“We’re just your average, run-of-the-mill GP’s surgery, and I find it very hard to understand why Harry would offer to work here. So you tell me what’s in it for Harry?”
“The pleasure of your company?”
Grace spun around when a familiar voice cut into the conversation. She spotted Harry lounging in the doorway. It had been some time since she’d seen him, but he’d changed very little from what she could tell. As her eyes skimmed over the coal-black hair, the marine-blue eyes, the clean-cut jaw, she couldn’t stop the appreciative flutter her nerves gave, a warning that she was as susceptible as any woman to Harry Shaw’s undeniable charms.
Some books demand to be written and others require a little more time for the story to develop. The Woman He’s Been Waiting For falls into the latter category.
I first had the idea for this book three years ago and sat down to write it with great enthusiasm. However, although I loved Harry and Grace from the moment they appeared on the page, I just couldn’t make them behave the way I wanted them to. They are both such determined characters that they insisted on doing things their own way! In the end, I abandoned the book, but at the back of my mind I always knew that I would go back to it one day. I’m glad that I did because it has turned out to be one of my very favorite stories.
Both Harry and Grace have a lot of baggage left over from their past lives, and they are both afraid to confront the main issue, which is that they are deeply attracted to each other. For years they have traded insults in an attempt to disguise their feelings but when they agree to work together to help a mutual friend, they are finally forced to acknowledge how they feel about one another.
It isn’t an easy process—they have an extremely rough ride along the way! However, I felt when I reached the end of the book that they had found the happiness they both deserved.
I hope you enjoy reading their story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Love,
Jennifer
The Woman He’s Been Waiting For
Jennifer Taylor
CONTENTS
‘WHAT do you mean Harry Shaw has offered to work here?’
Dr Grace Kennedy couldn’t conceal her astonishment as she rounded on her partner, Miles Farrington. It was the end of a particularly stressful week at Ferndale Surgery and she and Miles had been trying to come up with a solution to their latest crisis when he had dropped his bombshell. Not only had their locum upped and left on New Year’s Eve without giving them notice but yesterday their practice nurse had tripped and broken her ankle.
It would be some while before Alison was fit to return to work. In the meantime, they would have to manage without a nurse because they would never be able to find a replacement at this time of the year. There were a lot of reasons, in fact, why Grace was in no mood to play silly games.
‘The same Harry Shaw who once said that only people without ambition went into general practice? Oh, this has to be a joke, Miles, please.’
‘I don’t recall Harry saying that about general practice…’ Miles broke off when Grace glared at him. ‘Harry was probably winding you up. You know what he’s like. Anyway, he phoned me last night to say that he was in the area so I invited him round for a drink and just happened to mention the problems we were having during the course of the conversation. I was as surprised as you are when he offered his services, but you have to admit it would be the ideal solution. Oh, I know that you and Harry didn’t exactly hit it off at med school—’
‘And whose fault was that?’ Grace paced across the room then swung round and scowled at her partner. ‘Harry Shaw was a complete waste of space, in my opinion. The only thing he was interested in was seeing how many women he could sweet-talk into his bed.’
‘Mmm, he did have rather an effect on the ladies,’ Miles observed admiringly. He cleared his throat when he saw Grace’s expression darken. ‘But, all that aside, you have to admit that Harry was one of the brightest students in our year. It was the same during our pre-reg training when we were at Leeds together. It was Harry who was tipped for great things and he’s achieved them, too. You must have followed his progress over the years, surely?’
Grace ignored the question. She had no intention of admitting that she’d been keeping tabs on Harry. To be frank, she wasn’t sure why she’d bothered when she disliked the wretched man so much. Maybe it had been a way to prove to herself that she didn’t care about professional glory and only wanted to do her job to the very best of her ability, but she could have recited Harry’s CV from memory: the youngest consultant ever appointed to a post; Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians; member of the new government health service advisory committee…