Joanna Neil - The Rebel and the Baby Doctor

His eyes glimmered. ‘You still hover on the brink between exasperation and caring for me, don’t you? Go on, admit it.’

‘I won’t. You’re a pain in the neck, Connor. You always have been and you’ll probably stay that way for ever.’

He put an arm around her shoulders and drew her to him. ‘But despite all that you do care for me just a teensy bit, don’t you?’

‘I’m not admitting to anything. You drive me to distraction.’

‘I’ll settle for that,’ he murmured. ‘For the time being at least. Distracted is good. I like distracted.’

Slowly he lowered his head, until his cheek was just a breath away from hers, and then, before Phoebe had time to realise what he was about, he was kissing her softly, tenderly, his lips brushing hers and exploring the curving line of her mouth.

The kiss was like a lick of flame gliding along her nerve-endings. Heat built up in her, engulfing her, taking her over, so that she could think of nothing but the sheer ecstasy of that moment. Everything went out of her head.

Phoebe drew back from Connor, looking at him with bemusement in her eyes.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked.

‘I don’t know.’ She was floundering, her nervous system firing off sparks as though he had inadvertently lit a fuse in her.

He smiled. ‘Shall I kiss you again and see if things come any clearer?’

When Joanna Neildiscovered Mills & Boon ®, her lifelong addiction to reading crystallised into an exciting new career writing Medical ™Romance. Her characters are probably the outcome of her varied lifestyle, which includes working as a clerk, typist, nurse and infant teacher. She enjoys dressmaking and cooking at her Leicestershire home. Her family includes a husband, son and daughter, an exuberant yellow Labrador and two slightly crazed cockatiels. She currently works with a team of tutors at her local education centre to provide creative writing workshops for people interested in exploring their own writing ambitions.

The Rebel

and the

Baby Doctor

Joanna Neil

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Praise for Joanna Neil

A SURGEON BEYOND COMPARE

‘This is a very heartwarming story of facing your fears, of love and family, of finding out where you belong in life. Ms Neil has written a sweet, entertaining love story that you, the reader, can totally relate to—the everyday fears and choices we all deal with at some point in our lives.’

—Coffeetime Romance

CHAPTER ONE

PHOEBE pulled open the door of the kitchen cupboard and peered inside. ‘It looks as though we’re left with just cornflakes for breakfast,’ she said, studying the empty shelves. Taking down the packet, she gave it a light shake. ‘No, scrub that. It’s empty.’ She pulled a face and added in exasperation, ‘Why do you suppose anyone would put an empty packet back in the cupboard?’

‘Search me.’ Jessica flicked the switch on the kettle and began to rummage through the contents of the fridge. ‘Would you believe it, there’s no milk, either? I expect we can put that down to Alex, along with the cornflakes.’ She ran a hand raggedly through her long brown hair. ‘I must have asked him a hundred times to stop swigging it as if we keep a cow in the back garden. But does he ever listen? It’s in one ear and straight out the other.’

Phoebe made a wry smile. ‘I guess he must have had a huge thirst after the party last night. I must say I thought he looked a bit the worse for wear this morning when I passed him on the stairs.’

‘He’ll be even more so if I get my hands on him—preferably around his throat, and with a light application of pressure…’ Jessica’s mouth formed a wicked grimace of intent as she positioned her hands to demonstrate. ‘He knows I need my coffee first thing in the morning.’ She frowned. ‘So where is he now, I wonder.’

Phoebe closed the cupboard door. ‘He’s in the bathroom, I think, taking a long shower. He said he needs to clear his head for work this morning.’

‘Don’t we all?’ Jessica moved away from the fridge. ‘I was all geared up and ready to start work on Mr Kirk’s cardiac team, but now the time’s actually arrived I’m wondering if it’s going to be everything I thought it would be. I’ve heard he’s very cool, capable and efficient, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to match up to his standards. I struggled a bit with some of the cardiology lectures in med school, but I need the experience if I’m to go on to be a GP.’

‘You’ll be fine,’ Phoebe said firmly. ‘You’re only having doubts because your stomach is empty and your brain is feeling the effects of that. I wonder if there’s anything we can rustle up from the freezer? Hash browns, maybe?’ She looked doubtful. ‘Anyway,’ she added, getting to grips with the situation and swivelling around so that her blonde hair swished lightly before settling into place once more on her shoulders, ‘I suppose we could settle for black coffee. That would be better than nothing, wouldn’t it?’

She lifted down mugs from a shelf and slid them onto the worktop. ‘At least that should help to revive us a bit. It was way late when we finally sloped off to bed, last night. I can’t imagine what we were thinking, having a party the night before starting a new rotation.’

‘That was it, probably.’ Jessica grinned. ‘A final fling before it’s heads down to some serious work again…that, and the fact that we have a new tenant to celebrate.’ Her eyes rolled heavenward. ‘The landlord must have had me in mind when he sent Connor to us. He’s exactly what I would have ordered up for myself if I’d had free rein. He’s stunning. Fabulous just doesn’t say it. He’s a real hunk, don’t you think?’ Her mouth quirked briefly. ‘Long and lean and vital—and those lovely grey eyes that seem as though they see right into your soul.’ She sighed. ‘What I wouldn’t give to get to know him better. You’re so lucky, Phoebe, knowing him from way back when.’

‘Hmm. Maybe.’

‘Maybe? Are you kidding?’ Jessica’s voice rose an octave. ‘How could you possibly keep your hands off him? He’s a stud.’

Phoebe had been studying the contents of the freezer, but now she straightened up and turned to look directly at her friend. ‘He’s okay—he’s definitely all that you say, I’ll grant you that. But if you take my advice, you’ll watch your step with him. He always had something of a reputation when we lived in the same village as teenagers. Ask Alex. He was there at the same time. In fact, they’re related—they’re cousins.’

‘Oh…you’re just afraid to live dangerously,’ Jessica said with a dismissive shake of her head. ‘He can come and ring my bell any time.’

Phoebe laughed. ‘You’re a sucker for a handsome face and a winsome manner, aren’t you?’ She held out a packet of potato waffles. ‘How about these? Do we grill them or put them in the microwave?’

Jessica’s mouth turned down at the corners. ‘Neither. I don’t think I could stomach them first thing in the morning.’ She frowned, her mind diverted only briefly. ‘Where is our new housemate, anyway? I haven’t seen sight or sound of him this morning. The door to his room was open, but he wasn’t in there when I went by.’

Phoebe’s blue eyes sparkled. ‘You couldn’t resist looking, could you?’ She chuckled. ‘I’ve no idea where he might be. Connor Broughton was always a law unto himself.’