Teresa Southwick - To Have the Doctor's Baby

“No, Nick. Really not a good idea.”

“You’re wrong about that. It’s one of the best I’ve come up with in a long time.”

Nick started to lower his mouth to hers again. Ryleigh backed out of his arms, pushing wisps of hair off her forehead with a shaky hand. “We have rules—”

“Screw the rules.”

“We talked about this. We set them up for a reason.” Clouds slid into her eyes as the passion faded and doubt took its place. “As much as I’d like to keep this up, I don’t want to lose you as a friend. If we go down this path, I’m afraid that’s what would happen.”

“It won’t. I promise.”

Ryleigh’s smile was bittersweet. “I know you mean that. You’re the most honorable man I’ve ever met and you’d never deliberately break your word. But if we don’t stick to the basics we established, you might not be able to keep that promise. And I’m not willing to take the chance…”

Dear Reader,

When I first started on my publication journey, the reality of seeing one of my books on a shelf in the store seemed beyond my reach. Day after day, I sat at the computer putting in precious time on a project with no guarantee of success, but the alternative was to never have tried. That was unacceptable.

I tapped into those feelings for the heroine in this book. Ryleigh Evans desperately wants to have a baby before turning thirty and she wants her ex-husband to be the father. Dr Nick Damian is great with his pediatric patients but emotional baggage got in the way of being a good husband. He’s not quite sure how his ex-wife talked him into helping with her dream, but somehow it becomes less about a baby and more about a second chance at love.

Thanks to all of you readers I’m still living my dream. I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

All the best!

Teresa Southwick

TERESA SOUTHWICKlives with her husband in Las Vegas, the city that reinvents itself every day. An avid fan of romance novels, she is delighted to be living out her dream of writing for Mills & Boon.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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This book is dedicated to every woman with a dream.

Never give up!

They were the poster couple for an amicable divorce, but that didn’t mean seeing her ex-husband on the first day of a new job wasn’t nerve-racking.

Ryleigh Evans was about to test the boundaries of their comfortable friendship and knew it was an exam she could flunk spectacularly. Any minute he would arrive in her office and she was bracing for impact. Trying to, anyway.

At Mercy Medical Center, Nick Damian, M.D., was a legend. But how did one prepare to ask a legend for the biggest favor ever?

Blackmail would be good if she had something on him, but she didn’t.

Opening the top button on her blouse and showing a little cleavage might help. The problem was she didn’t have much in the way of cleavage and what she did have hadn’t impressed him while they were married. Two years later there was no reason to believe that had changed. Against the odds, they now had a warm and supportive friendship that she didn’t want to lose.

Ryleigh had just moved back to Las Vegas from Baltimore to take the position of regional coordinator for Children’s Medical Charities. The organization raised money and funded kids’ projects at the hospital. Nick was a pediatric pulmonologist and it was only a matter of time until their paths crossed. She just didn’t want the crossing to be another Titanic . Hence this private meeting in her office, the first available time slot in their busy schedules since she’d returned.

There was a knock on her door that seemed as loud as a gunshot and just as startling. Even though she’d been expecting it.

“Too late for cleavage,” she whispered before calling out, “Come in.”

Her heart was pounding and she didn’t actually hear the door open, but it must have because Nick was standing there. In worn jeans and a long-sleeved white cotton shirt, one wouldn’t peg him as a doctor, but the stethoscope draped around his neck was a big clue. When not wearing scrubs, this was as professional as he dressed because he’d told her once that kids were intimidated by a suit. And a tie turned into a handy weapon for a pissed-off pediatric patient who’d been poked by needles one too many times and wanted to choke someone.

She stood, walked around her desk and stopped in front of him, then reached up to give him a hug. “Hi, Nick. It’s really wonderful to see you.”

His arms folded her close and felt warm, strong, familiar. A bittersweet feeling squeezed her heart, but she pushed it away. This wasn’t about the past. She was working on her future.

“Ryleigh,” he said, against her hair. “Welcome back.”

When her heart started to race, she backed several steps away and asked, “How are you?”

“Fine. You?”

“Never better.” Her voice was full of forced perkiness, which she hoped he didn’t notice. It had been close to two years since they’d seen each other face-to-face. Their contact had been long phone calls, text messages and emails. They talked about everything including politics, books and movies. “You look great.”

Understatement of the century.

He studied her with eyes that were an especially intense shade of blue and turned down just a little at the corners. They gave him a sad look, one that made every softhearted female and some who weren’t so sensitive want to hug him and make whatever was bothering him better. She wasn’t immune, and pushed that feeling away.

“Your hair is shorter,” he finally said.

“Yeah.”

Automatically she reached up and brushed her palm over the brunette layers that barely touched her shoulders. She was surprised he’d noticed. When they were married, she’d thought about shaving her head, to see if that would get his attention. But she was afraid he wouldn’t even notice something that drastic and it could have destroyed her.

“I like it,” he said.

“Thanks.” The compliment started a glow inside her, but she refused to give it any traction. Back on task. “In case you’re wondering why I asked for this meeting—”

“You figured it would be more private than bumping into me in the hospital cafeteria.”

“Yes.”

“And here we are. Being more private.” He folded his arms over his chest and smiled as if he were a proud mentor. “Look at you. The new regional coordinator for CMC.”

“How about that? I wanted to come back—for this job,” she clarified. There was another agenda, but she needed to wait to spring that on him.

“Because of the kids,” he guessed.

“That’s one of the reasons.”

“How long has it been? Two years?”

“That sounds about right. Since the divorce,” she qualified.

“Longer then, since you moved to Baltimore before that.”

“Yeah. I thought you’d come after me.” Did she really say that out loud? She hadn’t meant to. Something about seeing him deactivated the filter between her brain and mouth.