Kate Hardy - Falling For Mr. December

Broad shoulders, beautiful biceps, enough hair on his chest to be sexy without him looking like a total gorilla and a definite six-pack.

Mr December was going to be the best page on the calendar. He could probably sell the calendar all by himself.

But now he’d said there was no wife or girlfriend, she couldn’t help wondering: How come a gorgeous man with a good brain and kind eyes was single? Was it because he was a workaholic and his girlfriends tended to get fed up waiting for him to notice them? Or had she missed some major personality flaw?

“What?” he asked, clearly noting that she was staring at him.

“Nothing,” she said, embarrassed to discover that her voice was slightly croaky. She really had to get a grip.

The last thing she needed was for her skittish model to work out that she was attracted to him.

But a girl could dream …

Award-winning author KATE HARDYlives in Norwich with her husband, two children, one spaniel and too many books to count! She’s a fan of the theater, ballroom dancing, posh chocolate and anything Italian. She’s a history and science geek, plays the guitar and piano and makes great cookies (which is why she also has to go to the gym five days a week …).

Falling for Mr. December

Kate Hardy

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To Fi, my best friend, with much love.

Contents

Cover

Introduction Nick Kennedy was spectacular, Sammy thought. Broad shoulders, beautiful biceps, enough hair on his chest to be sexy without him looking like a total gorilla and a definite six-pack. Mr December was going to be the best page on the calendar. He could probably sell the calendar all by himself. But now he’d said there was no wife or girlfriend, she couldn’t help wondering: How come a gorgeous man with a good brain and kind eyes was single? Was it because he was a workaholic and his girlfriends tended to get fed up waiting for him to notice them? Or had she missed some major personality flaw? “What?” he asked, clearly noting that she was staring at him. “Nothing,” she said, embarrassed to discover that her voice was slightly croaky. She really had to get a grip. The last thing she needed was for her skittish model to work out that she was attracted to him. But a girl could dream …

About the Author Award-winning author KATE HARDY lives in Norwich with her husband, two children, one spaniel and too many books to count! She’s a fan of the theater, ballroom dancing, posh chocolate and anything Italian. She’s a history and science geek, plays the guitar and piano and makes great cookies (which is why she also has to go to the gym five days a week …).

Title Page Falling for Mr. December Kate Hardy www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dedication To Fi, my best friend, with much love.

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

SAMMY LAUGHED AS the penny finally dropped. ‘So you want me to photograph naked men for you?’

Ayesha, who chaired the Friends of the London Victoria Hospital, squirmed and stared into her latte. ‘Put like that, it sounds terrible!’

‘I know what you meant. Do it artistically ,’ Sammy said, still smiling. ‘A calendar of hot men to raise funds for the cancer ward. It’s a great idea. So do you have a bunch of sexy doctors lined up to pose for me?’

‘A couple,’ Mari, the vice-chair, said. ‘But we were thinking maybe we can include other people who’ve been involved with the ward.’

‘Cured patients, so you can say that this is what a cancer survivor looks like? That could work well.’ And, for a cause like that, Sammy would seriously think about going public and baring her own leg, if they couldn’t get enough models.

‘We were thinking relatives of patients,’ Ayesha said. ‘Ones with high profiles locally. We’ve got an actor, a musician, a chef, a gardener...’

‘So I could maybe shoot them in their own locations, doing their job. That’d work really well,’ Sammy said. ‘And they’re all happy about posing naked—provided I preserve their modesty?’

‘Ye—es,’ Ayesha said.

The hesitation told her everything. ‘You didn’t actually tell them it meant posing naked, did you?’ Sammy asked.

‘We’re going to,’ Mari said. ‘We can talk them into it.’

‘As I’ll need signed model release forms before I can let you use the photographs, I’m afraid you’ll have to do that.’ Sammy looked at her diary. ‘If you’re using the hospital as a location, I could shoot the whole lot in a day, but if I need to go to different places then I’ll have to work out a schedule based on the locations and the availability of the models.’ She scribbled some notes down on a pad. ‘These are the best times for me to do it, but I can also work round a couple of other things if you need me to. Talk to your models and let me know where and when you want me to do the shoots.’

‘Sammy, you’re a star. Thank you so much,’ Ayesha said.

Sammy shrugged off the praise. ‘It’s the least I can do. If it wasn’t for the treatment I had here when I was a teen—’ and again two years ago ‘—then I wouldn’t be here. And this means I can give something back.’ She smiled. ‘This is going to be fun. And we’re going to raise a ton of money for the ward.’

* * *

Nick folded his arms and looked at his sister. ‘All right, Mandy. Out with it.’

‘Out with what?’ she deadpanned.

‘Amanda Kennedy, I’ve known you for thirty-five years.’

‘At least one year of which you wouldn’t remember, because you were a baby at the time,’ she retorted.

‘Agreed,’ he said, ‘but I can always read your expression. So don’t ever take up playing poker, will you?’

She sighed. ‘I guess.’

Nick had known that tonight wasn’t just about his sister giving him an update on his nephew’s cancer treatment. Despite going through a messy divorce, Mandy still believed in love and happy endings. And all too often she tried to fix him up with someone she thought would be his perfect date. Nick had stopped believing in love years ago, and he’d learned the hard way that you couldn’t be successful both in love and in your career. So after the break-up of his marriage he’d gone for the safe option and concentrated on his career.

No doubt this was another of Mandy’s friends who really needed a plus-one for a dinner party and he’d fit the bill perfectly. OK. He’d help out, but he’d make it clear that he wasn’t looking for a relationship. Nowadays he didn’t do anything deeper than casual dating.

Then his sister said something he really hadn’t expected. ‘The Friends of the Hospital are doing a calendar to raise funds for the ward.’

He didn’t need to ask which ward. The cancer ward. The one that had treated his nephew Xander for osteosarcoma. Well, he could do something to help there, too. ‘If they’re looking for a sponsor to cover production costs, count me in.’