Amy Ruttan - Navy Doc On Her Christmas List

A snowbound reunion!

Tension between Dr. Ella Lockwood and former navy doc Zac Davenport is sky-high! All she can think about is how he once broke her vulnerable heart.

But now she’s a confident ER surgeon who’ll never let him hurt her again. And being snowed in together on Christmas Eve at Manhattan Mercy reveals his last tour of duty has changed Zac, too. But that compelling spark is still there—and one more irresistible kiss is all it takes to start healing the wounds that have held them back...

Dear Reader Contents Cover Dear Reader Title Page About the Author Dedication 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 EXTRACT Copyright ,

Thank you for picking up a copy of Navy Doc on Her Christmas List.

I love Christmas. It’s one of my favourite holidays and, even though I miss some of those days from my childhood and the magical memories my parents created, I’m really enjoying the creation of those types of memories with my own kids. I love giving them gifts and watching their faces...their excitement.

Christmas is even more magical for me now, so when I was asked to participate in this continuity I jumped at the chance. Who doesn’t love the miracles and the romance of Christmas in New York City?

Dr Ella Lockwood and I have a lot in common. We both had a tumultuous youth. When Ella was assigned to me I could instantly sympathise with her. She was a wallflower, frumpy, awkward, and really overlooked. Just like I was. I knew that I wanted to give her the chance to fight for what she wanted, what she craved—and that was Dr Zac Davenport!

Even though Zac hurt her in the past, not all is as it seems. Now it looks as if Ella will be the one saving Zac, who’s back home to heal after his last tour of duty left him empty and numb inside.

A snowstorm might force them to work together, but it’s going to take a Christmas miracle for them finally to have what they’ve always wanted—and that’s each other.

I hope you enjoy Ella and Zac’s Christmas romance. I love hearing from readers, so please drop by my website, amyruttan.com, or give me a shout on Twitter @ruttanamy.

With warmest wishes,

Amy Ruttan

Navy Doc on Her Christmas List

Amy Ruttan

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Born and raised just outside Toronto, Ontario, AMY RUTTAN fled the big city to settle down with the country boy of her dreams. After the birth of her second child Amy was lucky enough to realise her lifelong dream of becoming a romance author. When she’s not furiously typing away at her computer she’s mum to three wonderful children who use her as a personal taxi and chef.

Books by Amy Ruttan

Mills & Boon Medical Romance

Royal Spring Babies

His Pregnant Royal Bride

Hot Latin Docs

Alejandro’s Sexy Secret

The Hollywood Hills Clinic

Perfect Rivals...

Sealed by a Valentine’s Kiss

His Shock Valentine’s Proposal

Craving Her Ex-Army Doc

Convenient Marriage, Surprise Twins

Visit the Author Profile page at millsandboon.co.ukfor more titles.

This book is dedicated to some of my best friends. Those who were always there with me during those awkward years when I was like my heroine. I couldn’t have made it through high school without my crew.

Love you lots, Jenn, Brooke, Wendy, Cara and Sylvia.

Contents

Cover

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

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

EXTRACT

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

“NEW YORK IS at a standstill. Bridges and tunnels have been closed. What a great last-minute Christmas gift from old Saint Nick. NYPD are advising if you don’t have to go out, don’t. New York hasn’t seen a blizzard like this since the late seventies...”

Ella shut the radio off. She didn’t know who had left it running on an annoying Christmas music channel, but at least the radio host had it right—there hadn’t been a blizzard in New York City like this in quite some time.

And she knew that without listening to some awful music station, because her aching feet were a grim reminder of what heavy snowfall did to people. She’d just wrapped up eight hours on the ER floor and since Charles Davenport said that everyone was to stay put because of the blizzard, she was stuck here.

At least the hospital was more prepared for a brownout this time. Well, in theory. Ella would believe it when she saw it. Charles had electricians and system specialists working on the new generators to make sure they didn’t fail, like the old ones had.

Still, the storm raging outside was a doozy.

It wasn’t like it was anything new, the storm that was, it felt like it had been storming for months on end, but the meteorologists were calling this storm the worst of them all. Ella was skeptical. How could this storm be worse than the last one? In reality, she thought probably the weatherman was exaggerating and it would be nothing.

But since the new shift couldn’t get in, it meant that she was still on duty, even though she had just worked a long one.

Not that Ella minded in the least bit. It meant she could avoid the obligatory family dinner where her mother would lament her lack of having a husband and providing her with grandchildren.

Which was all her parents ever thought she was good for.

“By the time I was your age, Ella, I was married with three children,” her mother had droned on. “If you’d smiled more during your coming out, you would probably have a husband by now.”

Yeah, because smiling more would have helped the men she’d been forced to smile and flirt with change their minds about a short, awkward, ugly duckling in god-awful designer dresses that her mother had picked out for her.

All those society functions had done was reinforce her desire to stay single and become the best damn trauma surgeon on the eastern seaboard.

Which, working under Charles Davenport’s tutelage, she was fast becoming. Being snowed in and forced to work while her mother’s tedious society Christmas function was taking place was just perfect.

So Ella relished her moment of freedom, far from her mother complaining of her perpetual state of single life, and settled down to enjoy a nice cup of coffee in the empty staff lounge while there was a lull between patients.

Ella sighed as she propped up her aching feet. The lights were off and the heavy snow that was blanketing Manhattan gave a nice calming, glow outside.

And she couldn’t remember the last time that Manhattan had been so completely covered in snow. It was nice. She liked the snow. She liked the magic of Christmas on her own. It was her mother who made Christmas painful.

So she didn’t mind working an extra shift.

This was heaven to her. She’d catch a few winks of sleep before she headed back down to the emergency room.

“There might be some mistletoe in here!” The lights were flicked on and Ella squinted at the blinding light she was not prepared for.

“What in the heck...?” she asked as she sat up.

Two nurses in Santa caps were standing in the doorway of the staff room, blushing.