‘I think we may have left a trail of clothing almost from the lift.’
‘I think we may have,’ he agreed. ‘It doesn’t matter—we’re alone. How was that?’ He propped his head on his elbow and watched her.
Alex looked back at their love-making and trembled inwardly. ‘Honestly?’
‘Honestly.’ But he looked faintly alarmed.
‘It was—almost indescribable. It was hot and sweet and gentle, then astonishingly beautiful …’ She was lost for words for a moment. ‘It was everything I’ve thought it would be but didn’t really know, it was more, it was very, very special.’ She turned to face him and for a moment her eyes gleamed with unshed tears at the power of her emotions. ‘Thank you.’
He relaxed and pulled her close. ‘Don’t thank me. It was us. You’re so lovely, my sweet Alex, and, not only that, I can now die a happy man.’
Alex lifted her head. ‘Don’t you dare!’ she remonstrated and they both subsided laughing. ‘What do you mean, though?’ she asked.
‘I had this fantasy that one day I would make you gasp with a desire you’d never known, and focus those beautiful eyes solely on me. It happened just now.’
Then he added, ‘Know something?’ He didn’t wait for her to answer. ‘I’ve never felt like this before in my entire life. I always assumed I was pretty much OK, but now I know I’ve never felt so much peace, so much pure pleasure and pride, so much—’ he paused and looked deeply into her eyes ‘—confidence in the future, so much love.’
‘It’s been like a miracle for me too,’ she murmured and held him close. ‘I love you.’
The Su
rgeon
Boss’s Bride
Melanie
Milburne
About the Author
MELANIE MILBURNE says: “I am married to a surgeon, Steve, and have two gorgeous sons, Paul and Phil. I live in Hobart, Tasmania, where I enjoy an active life as a long-distance runner and a nationally ranked top ten Master’s swimmer. I also have a Master’s Degree in Education, but my children totally turned me off the idea of teaching! When not running or swimming I write, and when I’m not doing all of the above I’m reading. And if someone could invent a way for me to read during a four-kilometre swim I’d be even happier!”
To Rachel Mycroft for being a wonderful friend
and confidante from the first moment we met.
Some friends are pearls and change over time,
but you are a diamond through and through.
I value your friendship and miss you down
here in Hobart, so come back soon!
A special thank you to Glen Hastings, who gave
me the idea for the opening scene of this novel and
who also just happens to look exactly like my hero!
CHAPTER ONE
‘HAVE you heard who your next registrar is yet?’ David Lucas asked as he came into the doctors’ room late on Tuesday afternoon.
Ben Blackwood looked up from the newspaper he’d been reading. ‘No. I’ve been seeing private patients in my rooms all day. Anyone we know?’
The anaesthetist gave him a glad-it’s-you-and-not-me look. ‘Professor Willoughby’s daughter,’ he said, and seeing his colleague’s grim expression added, ‘I thought that might make your day.’