Her Consultant Boss

by Joanna Neil

  He drew her to him, a soft sigh escaping him and drifting across her cheek. ‘All this time, I wanted to tell you how I really feel about you, and I held back because I thought there was someone else in your life.’ His hand stroked the length of her spine, sending tingles of sensation to ripple through her whole body. ‘And yet you were simply trying to build defences around yourself to keep me away so that you couldn’t get hurt. Isn’t that what happened?’

  ‘I think so,’ she whispered. All the time he was talking, he was caressing her, smoothing his hands over her curves, doing wonderful things to her nervous system.

  ‘Didn’t you know that I would never hurt you? I want you. I need you. Can’t you believe in that?’

  She struggled to think straight, to concentrate on what she needed to say. ‘I thought you didn’t want to get involved with someone in your team,’ she managed huskily, ‘and I had to keep myself from falling for you.’

  ‘I was afraid that you would think I had put undue pressure on you. As the man in charge of the team, I have responsibilities, obligations. It wasn’t right that you should feel harassed or that I was taking advantage of you.’

  She swallowed hard, trying to take in what Sam was saying. Was he really telling her that he cared for her, that he had wanted her all along? She said in a low voice, ‘I thought you wanted Julie. You were with her such a lot, and you had so much in common. You both have similar backgrounds, and you seemed so well suited to each other. Julie is so uncomplicated. I didn’t think you would want me, and all the baggage that goes along with me.’

  ‘You mean your family?’

  She nodded. ‘You seemed to think I was spending my time helping others and not thinking of myself, but there’s no way I can change. I am what I am, and I’ll always go on trying to do my best for my family. Jenny’s going to need help with Ben for a long time if he’s to have any chance of growing into a normal child and then into an adult who can function well in the world. I think he can do that if he has enough help along the way. I thought you might not feel the same as me. You might not want to take on the burden of helping to care for Ben.’

  His grey eyes were smiling. ‘How could I not care for your family? They’ve become as dear to me as they are to you, and I want to help them, and go on helping them. As for Julie, she and I work well together, but she’s a colleague, the daughter of people who were friends of my parents, and she means nothing more to me than that.’

  He bent his head and kissed Megan tenderly, his lips brushing hers and filling her whole body with sweet sensation. ‘We’ve wasted so much time,’ he said raggedly. ‘I’ve wanted you and loved you almost since the moment we first met. I was wary and prickly because you’d taken me by surprise and stolen my heart when I wasn’t expecting it. I had told myself I would be professional and keep a distance between us, and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to do.’

  He kissed her again, a passionate and demanding kiss that made her head swirl with joy and filled her with an overwhelming need for more.

  They sank down into the soft cushions of the settee and Megan gave herself up to the thrill of desire, exploring him with trembling hands, returning his kisses with loving delight.

  ‘I want you so much,’ he muttered softly, his lips nuzzling the silken line of her throat. ‘I want you to myself for the rest of our lives. I want to know that you’ll be here with me always.’ His mouth swooped lower, nudging the flimsy material of her top to one side and tasting the creamy slope of her breast. ‘Say that you’ll marry me, Megan. Say that you’ll be my wife and have my children.’

  ‘I will…’ she murmured. ‘I will. I love you more than I ever dreamed possible, Sam.’

  He gave a soft sigh of satisfaction, and kissed her thoroughly all over again. After a long time, he looked up at her and smiled. ‘Do you think Ben and Josh will manage to be pageboys at our wedding?’

  ‘How long do we have to get them organised?’

  ‘A month? A summer wedding would be good.’

  She thought about it. ‘Well, if we both work at it…’

  ‘And Jenny and Tom can help.’

  ‘No problem,’ she said, twining her arms around him and losing her fingers in the crisp hair at the nape of his neck. ‘We’ll make sure that Ben has done a picture of the church before the day. That way, we’ll be sure that we have his full attention.’

  Sam chuckled and pressed his lips to hers again so that everything around her dissolved into an explosion of stars and delicious sensation. When she finally surfaced once more and managed to draw breath for longer than half a minute, she sighed contentedly in his arms. Life was going to be just perfect from now on.

  EPILOGUE

  ‘SOUNDS as though the party’s in full swing,’ Megan said cheerfully, as she walked into Jenny’s kitchen late one afternoon. Children’s voices, excited chatter and the occasional ripple of laughter floated in from the living room.

