Sarah Morgan - Emergency - Mother Wanted

Casualty officer Keely Thompson is determined to prove to her boss Zach Jordan that she is no longer the scatty teenager who once embarrassingly declared her love to him. Dynamic A&E consultant Zach has also changed since then—he’s now a single father! When he needs temporary help with his little daughter Keely steps in, though living with him throws her emotions into further turmoil. Zach and his daughter Phoebe clearly need help, but even if Zach can see Keely as a desirable woman, he apparently doesn’t see her in the role of wife and mother…

‘Listen, Keely…’ He turned to face her. ‘About last night—’

‘We already discussed last night, Zach,’ she reminded him calmly, ‘and you made your position quite clear.’

A muscle worked in his jaw. ‘I was wrong to kiss you—’

‘Stop worrying,’ she said quietly, ‘it was just a kiss. Please, don’t think I’m reading anything into it. We were both worried about Phoebe and weird things happen to common sense in the middle of the night.’

‘Maybe, but that’s no excuse on my part. I should have shown some self-control.’

She was glad that he hadn’t. Which was ridiculous, of course, because that kiss had left her wanting something she knew she couldn’t have.

Emergency:

Mother Wanted

Sarah Morgan

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Table of Contents

Cover

Back Cover Copy Casualty officer Keely Thompson is determined to prove to her boss Zach Jordan that she is no longer the scatty teenager who once embarrassingly declared her love to him. Dynamic A&E consultant Zach has also changed since then—he’s now a single father! When he needs temporary help with his little daughter Keely steps in, though living with him throws her emotions into further turmoil. Zach and his daughter Phoebe clearly need help, but even if Zach can see Keely as a desirable woman, he apparently doesn’t see her in the role of wife and mother…

Title Page Emergency: Mother Wanted Sarah Morgan www.millsandboon.co.uk

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

About the Author

Copyright Page

PROLOGUE

‘SAY that name again?’

Zach Jordan paused with a coffee-mug halfway to his lips, his blue eyes suddenly watchful.

‘Which name?’ His colleague Sean Nicholson, the senior consultant in the accident and emergency department, glanced down at the list he’d been reading aloud. ‘Um…Keely Thompson?’

Keely…

Zach put his coffee-mug back on the table, untouched.

‘What’s the matter? Do you know her?’ Sean frowned and Zach’s eyes narrowed as he did the calculation in his head. Could it be her? Had that much time passed? Could she really be one of the new senior house officers?

‘I think I might do,’ he said finally. ‘You interviewed her—can you remember what she looked like?’

Sean nodded and tossed the file of papers he was holding onto the table. ‘I certainly can. Small and delicate, short blonde hair…a bit urchin like—massive blue eyes, the biggest smile I’ve ever seen…’ He broke off and gave an appreciative grin. ‘In fact, I have to admit that she was absolutely gorgeous, but don’t tell Ally I said that.’

Zach gave an absent smile, knowing that Sean adored his pretty wife and their three children. ‘Bouncy? Bubbly personality?’

‘That’s her.’ Sean picked up his coffee and took a sip. ‘She’s the daughter of the Professor Thompson from St Mark’s. I suppose we should count ourselves lucky she’s here. With that sort of pedigree I don’t expect she’ll be hanging around the Lake District for long. She’ll be aiming for a job in one of the hot seats of academic learning.’

Would she? Zach gave a slight frown. That didn’t seem like the Keely he’d known as a child. She’d been gentle and caring and totally lacking in ambition. In fact, there had been times when he’d wondered how on earth the Prof had managed to produce a child like Keely—she was so very different from the rest of them. But if she was following in the family footsteps and carving a high-profile career for herself then she’d obviously changed.

He sat back in his chair, wondering what she’d be like now. Last time he’d seen her she’d been a typical teenager, worrying about school and arguing with her mother. It was pretty hard to accept that she’d become a fully qualified doctor.

Sean was looking at him curiously. ‘So how do you know her?’

‘I trained with her older brother and sister.’ Zach leaned forward and retrieved his coffee. ‘They’re twins. And one of my first surgical jobs was with the Prof. I used to go and stay with them sometimes. They had this fabulous house in the Cotswolds. That was where I met Keely.’

‘She was the youngest?’

‘Yes.’ Zach gave a slow nod. ‘The baby of the family. I wonder what she’s doing up here in the Lake District?’ If she was so ambitious, why hadn’t she stayed in London? ‘Can I look at her CV?’

He held out a hand and Sean passed it over. ‘It’s pretty impressive. Top grades all the way through.’

Zach studied it carefully. ‘So did she say why she wanted to come here?’ The hospital had a good reputation but it was hardly the most high profile in the country. Why hadn’t she stayed in London?

Sean gave a shrug. ‘I didn’t really ask her that. Why shouldn’t she come here? It’s a great place. We love it. Why shouldn’t other people?’

‘It is a great place,’ Zach agreed, frowning thoughtfully. ‘But it’s hardly the best springboard for a fast-track medical career.’

‘You seem to know rather a lot about her.’ Sean gave him a keen look. ‘Did you have an affair with her?’

Zach choked on his coffee. ‘For goodness’ sake, Sean! She was sixteen years old and I was twenty-four! What sort of man do you think I am?’

Sean grinned. ‘A woman’s dream—if the gossip is to be believed. According to the nurses, you’re now top of the list of the most eligible bachelors in Cumbria.’

‘Oh, for Pete’s sake, Sean!’ Zach shot him an impatient look and put his mug down on the table with a thump. ‘Since when did you start listening to women’s gossip?’

‘Since I lived with three of them,’ Sean said ruefully. ‘I’m decidedly outnumbered in my home and work life so I’ve decided to give in gracefully and adopt some of their habits.’

‘Well, whatever gossip says, rest assured that I have more self-control and decency than to seduce sixteen-year-olds.’ Zach was careful not to reveal the slight uneasiness Sean’s words had prompted.

If it had been left to little Keely, they most certainly would have had an affair. She’d had a massive teenage crush on him.

A ghost of a smile hovered around his firm mouth as he remembered the night she’d proposed to him. Turning her down without hurting her fragile ego had been one of the hardest experiences of his adult life.