of her. This was one of the best parts of her job. Of the thousands of applications received from a wide range of people—both civilian and military—only a few were chosen for the intensive Astronaut Candidate Programme. She smiled and fingered the folders on her desk. These applicants had gone through weeks of intensive interviews and medical and psychological screening. As part of the medical team at the Worldwide Science and Space Agency, Corrine had already met some of the successful candidates.
‘Where am I going, then?’
Every candidate got told in person if they’d been successful by a member of the team at WSSA. She’d been here three years and had been waiting for the chance to do this. The training programme only accepted applications every few years.
Her secretary handed her the schedule. ‘California, Washington, Idaho and Nevada.’
Her colleague Blair stuck his head around the door. ‘You got yours too?’ He was carrying his folders in his arms. ‘Who did you get?’ He crossed the office in two strides and spread the folders out to see the names.
Almost immediately he started laughing.
‘What? What is it?’ Corrine looked at the names in front of her. Three were familiar to her. One was a civilian school teacher. One a marine. One an engineer. Blair picked up the last folder before she even had a chance to read the name.
‘You got the Top Gun? Good luck with him.’
She snatched the folder back out of his hand. ‘The Top Gun?’ She stared at the name, Austin Mitchell. There were so many candidates there was no chance of meeting them all. She frowned. ‘What’s wrong with Austin Mitchell, then?’ She opened his folder and started flicking through the pages. Distinction. Merit. Top scores on just about all his testing. The guy seemed more or less perfect.
Blair shook his head and laughed again. ‘You’ll see.’
* * *
Austin checked his instruments one final time and gave a cheeky smile.
‘Bates, don’t you dare,’ came over the intercom.
His laughter had already started. Some traditions would never die. He was already descending for landing—he just wasn’t exactly over the landing strip he should be.
‘Bates, I’m warning you...’
The adrenaline was coursing through his body—just as it always did when he got behind the controls of a plane. But this wasn’t just any plane. This was a brand-new prototype of the F-35. A modified stealth bomber. People wouldn’t even hear it coming until it was directly overhead. Including his colleagues in the control tower.
He gave a final check of his instruments—he was the only aviator in the sky right now. The way was clear.
As he positioned the plane he glanced around the surrounding area. There was a reason the Top Gun aviators trained in the middle of the Nevada desert. No one to disturb.
There was a little speck on the landscape ahead. A member of the military personnel headed towards the tower. He hoped they were prepared.
He manoeuvred the F-35 into perfect position. ‘He’s doing it again, folks. Hold onto your coffee cups.’ There was a resigned sigh over the intercom.
‘Yee-haw!’ he yelled as he passed twenty feet above the tower. Buzzing the tower was one of the perks of the job. Maybe not for them—but definitely for him. And if his luck played out the way he hoped it would, this could be his last time.
* * *
She was halfway up the stairs when the noise wave hit. The plane had passed overhead in the blink of an eye. They didn’t call them stealth bombers for nothing. Her fingers tightened their grip on the rail just as the whole building rattled and the noise washed over her.
Did people still do that crazy stuff? Surely that was just for the movies?
The sand swirled around her, pulling her carefully styled bun out of its pins and sending stray tendrils across her eyes along with a choking mouthful of sand. She coughed and spluttered, then tried to brush some of the sand off her black knee-length skirt and jacket.
Ignoring the slight shake of her legs, she thumped up the rest of the stairs and keyed in her security code, throwing the door wide. ‘Who is that idiot?’ she yelled.
All heads in the room turned towards her. She gulped. Not exactly the best entrance in the world.
One of the controllers stood up and walked towards her. ‘And you are?’
It was clear she had security clearance or she wouldn’t be here. That didn’t mean that anyone would know who she was.
She covered her mouth, coughing again, and stared at his outstretched hand. She reached into her bag and pulled out some sanitiser, giving her hands a quick rub before she shook his hand. ‘Hi, I’m Dr Corrine Carter from the Worldwide Science and Space Agency. I’m looking for Austin Mitchell. I believe he’s one of the instructors.’ She gestured back towards the gate. ‘They sent me over here.’
There was the tiniest raise of his eyebrow, but he disguised it well. The guy gave a nod and a firm shake of her hand. ‘Luke Kennedy, Air Force Controller.’
The motion caused a sprinkling of sand to land on the carpet. She bit her bottom lip and took off her jacket, giving it another shake. Windswept and dishevelled wasn’t exactly the look she wanted when she told the candidate of his success. She held up her hand and shook her head. ‘What on earth was that about? Surely these guys are past all the cheap stunts?’
She looked around the office, trying to guess which one of the uniformed personnel was Austin—the guy who’d aced practically every test during the astronaut application procedures.
Her eyes were drawn to a plane landing on the adjacent runway. The plane that had nearly made her land on her butt in the corridor.
Luke Kennedy smiled. He followed her line of sight. ‘It’s kind of a tradition for the Top Gun instructors.’
‘Doesn’t it drive you crazy?’ She stared at a few tiny blotches of coffee on his shirt.
‘Oh, it drives me crazy all right.’ His accent was so thick it was almost a drawl. ‘You said you were looking for Bates? I mean, Lieutenant Commander Mitchell?’
She nodded, then frowned. ‘Bates? Why do you call him Bates?’ She glanced at the file in her hand. ‘That isn’t in his medical file.’
His smile reached from ear to ear. ‘It’s his call sign. I’ll let you find out for yourself why he’s called that.’ He pointed across the tarmac to the plane on the far side. ‘Well, I guess you found him. Give him a few minutes. He’ll take the plane back to the hangar.’
Corrine’s mouth fell open. ‘That’s him?’ She gestured towards the plane, which had safely landed and was slowly making its way back to the hangar.
Luke Kennedy turned back to his chair. ‘That’s him all right. Good luck.’
She bit her lip. That was the second person to wish her luck talking to Austin Mitchell. What was with this guy?
