Jamie Pope - Tempted At Twilight

Summer fling or lifetime love affair?

Nothing fires up Elias Bradley’s adrenaline like the risk of thrilling adventure. But when a serious wrist injury threatens both the Miami trauma surgeon’s career and coveted promotion, he heads down to his family’s island retreat to relax and regroup. At a bar, he meets a woman who awakens extreme emotions that take him by surprise. Even after they part ways following their passionate twilight tryst, Elias longs to connect with Dr. Cricket Warren on a deeper, more intimate level.

Heiress to a billion-dollar tech fortune, Cricket has two PhDs but zero experience when it comes to the opposite sex. So when she spends her vacation back home on Hideaway Island sharing the bed of a sexy stranger, she’s caught off guard by their sizzling attraction. And now she’s having Elias’s baby... He’s ready to step up and do the right thing but they barely know each other. Together, can they turn a moonlit fantasy into a lifetime of romance?

She opened the door and her heart jumped. Flipped. Went right from her chest into her throat. Elias was there, looking absolutely gorgeous and a little unsure of himself.

“Hi.” She was breathless. She couldn’t help it. She couldn’t hide it from him. She never thought she would see him again, but he was at her doorstep.

“Hi. I know it’s early, but I was hoping I could take you out for lunch today.”

She grabbed his arm and tugged him inside without saying anything.

“I should have called. I was going to call, but I didn’t have your number.”

She smiled. He definitely seemed uncertain at the moment and it amused her. He was such a beautiful man with a smile that must have made hundreds of women jump out of their underwear. Yet he acted as if she might turn him down.

It was wildly satisfying to her. She stepped forward, looped her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly on the lips. “You want to take me out, huh?”

Dear Reader,

Have you ever had an overpowering connection with someone that you couldn’t explain? In Tempted at Twilight, you’ll meet Elias and Cricket, total opposites who can’t understand why they just can’t get enough of each other. I hope you enjoy reading about them as much as I enjoyed writing about them!

Happy reading!

Jamie

Tempted at Twilight

Jamie Pope

www.millsandboon.co.uk

JAMIE POPE first fell in love with romance when her mother placed a novel in her hands at the age of thirteen. She became addicted to love stories and has been writing them ever since. When she’s not writing her next book, you can find her shopping for shoes or binge watching shows on Netflix.

Before you start reading, why not sign up?

Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

SIGN ME UP!

Or simply visit

signup.millsandboon.co.uk

Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

To every girl who wears her Blerd status proudly.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

“Have you taken leave of your senses?”

Elias Bradley sat in the chief of surgery’s office and quietly listened as she berated him. It wasn’t the first time she had done so. He seemed to have a way of getting under his boss’s skin.

“You’re not even cleared to be back yet, and you get into an altercation with a patient’s boyfriend?”

Elias’s already injured hand was radiating with pain, a reminder of the scuffle he had gotten into, but he remained silent, knowing it was better not to speak until Dr. Lundy was done yelling.

“How can I make you head of trauma if you act so impulsively?”

Impulsive.

It wasn’t the first time he had heard that word used to describe him. Teachers. Girlfriends. Even his own family had said it. But being impulsive wasn’t always a bad thing. His rash decisions had gotten him pretty far.

“With all due respect, ma’am. One of the things that makes me a good trauma surgeon is the fact that I think and act very quickly. I saw a man grab a patient and try to yank her out of the hospital before she could be treated. I feel that my actions were necessary and in the end protected that patient from further harm.”

He was impressed with how calmly he defended himself. He wanted to scream, That guy was an abusive jackass. Somebody should have kicked his ass a long time ago. But he kept that in. Sometimes he did think before he acted.

“You punched him!” she roared. “Hard enough to break his nose, and even if I cared about his face or the potential lawsuit that might be coming, it doesn’t compare to how much I care about your hands. What good is a surgeon who cannot operate? Right now, you are a highly paid pain in my behind.”

He had never heard the normally proper chief speak that way, but he had never seen her this enraged before, either. “I was only in the hospital to try to make myself useful. Even if I can’t operate, I can work in the ER. I can still see patients.”

“No, you cannot. I handpicked your orthopedic surgeon and your occupational therapist. They have both reported to me that you are nowhere near able to return to surgery, that even if you weren’t a surgeon, that you would need to be on light duty. Working in the ER in the biggest, busiest hospital in Miami isn’t anyone’s idea of light duty. And taking into account your penchant for championing the abused and less fortunate, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ban you from the hospital until you are medically cleared.”

“You’re banning me!” He’d never thought it would have come to that. At most he’d thought she would yell at him and relegate him to paperwork, which he would be fine with, because he loved being in the hospital. He loved the sights and the smells and knowing that what he did made a difference. He didn’t have much else in his life at the moment. His siblings were all very happily married and busy with their own families. There was no special woman to go home to. His life revolved around the hospital. He ate all his meals there. He slept there much of the time. Hell, all the people he socialized with worked there. He wasn’t sure what he would do with himself if he couldn’t come to work.

“Yes, you are banned. I have put an alert out to all the security guards that if they find you here, you are to be escorted out. Your swipe card has been deactivated.”

“You’re treating me like a criminal!”

“No, I’m treating you like an asset that needs to be protected.” She took a calming breath. “You are probably one of the most talented young surgeons I’ve seen in years, and you are excelling in a difficult, highly specialized field. You want to take over as head of trauma, but how can I promote you if I can’t trust you to act rationally? Your hand is not even a quarter of the way healed, and you go and punch someone. Did you think about your career? Did you think about the potentially irrevocable damage you could have done to your future?”