Kate Hardy - Their Pregnancy Gift

One night before Christmas...

Dr. Danielle Owens can’t help but be intrigued by hot, brooding IVF consultant Alex Morgan. Then Dani offers him a chance to unload, leading to one very intimate night and a life-changing consequence!

Alex wants to do the right thing, but is clearly troubled. And after her divorce, Dani won’t commit to a man who doesn’t love her—even if she is pregnant! Alex wants Dani and their baby very much, but to win her he must confront the demon that has been holding him back!

Their Pregnancy Gift

Kate Hardy

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To Tony and Debbie, with much love.

Books by Kate Hardy

Mills & Boon Medical Romance

Paddington Children’s Hospital

Mummy, Nurse...Duchess?

Christmas Miracles in Maternity

The Midwife’s Pregnancy Miracle

Her Playboy’s Proposal

Capturing the Single Dad’s Heart

Mills & Boon Cherish

Holiday with the Best Man

Falling for the Secret Millionaire

Her Festive Doorstep Baby

Visit the Author Profile page

at millsandboon.co.ukfor more titles.

Praise for Kate Hardy Contents Cover Back Cover Text Title Page Dedication Praise CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN EPILOGUE Extract Copyright

‘With great story build-up and engaging dialogue, A Baby to Heal Their Hearts by Kate Hardy is a sure winner!’

—Harlequin Junkie

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text One night before Christmas... Dr. Danielle Owens can’t help but be intrigued by hot, brooding IVF consultant Alex Morgan. Then Dani offers him a chance to unload, leading to one very intimate night and a life-changing consequence! Alex wants to do the right thing, but is clearly troubled. And after her divorce, Dani won’t commit to a man who doesn’t love her—even if she is pregnant! Alex wants Dani and their baby very much, but to win her he must confront the demon that has been holding him back!

Title Page Their Pregnancy Gift Kate Hardy www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dedication To Tony and Debbie, with much love.

Praise Praise for Kate Hardy Contents Cover Back Cover Text Title Page Dedication Praise CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN EPILOGUE Extract Copyright ‘With great story build-up and engaging dialogue, A Baby to Heal Their Hearts by Kate Hardy is a sure winner!’ —Harlequin Junkie

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

‘I CAN’T WAIT to get rid of you,’ Danielle said. ‘You’ve made me miserable, you’ve stopped me doing everything I love doing, and I do actually hate you.’

She looked up to see Alex, the new consultant on the maternity ward, standing in the open doorway of her office.

He raised an eyebrow. ‘Practising your break-up speech?’

Dani felt the colour flood into her face. ‘I hope I’d be a little kinder than that.’ Certainly kinder than Leo had been to her, last Christmas Eve, when he’d told her that their marriage was over and he was leaving her for someone else. Someone else who was expecting his baby—when he’d told Dani only a few months before that he wasn’t ready to start a family.

She pushed the thought away. ‘If you must know, I was talking to my walking cast.’

‘Right.’

There wasn’t even the glimmer of a smile, and she sighed inwardly. From what she’d seen of him over the last couple of months, Alex Morgan was good with their patients, but all his social skills seemed to switch off as soon as he had to deal with his colleagues on anything other than a work basis. He hadn’t been to a single team night out, always ate lunch on his own, and if he was in the staff kitchen he never joined in with the conversation.

She didn’t think he was being snooty; but she didn’t think he was shy, either. There was obviously a reason why he kept his distance from everyone else, but Dani—who’d always got on well with everyone—had no idea how to reach him. He was possibly the most difficult person in the department to have as the co-organiser of the ward’s Christmas party, but she’d just have to make the best of it.

‘You wanted to see me?’ he asked.

‘We need to talk about organising the ward’s Christmas meal. Are you busy at lunchtime today, or can we discuss it over a sandwich?’

‘Sorry. I have meetings,’ he said.

Dani didn’t believe a word of it, but the ward’s Christmas meal still needed to be sorted out. If she gave Alex a longer timeframe, he’d be forced to pick a day. And if he picked one of the two evenings this week when she was busy, then she’d move her other arrangements because she really wanted to get this done and dusted. She gave him the sweetest, sweetest smile. ‘OK. Do you have time for a coffee after work some time in the next two weeks to discuss it?’

He masked his expression quickly, but not before Dani had seen it. He’d obviously realised what her game plan was, and he couldn’t think of a decent excuse that would work for two whole weeks.

Gotcha, she thought in satisfaction.

He took his phone out of his pocket and made a show of checking his diary, though she was pretty sure it wasn’t that full.

‘How about tomorrow?’ he suggested.

‘That’ll be fine, as Hayley’s training with Sam tomorrow night.’ She glared at her cast. ‘Thanks to this.’

‘Uh-huh.’

OK. So he wasn’t going to bite. Anyone else would’ve been polite enough to ask what she’d done to her foot, or at least make a comment. But Alex clearly didn’t want to get into conversation with her. Fair enough. She couldn’t force him to make friends with her. If he wanted to keep himself to himself, that was his decision and it wasn’t her place to try and change it.

‘Thank you. I’ll meet you outside the staffroom tomorrow after our shift,’ she said.

‘Fine,’ he said.

And still he didn’t give her a single smile.

She sighed inwardly, and got on with writing up the case notes from her clinic that morning.

* * *

God, what was wrong with him? Alex wondered as he headed to his own office. Danielle Owens was nice. She’d been friendly right from his first day on the ward, trying to make him feel part of the team, and in response he’d been completely standoffish. Meeting her for a drink tomorrow night to discuss the team’s Christmas meal was the only social invitation he’d accepted in the two months he’d been working at Muswell Hill Memorial Hospital, and that was solely because the head of the department had blithely informed him that his predecessor had been scheduled to organise it with Dani and he was sure that Alex would be happy to step into those shoes, too.