  ‘They’re playing Pass the Parcel,’ Jenny explained with a smile. ‘Tom’s in charge of the music, and trying to make sure that everyone gets a prize. Mum’s in there, helping to organise things while I sort out the soft drinks for afterwards.’

  ‘In that case, I’ll put Ben’s present down somewhere until he’s ready for it.’ Megan looked around for a clear surface amongst all the party food that had been laid out on the kitchen table and on the work surfaces all around, and finally slid a gift-wrapped parcel onto the worktop.

  Josh came running into the room, and as soon as he saw Megan he flung his arms around her legs. ‘Aunt Meggy, we’re having a party,’ he told her, wide-eyed. ‘It’s Ben’s birthday, and we’re having cakes and jelly and sandwiches.’

  ‘I know,’ Megan said, hugging him. ‘It sounds as though you’re having a lot of fun. How old is Ben today?’

  Josh thought for a moment, then said, ‘He’s six. Mummy put six candles on his cake.’

  Ben had followed his brother into the kitchen. ‘Come on, Josh. Daddy’s put some music on. We’re all going to dance.’

  ‘Happy birthday, Ben,’ Megan said, smiling at him. ‘I’ve brought you a present. It’s from Uncle Sam and me.’

  Ben’s eyes grew large. ‘What is it?’

  Megan handed him the parcel. ‘Open it and see.’

  Ben tore off the wrapping paper and uncovered a brightly painted Noah’s ark, complete with an assortment of animals. ‘Wow,’ he said, his eyes lighting up. ‘That’s great… Thank you, Aunty Megan.’

  ‘I’m glad you like it,’ Megan said, smiling.

  He nodded. ‘I do. Is Uncle Sam coming to my party?’

  ‘I hope so. He said he would try to get here.’ She glanced at Jenny. ‘He phoned to say that he’s still at work in the OCD unit at the hospital, trying to sort out something that’s cropped up.’

  Ben seemed to accept that explanation and began to tug at her skirt. ‘Come and see what I’ve got upstairs in my room. You’ll never guess.’

  ‘All right.’ Megan followed him, with Josh and Jenny close on her heels. ‘I bet it’s a new set of dinosaurs. Big ones.’

  He shook his head as he pushed open the door to his room. ‘Nah. Dinosaurs aren’t around any more. This is much better. Look.’

  He pointed to a table to one side of his room, and she saw that he had a whole collection of zoo animals set out there.

  ‘Oh, they’re magnificent,’ Megan said admiringly. ‘Which one is your favourite?’

  ‘I like the giraffe,’ he said. ‘He has a very long neck so that he can reach the leaves. He likes to eat leaves.’

  Jenny said, ‘He can tell you all about every animal in his collection. Now that he’s learnt to read, he tries to find out everything he can about them. He watches all the nature programmes on television, and he’s always asking questions.’

  Megan glanced around the room and saw that the walls were decorated with pictures that Ben had drawn, pictures of each animal in its own habitat, remarkable sketches that showed tremendous detail
.

  Josh and Ben started to play with the toy animals, and Megan watched them for a moment, before turning to Jenny and saying softly, ‘He’s come on so well, hasn’t he, in these last couple of years?’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ Jenny murmured contentedly. ‘He still has the therapy sessions, and he loves them. He’s really very bright, and he’s learned quickly. It’s made things so much better for us, now that we understand how to help him. It’s brought Tom and me together, made us much stronger and happier because now we know what was wrong and we can work together as a family.’

  ‘I’m so happy for you,’ Megan said. ‘I always knew that you and Tom belonged together.’

  Jenny nodded, then glanced at the boys and said, ‘Two minutes, and then we’re going to light the candles on the cake. Hurry up and come downstairs. The other children will be waiting for you.’

  ‘All right.’

  Downstairs, their mother and Tom came into the kitchen as Jenny was preparing to light the candles. ‘Hi, Megan,’ Tom said. ‘I’m glad you could make it.’

  Megan smiled at him and hugged her mother. ‘You look good, Mum. It’s lovely to see you again.’ Her mother’s gentle features warmed as she hugged her in return.

  ‘You, too. I’ve missed all of you.’

  Tom draped an arm around Jenny’s shoulders and said softly, ‘It’s been a good day, hasn’t it? Not just a birthday celebration, but a celebration of everything that’s happened in the last two years. It’s all worked out so much better than we could ever have expected.’

  The kitchen door opened and Sam came in. He threw a quick smile at Megan, then turned to Jenny. ‘I’m not too late, am I? I came as quickly as I could, but I got involved with a patient in the unit. We made a breakthrough and I had to stay and make sure that things were working out.’

