‘I can’t believe I listened to you. I trusted you—’
Caspar took one step towards her, closing the small gap that separated them. In an instant his head dipped down and he pressed his lips to hers. The rest of her sentence disappeared into his kiss.
Caspar St Claire was kissing her!
Involuntarily Annie closed her eyes as his mouth covered hers. His lips were warm and soft but his kiss was far from gentle. It was demanding and insistent and powerful and it made her insides tremble. It was firm enough to take her breath away and make her swallow her words. His five o’clock shadow was rough against her cheek, but even that sensation was pleasant. She should protest, she should resist, but he wasn’t giving her a chance and she didn’t really want him to stop. For a moment she even thought about kissing him back …
Dear Reader
I’d like to introduce you to Caspar St Claire, Paediatrician and the star of a reality medical television series. This story began with the idea of Caspar, with his curly, dark hair and mesmerising green eyes he took up residence in my head and refused to leave until I gave him a voice.
Things fell into place from there as he created his story. Despite his celebrity status he was first and foremost a doctor with a very gentle nature so I decided he would suit paediatrics. He also struck me very much as a white knight and therefore he needed a woman. Annie Simpson is that woman.
Their story is ultimately quite different to what I had initially imagined, my characters do seem to like taking over, but in this case I was happy to let them take the lead as they seemed to know what they were doing
I hope you enjoy a glimpse of country South Australia as Caspar and Annie find their Happily Ever After.
Love, Emily
About the Author
EMILY FORBES began her writing life as a partnership between two sisters who are both passionate bibliophiles. As a team, ‘Emily’ had ten books published, and one of her proudest moments was when her tenth book was nominated for the 2010 Australian Romantic Book of the Year Award.
While Emily’s love of writing remains as strong as ever, the demands of life with young families have recently made it difficult to work on stories together. But rather than give up her dream Emily now writes solo. The challenges may be different, but the reward of having a book published is still as sweet as ever.
Whether as a team or as an individual, Emily hopes to keep bringing stories to her readers. Her inspiration comes from everywhere, and stories she hears while travelling, at mothers’ lunches, in the media and in her other career as a physiotherapist all get embellished with a large dose of imagination until they develop a life of their own.
If you would like to get in touch with Emily you can e-mail her at [email protected]
Recent titles by the same author:
BREAKING THE PLAYBOY’S RULES
SYDNEY HARBOUR HOSPITAL: BELLA’S WISHLIST*
GEORGIE’S BIG GREEK WEDDING?
BREAKING HER NO-DATES RULE
NAVY OFFICER TO FAMILY MAN
DR DROP-DEAD-GORGEOUS
THE PLAYBOY FIREFIGHTER’S PROPOSAL
*Sydney Harbour Hospital
These books are also available in eBook format from www.millsandboon.co.uk
Daring to Date Dr Celebrity
Emily Forbes
For my gorgeous Goddaughter, Kate, I am enjoying watching you grow into a beautiful woman. Your constant smile brings happiness to everyone around you and that is a gift I hope you never lose.
With love and best wishes for a happy life,
Your Godmother.
CHAPTER ONE
‘ARE YOU TELLING us or asking us?’ Annie demanded.
The rest of the staff who were assembled around the boardroom table seemed to be sitting in quiet acceptance but Annie Simpson wasn’t having a bar of that. She stared at Patrick Hammond. Was he serious? Was the hospital director really telling her, telling them all, that Blue Lake Hospital was going to be the setting for a reality television show? That there were plans to film a hospital drama featuring real patients and real doctors, their patients and their doctors, in their hospital, and he expected the staff to get on board?
‘I’m telling you what’s happening and asking if you’re prepared to be part of it.’ For a large man Patrick was very softly spoken and today was no exception. If Annie’s question had irritated him he showed no signs of annoyance.
Annie knew Patrick didn’t run his hospital like a dictatorship—most decisions were discussed with senior staff to some degree. Most medical decisions, she qualified. The day-to-day running of the hospital was not something Patrick would normally converse with them about. Annie wondered exactly where a reality television show fitted into the scheme of things.
‘Do we have a choice?’ she asked.
Patrick rubbed one hand over his closely cropped hair. ‘Of course you do. But I would like you to consider what this means for the hospital—money going into the coffers, good publicity, free publicity. With so many country hospitals struggling to stay open, having this sort of media buzz can only be a good thing.’
‘Are you sure?’ Annie argued. ‘What if something goes wrong? What if there’s a disaster and the hospital gets sued? That won’t garner good publicity. And it’s not likely the government would close this hospital. We may be rural but we’re not a small six-bed outfit. We are a specialist facility in the state’s second-biggest town. There would be an outcry if they even mentioned shutting us down.’
‘We may be a large hospital but we’re still government funded and that means we have the same funding issues as everyone else,’ Patrick countered. ‘Do you have any idea how many people watched the last series of RPE?’
Annie had thought his question was rhetorical but when Patrick paused, obviously waiting for her answer, she shook her head. She didn’t have a clue.
‘Two million. Every night.’
That was a huge audience for Australian television. Annie had known RPE, the series filmed at the Royal Prince Edward Hospital in Melbourne, was popular, but she hadn’t realised how popular.
‘And Caspar St Claire is one of the stars,’ Patrick continued. ‘This spin-off series is a big deal. He’s a local boy made good. There will be big interest in what he does, not just locally but around the country. And the television network is compensating us nicely for the opportunity to film here.’
‘So it’s all about the money?’
Patrick shook his head. ‘Don’t be too quick to criticise, there’s a long list of things the hospital needs and the money from the network will go a long way towards providing those things, including refitting a birthing unit for your department. And you do realise Caspar is a paediatrician?’ he queried. ‘As an obstetrician, I thought you’d be pleased