Lynne Marshall - The Boss and Nurse Albright

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Cover Page

Title Page The Boss and Nurse Albright Lynne Marshall www.millsandboon.co.uk

Praise Praise for TEMPORARY DOCTOR, SURPRISE FATHER by Lynne Marshall: ‘A touching, tender and engrossing Medical™ Romance, TEMPORARY DOCTOR, SURPRISE FATHER is a wonderful story which I devoured in a single sitting! Don’t miss this talented storyteller’s enchanting tale of second chances, devastating secrets and the redeeming power of love!’ — Cataromance ‘Lynne Marshall’s excellent writing skills lend excitement and credibility to this story…The tension between Jan and Beck is realistic, and keeps you reading to the very end.’ — The Pink Heart Society Reviews

About the author Lynne Marshall has been a Registered Nurse in a large California hospital for twenty-five years. She has now taken the leap to writing full-time, but still volunteers at her local community hospital. After writing the book of her heart in 2000, she discovered the wonderful world of Mills & Boon® Medical™ Romance, where she feels the freedom to write the stories she loves. She is happily married, has two fantastic grown children, and a socially challenged rescued dog. Besides her passion for writing Medical™ Romance, she loves to travel and read. Thanks to the family dog, she takes long walks every day! To find out more about Lynne, please visit her website: www.lynnemarshallweb.com

Dedication This book is dedicated to the smartest woman I know, my wonderful daughter and future Nurse Practitioner, Emily. Your beauty shines through your eyes and brightens every room you enter.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Copyright

Praise for TEMPORARY DOCTOR, SURPRISE FATHER by Lynne Marshall:

‘A touching, tender and engrossing Medical™ Romance, TEMPORARY DOCTOR, SURPRISE FATHER is a wonderful story which I devoured in a single sitting! Don’t miss this talented storyteller’s enchanting tale of second chances, devastating secrets and the redeeming power of love!’

— Cataromance

‘Lynne Marshall’s excellent writing skills lend excitement and credibility to this story…The tension between Jan and Beck is realistic, and keeps you reading to the very end.’

— The Pink Heart Society Reviews

Lynne Marshallhas been a Registered Nurse in a large California hospital for twenty-five years. She has now taken the leap to writing full-time, but still volunteers at her local community hospital. After writing the book of her heart in 2000, she discovered the wonderful world of Mills & Boon® Medical™ Romance, where she feels the freedom to write the stories she loves. She is happily married, has two fantastic grown children, and a socially challenged rescued dog. Besides her passion for writing Medical™ Romance, she loves to travel and read. Thanks to the family dog, she takes long walks every day! To find out more about Lynne, please visit her website: www.lynnemarshallweb.com

This book is dedicated to the smartest woman I know,

my wonderful daughter and future Nurse Practitioner,

Emily. Your beauty shines through your eyes

and brightens every room you enter.

JASON looked up from his desk to find big blue eyes staring at him. He’d been sailing all weekend and by Sunday, with nothing else to do for the afternoon, he’d come into the clinic to catch up on patient labs and charts rather than face being alone at home. The pint-sized human stood in his office doorway, watching him, unblinking.

“Man,” she said. She wore a jacket which had slipped from her shoulders, held in place solely by her arms through the sleeves as she pointed at him. A simple pull-on shirt that didn’t quite cover her pudgy tummy, and patterned pants in varying shades matched the bright green jacket. Corkscrew light brown curls surrounded her chubby face.

“And who might you be?” he asked, fighting off a sinking feeling as the memory of his daughter flashed in his mind.

Long slender arms swooped in and scooped up the child, who looked to be no more than two or three. Hanna had been four.

“OK, pipsqueak, I told you to stay by Momma.” She didn’t talk to the child like some parents did with high whining sounds, as if they were the favorite family pet. Her voice had a mellow, husky tone, like an actress from a classic movie. “Oh! I didn’t know anyone else was here,” she said.

He shouldn’t be here, but the ocean had turned from glassy smooth to choppy and restless, and though the sun always soothed his emptiness by heating the cold blood pulsing through his veins, nothing seemed to help today. So he’d decided to work.

“Thought I’d come in to play catch up before another crazy week of overbooking.” He stood and held out his hand. “I’m Jason Rogers, the family practice GP of this group.”

The young woman accepted his greeting. Her hand was cool and slender like the rest of her. He liked how her height almost brought her eye-to-eye with him, and how she looked at him as steadily as her daughter had.

“And I’m Claire Albright, the new Nurse Practitioner,” she said with her child slung easily across her hip. “I think I’m supposed to remedy some, if not most, of that overbooking.” She smiled just enough to show bright straight teeth. “You weren’t at the meeting when they hired me.”

“No.” He dropped her hand and scratched the back of his neck. “I leave all that business up to the others.” Phil, Jon and René had kept him emotionally afloat the last four years. In return his ample wealth had supported the clinic through its growing pains. He didn’t know where or what he’d be without his medical partners.

The woman had ash-colored blond hair with streaks, like streams of light weaved through it. She had a high forehead and soft brown brows that showcased her hazel eyes. There was strength to her nose and chin, which he liked. He looked away.

Though definitely attractive, her appearance didn’t matter. Beyond his medical practice and patients, nothing much mattered. At all.

“I’m moving in down the hall.” She seemed at a loss for what else to say. He wasn’t helping a bit by standing like an idiot with his usual blank stare. “I love this building,” she said. Her eyes shone as she mentioned the three-story cream-colored Victorian house turned medical clinic. “I used to drive by, read the MidCoast Medical Group sign, and say, ‘one day I’m going to work there’, and now I do.”

Her enthusiasm pained him. It smacked of idealism and hope—things he couldn’t remember. Jason couldn’t think of an appropriate response, and stared blankly.

He’d purchased the mansion several years back for his partners’ business venture with his wife’s encouragement. She’d loved the building, too. Back then, the optimism now glimmering in Ms. Albright’s eyes had resided in his heart.

“And this is Gina.” With a mild blush across her peach and olive-tinged skin, her smile widened, pressing dimples into her cheeks, and it almost felt contagious. But he’d given up smiling a long time ago.

The little one ducked her head into her mother’s shoulder, no longer bold. She’d no doubt realized Jason was not someone she could trust with her clear eyes and easy smiles.

“Hello, Gina. And Ms. Albright, you should be a good fit for our practice.” He recited the hollow words to keep up the façade of being human—at least half human—for the child’s sake.