Kate Hardy - The Spanish Consultant's Baby

Ramón was very, very still. “Cariña? You think I’d desert you? Do you think I’m that dishonorable?”

“No.” But she couldn’t bear him to stay out of pity and a sense of honor. She lifted her chin. “I just don’t want you around.”

He laughed shortly. “I can disprove that in thirty seconds. All I have to do is carry you up the stairs to your bedroom.”

I had been planning to write a GP book. I’d even written the first three chapters. But then Ramón Martínez walked into my head and insisted I write his story instead. What could I do but agree?

He was so sexy that he struck me as the kind of man who could make an icemaiden weak at the knees, so I set him up with Jennifer Jacobs, a woman with a past she wanted to keep secret. After an unhappy marriage, she planned never to get involved with anyone again. Ramón had other ideas, and he managed to charm down every single barrier Jennifer put in his way. (Frankly, if a man with a good voice serenaded me in a sexy Spanish whisper and fed me chocolate, I’d be melting, too!)

Ramón is probably the nearest I’ll get to writing an alpha hero. But he doesn’t have that hard edge—in fact, he’s an absolute softie at heart. He also has a slightly outrageous side….

I hope you enjoy their story and have as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

I’m always delighted to hear from readers, so do come and visit me at www.katehardy.comor www.millsandboon.co.uk!

With love,

Kate Hardy

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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COVER

Dear Reader Dear Reader Dear Reader TITLE PAGE CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN EPILOGUE EXTRACT COPYRIGHT , I had been planning to write a GP book. I’d even written the first three chapters. But then Ramón Martínez walked into my head and insisted I write his story instead. What could I do but agree? He was so sexy that he struck me as the kind of man who could make an icemaiden weak at the knees, so I set him up with Jennifer Jacobs, a woman with a past she wanted to keep secret. After an unhappy marriage, she planned never to get involved with anyone again. Ramón had other ideas, and he managed to charm down every single barrier Jennifer put in his way. (Frankly, if a man with a good voice serenaded me in a sexy Spanish whisper and fed me chocolate, I’d be melting, too!) Ramón is probably the nearest I’ll get to writing an alpha hero. But he doesn’t have that hard edge—in fact, he’s an absolute softie at heart. He also has a slightly outrageous side…. I hope you enjoy their story and have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. I’m always delighted to hear from readers, so do come and visit me at www.katehardy.com or www.millsandboon.co.uk ! With love, Kate Hardy

TITLE PAGE The Spanish Consultant’s Baby Kate Hardy www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

EPILOGUE

EXTRACT

COPYRIGHT

‘HE’S gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous,’ Meg said. ‘Tall, dark and handsome—and a smile to die for! When he looks at you, he makes you feel as if you’re the only one in the room. And his voice…ooh, it’s like melted chocolate.’

Jennifer smiled wryly. Anyone would think Meg was a teenager, not a mum of three and just about to become a grandma for the second time. ‘So you liked him, then?’ she deadpanned.

‘You wait till you meet him, JJ. He’ll melt your heart.’

Jennifer doubted that. She’d spent too many years insulating it—and with good reason. The only male who melted her heart was her cat, Spider. And she intended it to stay that way. ‘As long as he knows his stuff,’ she said. ‘We can’t afford to carry a lightweight who spends all his time charming the nurses.’

Meg blinked in surprise. ‘Wow. Who’s rattled your cage this morning?’

‘No one,’ Jennifer said lightly. ‘But you’re supposed to be off duty in three minutes and we still need to do the handover.’

‘Yeah, of course.’ Meg smiled and started going through the list of patients with Jennifer.

Jennifer forced herself to concentrate on the handover, though a part of her mind couldn’t help wandering. Panicking. Don’t be so silly, Jennifer Jacobs, she told herself sternly. You haven’t met Ramón Martínez yet. Meg likes him. He’s probably really nice.

And yet she couldn’t help it. Even ten years after Andrew, she found herself on the defensive whenever she met someone new—correction, someone new who happened to be male. And every time she had to remind herself that not all men were like Andrew, that she knew plenty of nice men. It was a gut reaction that she couldn’t quite overcome, despite the counselling she’d had.

‘Earth to JJ,’ Meg said, waving a file at her.

‘Sorry. I was miles away.’

‘Dreaming about our hunky Spaniard?’

Jennifer scoffed. ‘I’ve only got your word for it on the hunkiness issue.’

Meg grinned. ‘Believe me, any woman under ninety would get palpitations just from looking at him.’

‘Better alert the cardiac ward, then.’ Jennifer smiled to take the sting from her words and gave Meg her full attention while they finished the handover. ‘Right—you have a good couple of days off, Meg. See you on Friday.’

‘I will. Oh, and Ramón will be with Stephen Knights,’ Meg said, referring to the baby who’d come in for an operation on a cleft palate. ‘He should be back from Theatre any minute now.’

‘I’ll keep an eye out for him,’ Jennifer said. Time to move on, she told herself as the other sister left the ward. It’s just another day. Another ordinary day. Ramón Martínez is nothing to worry about. And if he is a bulldozer, he’s only here for four months. Nothing that bad can happen in four short months.

She was steeling herself, ready to meet him, when Lizzy Bowers pushed past her in the corridor in floods of tears.

Jennifer picked up the couple of files she’d dropped, then followed in Lizzy’s wake to the toilets. Lizzy was leaning against the sink, sobbing. Jennifer balanced her files on top of the wastebin and put her arms round the student nurse. ‘Hey. It’s OK.’ Clearly it wasn’t—she would have said Lizzy was the least likely of her staff to burst into tears. But it wasn’t necessarily something to do with work. She knew Lizzy was going through a rough time at home; maybe she’d had the news she’d been waiting for but praying not to hear. ‘What’s happened?’ Jennifer asked gently.