Josie Metcalfe - His Unexpected Child

‘I’m sorry about what happened the other night…Well, not for what happened, but the fact that it happened…Well, not even that, if I’m honest, but the fact that I’ve been like a bear with a sore head and avoiding you…Well, we’ve been avoiding each other…’

Oh, for heaven’s sake! Why on earth was he rambling like this? He hadn’t been this incoherent even when he’d been a tongue-tied teenager asking for his first date.

He snatched a steadying breath and forced himself to meet her eyes, suddenly struck by the fact that it almost looked as if she was about to cry.

‘I’m pregnant,’ she whispered through trembling lips, and turned the piece of paper she held so that it faced him.

Being one of a large family can be great fun, but being the eldest has its own problems—not least the fact that you’re always being told you have to set a good example.

In David ffrench’s case, with doting parents and a younger sister who idolised him, that was hardly a problem. Ever since he could remember everything had come to him easily: study, sport, friendship and love.

Unfortunately, he’d never needed to learn how to cope with failure or disappointment, and when both struck at his idyllically happy life he found it hard to come to terms with the loss of everything he’d cherished. Determined he wasn’t going to give life the chance to hurt him again, he decided to dedicate himself totally to his absorbing career.

But he’d reckoned without meeting Leah Dawson.

Keenly intelligent and beautiful, Leah was every bit as dedicated as he was—both to her work and to avoiding relationships with the opposite sex. Neither of them had realised that their solitary, well-ordered lives would suddenly seem more like loneliness. Nor had they counted on the sparks that they would ignite in each other.

I hope you enjoy getting to know David and Leah as they struggle to heal the scars from the past so that they can become the supportive partner each of them needs.

Happy reading!

Josie

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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COVER

Dear Reader

TITLE PAGE His Unexpected Child Josie Metcalfe www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

COPYRIGHT

LEAH’S hand was shaking violently as she tried to put the telephone back on its cradle and she was only successful on the second attempt.

For just a moment she was blazingly angry that she’d been treated so cavalierly, but then her brain returned to its usual logical processes.

Still, she was sorely tempted to drop her head to the desk and howl her disappointment but the last thing she wanted was for the whole department to know what had just happened—at least, not until she’d had time to come to terms with it.

For a moment she glanced around the cramped room, focusing on all the things she hated about it—the shabby, boring paintwork, the limp, sun-bleached curtains and the institutional furniture piled high with the overflow of case files—and mourned the fact that she wouldn’t have time to finish her self-imposed task of rearranging the chaotic filing system into something more streamlined and efficient.

‘Problem?’ queried a voice from the doorway, and she realised that her trembling hands could not have been the only outward sign of her feelings. She drew in a swift bracing breath before she turned to face the department’s most senior nurse, knowing that the time for licking her wounds was already over.

‘No problem that I know of, Kelly,’ she said brightly, hoping her smile didn’t look as false as it felt.

‘So you got the lab results at last!’ A smile lit her gamine face as she entered the room eagerly.

Lab results? Leah blinked, having to force her mind back to her first phone call of the recent session, the one before disappointment had descended over her.

‘Ah…Yes! Here they are. I got Stanley to read them out for me over the phone and jotted them down.’ She handed the piece of paper to Kelly. ‘They’ve promised to follow up with written confirmation, a.s.a.p., and I promised to come up there personally and extract them with the most painful methods at my disposal if they didn’t keep their promise!’

Kelly laughed at the empty threat. They both knew exactly how important it was that the labs were meticulous, especially in the work of this department, and Stanley was one of the best.

‘Well, we’ll see what happens, won’t we,’ Kelly said with a doubting shake of her dark head. ‘They promised me the same, hours ago, and nothing happened. Still, I’m not the head of St Luke’s Assisted Reproduction department, so perhaps that’ll make all the difference.’

A swift pang of renewed disappointment tightened around Leah’s heart, but she couldn’t avoid breaking the news any longer. Soon everyone would know.

‘Only acting head,’ she reminded Kelly, hoping she didn’t sound as bitter as she felt. She’d been carrying the full load for months while Donald had avoided coming to terms with his need for heart-bypass surgery. Due to her willingness to work herself to a standstill, her superior’s sudden death had hardly registered in the smooth running of the department, and she’d hoped that it would be little more than a formality for her unofficial position as head of the AR department to be given the stamp of approval.

‘That’s just administrative claptrap,’ Kelly declared supportively. ‘We all know you’re the best one for the position, especially as you’ve been doing it for so many weeks—’

‘Apparently, not everyone agrees with you, Kelly,’ Leah interrupted, her voice a little sharper than usual with restrained emotion. ‘The board has appointed a new head of department from outside the hospital. He’s supposed to be joining us in a matter of days.’

‘Oh, Leah,’ Kelly murmured, clearly stricken. At least that was some kind of sop to Leah’s ego. ‘Oh, damn, I’m sorry. Why didn’t you say something? When did you find out?’

‘Just a moment ago.’ She gestured towards the phone. ‘Apparently someone was supposed to have informed me of the board’s decision before the weekend, but in the excitement of snagging someone as eminent as David ffrench…’ She shrugged, trying to appear philosophical about hospital management’s total lack of courtesy.

‘David ffrench?’ Kelly frowned.