  ‘You’re just in time,’ Jenny told him. ‘We’re just going to sing “Happy Birthday” and get him to blow out the candles.’

  ‘That’s all right, then.’ He went and gave his mother-in-law a hug. ‘I’m really glad you could get over here,’ he greeted her. ‘It’s good to have the whole family together.’

  ‘And I’m really happy to be here,’ the older woman said. ‘I’ve missed not being around for the important things. So much so that I’m glad it’s almost time for me to retire. I was thinking about selling up and moving down here so that I can be close to all of you.’ She looked at all of them, gauging their reaction.

  ‘That’s wonderful news.’

  Their faces lit up at the unexpected announcement, and Megan said, ‘We’ll help you to find a place…somewhere handy for all of us. Our house isn’t far from Tom and Jenny’s, and it should be easy enough to find somewhere for you that’s only a few minutes away.’

  There were more hugs all round, and while Tom and Jenny asked questions and talked about places that were up for sale locally, Sam took the opportunity to put his arms around Megan. ‘How is my beautiful wife?’

  ‘Happy to see you…’ She lifted her face for his kiss, absorbed by the exhilarating sensation of his arms around her, drawing her closer, folding her into his embrace. Their lips met and clung, until Tom said something and they reluctantly drew apart.

  Sam kept his arm around her, and Megan tried to focus on what Tom was saying.

  Tom grinned. ‘Sorry to interrupt. I was asking how things are going at the unit. It must be some time since you started it up.’

  Sam nodded. ‘It’s been a great success, and I’ve had the go-ahead to keep it running on a permanent basis now. I’m glad, because the patients seem to do really well once they come into the unit.’

  ‘And what about your job, Megan?’ her mother asked. ‘You’ve been working in community health for a while now, haven’t you? Has that worked out all right? I wondered whether you would go in for paediatrics or psychiatry, so it came as a bit of a surprise when you decided on community health.’

  ‘I love it, Mum. I’m still working in paediatrics, but it means that I do lots of different things, like working with children in child health clinics attached to GP’s surgeries, doing health checks for immunisation clinics, or sometimes I work in an audiology clinic, testing children for deafness.’ She smiled. ‘I remember, a long time ago, Sam was a bit concerned about me having too wide a variety of experience, but it’s worked out really well. It’s exactly what I need for this kind of work.’

  Sam gave her a squeeze, pulling her close to his side. ‘There’s also the advantage that it will fit in perfectly for part-time work when we decide to start a family. Megan doesn’t want to give up work entirely, but she does want to be able to spend a good deal of time with our own children when they come along.’

  ‘A family?’ Jenny’s eyes were wide with excitement. ‘Is that on the cards?’

  Sam and Megan looked at each other, happiness and love and dreamy expectation in the glances they exchanged.

  ‘Oh, yes,’ Megan murmured. ‘We definitely plan to have children some time in the future.’

  Jenny and Tom and her mother all started talking at once, and Sam bent his head to hers and gently tasted her lips once more. Megan gave a ragged sigh of blissful satisfaction and returned the kiss wholeheartedly.

  ‘They’re kissing,’ Josh’s piping little voice brought them back down to earth. ‘Why do grown-ups do that?’

  Sam and Megan broke off the kiss and looked around. Josh and Ben were looking up at them, their noses wrinkling in unison.

  ‘Dunno,’ Ben said, shrugging. ‘I thought they were supposed to be lighting the candles on my cake.’

  ‘And so we shall,’ Jenny said, laughing. ‘Here we go.’

  She lit the six candles and then carefully carried the cake into the living room where the rest of the children were playing.

  They all burst into song, singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Ben, whose cheeks flushed pink.

  ‘Now you have to blow out the candles and make a wish,’ Tom said.

  Ben pulled in a big breath and blew out the flames. Then he smiled, pleased with himself, and closed his eyes and made a wish. A moment later, he looked around and sighed happily.

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘This is just perfect.’

  Sam put his arms around Megan once more, and looked into her eyes. ‘I agree with him,’ he murmured, lowering his head and tenderly claiming her lips. ‘Everything is absolutely perfect.’

  * * * * *

  ISBN-13: 9781460376928

  HER CONSULTANT BOSS

  Copyright © 2015 by Joanna Neil

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.

  www.Harlequin.com

 

 

 
s-filter: grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share