Laura Iding - Cedar Bluff's Most Eligible Bachelor

Cedar Bluff’s Most Eligible Bachelor

Laura Iding

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Cover

Title Page Cedar Bluff’s Most Eligible Bachelor Laura Iding www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author About the Author LAURA IDING loved reading as a child, and when she ran out of books she readily made up her own, completing a little detective mini-series when she was twelve. But, despite her aspirations for being an author, her parents insisted she look into a ‘real’ career. So the summer after she turned thirteen she volunteered as a Candy Striper, and fell in love with nursing. Now, after twenty years of experience in trauma/critical care, she’s thrilled to combine her career and her hobby into one—writing Medical™ Romances for Mills & Boon. Laura lives in the northern part of the United States, and spends all her spare time with her two teenage kids (help!)— a daughter and a son—and her husband. Enjoy!

Dedication Dedication This book is for you, Olga. Always be true to yourself.

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

Copyright

LAURA IDINGloved reading as a child, and when she ran out of books she readily made up her own, completing a little detective mini-series when she was twelve. But, despite her aspirations for being an author, her parents insisted she look into a ‘real’ career. So the summer after she turned thirteen she volunteered as a Candy Striper, and fell in love with nursing. Now, after twenty years of experience in trauma/critical care, she’s thrilled to combine her career and her hobby into one—writing Medical™ Romances for Mills & Boon. Laura lives in the northern part of the United States, and spends all her spare time with her two teenage kids (help!)— a daughter and a son—and her husband. Enjoy!

Dear Reader

Thanks to all of you who wrote to me about how much you’ve enjoyed my Cedar Bluff trilogy. I’m always honoured to hear from my readers, and I’m glad you enjoyed the trilogy as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I’m thrilled to announce the debut of Simon’s story. Simon Carter was just a secondary character at first—a friend of Jadon’s—but soon I realised he deserved his own story. And deserved a strong heroine as his match.

Hailey and Simon both have guilty secrets in their respective pasts. Neither one of them is ready for a relationship when they literally crash into each other’s lives. But soon they discover that only by working together can they free themselves from the mistakes they’ve made in order to fall in love.

I hope you enjoy CEDAR BLUFF’S MOST ELIGIBLE BACHELOR. And don’t hesitate to visit my website and drop me a note.

Sincerely

Laura Iding www.lauraiding.com

Dedication

This book is for you, Olga. Always be true to yourself.

HAILEY ROGERS walked into Cedar Bluff’s emergency department on Saturday afternoon, fluffing her blonde hair to get rid of her helmet head.

“Hi, Hailey,” Rachel, one of her nursing colleagues, greeted her when she approached the desk. “You’re working arena team two today.”

“Sounds good.” Hailey had started at Cedar Bluff hospital about two months previously, but she’d worked in the emergency trauma center at Trinity Medical Center in Milwaukee for several years, so she hadn’t needed long to learn Cedar Bluff’s way of doing things. Rachel had been her preceptor but they’d quickly grown to be friends.

“I’ll be right next to you in team three,” Rachel said cheerfully. “So if you need something, or have questions, just let me know.”

“Thanks.” Hailey appreciated Rachel’s sincere offer. The other nurses were friendly too, but most of them were married with children so they weren’t exactly anxious to stop for a bite to eat after work, or go to a movie. Rachel was single, and she and Hailey had bonded after a particularly stressful shift a few weeks back.

Moving to Cedar Bluff had been a good decision for her. She loved the homey atmosphere of the hospital and the town. Plus, her apartment was only a few miles from the hospital, making it easy to ride her bike to work every day.

Hailey glanced up at the assignment white-board and couldn’t suppress a tingle of excitement when she noticed the physician leader assigned to her team was none other than Dr. Simon Carter. She knew who he was, of course. His chocolate-brown eyes, mink-colored hair and broad shoulders stood out dramatically, in her humble opinion, among the rest of the physicians. But in the two months since she’d started in the ED, they’d only worked together a few times and those had all been during her orientation, with her preceptor primarily interacting with him.

He seemed like a nice guy. And one of the few not married. Rachel had warned her that Dr. Carter didn’t date any of the staff at Cedar Bluff, ever, but she couldn’t seem to control her physical reaction to him. But it didn’t matter because she wasn’t in the market for a relationship either, so Hailey was more than happy to admire him from afar. She’d noticed all the staff called the doctors by their first names, but she couldn’t bring herself to follow their example. Especially with Dr. Carter. Using his first name, Simon, seemed far too personal.

Heaven knew, it was bad enough that Dr. Carter’s handsome face managed to invade her dreams.

Shaking off the inappropriate thoughts, Hailey quickly took report on the patients in her team from Alyssa, the day shift nurse in team two. With sixteen-month-old twin girls at home, Alyssa only worked one shift per week, and often that shift was a weekend.

“Hailey, do you have any questions?” Alyssa asked, when she’d finished her rundown. “Because if not, I need to go, I have to pick up the girls from their grandma. As much as my mother-in-law enjoys babysitting, I think it’s getting to be a bit much for her now that the girls are walking.”

“No questions,” Hailey said reassuringly. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to take care of twins.”

Alyssa laughed. “It wasn’t too bad until Grace and Gretch learned to walk. They were preemies and a bit delayed in reaching their milestones, so they didn’t figure it out until just a few days ago. Now it’s like they’re each on a different mission, heading off in opposite directions. Keeps us running.”

“No doubt,” Hailey agreed, ignoring a twinge of envy. Alyssa’s husband, Jadon, was one of the ED doctors she enjoyed working with. They made a beautiful couple.

Once she’d envisioned a similar future for herself. Husband. Babies. Happily ever after. But not anymore.

Moments after Alyssa left, Leanne, the charge nurse, came over. “Hailey? I just put a new patient in room seven. Here’s the paperwork.” Leanne thrust a clipboard into her hand. Most of their nursing documentation was on computer, but the registration and consent for treatment forms were still on paper. “Fifty-five-year-old guy with abdominal pain.”