by Judi Nolan
MARRYING THE BOSS
by Judi Nolan
Smashwords Edition
ISBN 978-0-473-20587-4
This is a work of fiction. The names, characters and events are all products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is completely incidental.
Copyright 2012 Judi Nolan
Cover Design Judi Nolan
Cover Photograph Dreamstime.com
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Dedication
This book dedicated with much love and appreciation to the lovely Kris for her unfailing advice and support. Also thanks to my computer girl, Erin for her invaluable help and not too many sighs. Despite what an obviously jaded English teacher once said to me many years ago, the world is still in love with romance.
Romances to ignite your imagination
and make you believe…
CHAPTER ONE
‘Charming two bedroom cottage. Recently refurbished with new furnishings and all amenities. The extensive gardens will require some work.’
"Some work..." Lowering the estate agent’s brochure, Dr. Kate Martin turned around slowly, frowning at the overgrown riot of flowering plants jostling each other for space and light among the taller stands of shrubs and trees. "Well, that’s the understatement of the year. This place looks more like a wilderness than a garden."
But it would be a challenge. A welcome distraction from her very recent past. This was her chance for a new beginning. Even if she didn't know where to start.
Kate nodded. "In fact, this place is totally perfect."
She inhaled the early morning air deep into her lungs, releasing a long breath. Easing off her sandals, she curled her toes deep into the sun warmed grass beneath her feet.
Crazy impulse had driven her halfway around the world—her hospital colleagues had said her hasty decision was all wrong; running away never solved anything.
Kate blew a second longer breath, pushing the broad brimmed sunhat from her head and shaking out her shower-dampened curls.
"You know you can do this." Leaning her shoulders back against the old stone wall that enclosed the garden, she looked up to watch a beautiful iridescent bird moving nimbly through a flowering tree, dipping its beak into the brilliant yellow blossoms. Cicadas filled the air with their strident mating song. The rising summer heat haze shimmered in the air.
Alert to the imminent dangers, she reached into the tote bag at her feet to extract a tube of factor thirty-plus sunscreen. She smoothed an extra layer onto her pale skin. She glanced up at the cottage beyond the garden. She knew she shouldn't linger outside.
She moved her shoulders. "Just a few more minutes."
She'd arrived unprepared. Flying into the international terminal in Auckland airport, the enervating heat of the February sun had been unexpected. She'd left an intense Chicago winter far behind. A quick gift shop purchase of sunscreen and a hat covered her immediate needs.
Of course, there had been no-one to meet her flight. She knew she'd flown in three days earlier than arranged. But the irresistible urge to escape Chicago and all its unpleasant memories had been too strong.
She'd made her own plans. Hired a reliable car and driven south; her GPS keeping her from straying off the winding main highway, while she kept a wary eye on the unfamiliar left hand road rules.
The countryside was breathtaking. She felt free for the first time in years.
Kate dropped her gaze back to the garden. Of course, renting any property, sight unseen, did have its disadvantages.
Again crazy impulse has driven her decision. The small house advertised in the estate agent's window was exactly what she was looking for.
A private haven with a very reasonable rent—almost ridiculously cheap—and when she’d moved her few possessions into the cozy cottage late the previous night, she’d found it clean and tidy.
She knew she wouldn’t be staying long. After she had settled and gained her bearings she would have time to look for somewhere of her own to live.
But for now taming the garden would be like the new beginning in her employment. The permanent position as a junior doctor at the Mountaindale Medical Center was exactly what she needed. She lifted her face to the hot sun. Her days in the busy practice would be full and rewarding. And her evenings, when she could relax and unwind after a long hard day, were going to be spent toiling in the garden. Working the last traces of Eric from her system once and for all.
It was a challenge she welcomed, even as she tightened her mouth and said, "This place is surely going to need a bulldozer and an army of willing slaves."
A small laugh bubbled up making her blink with surprise. It seemed ages since she’d laughed at anything. With anyone. She shook her head against the unwanted memory. Get some new thoughts. At least the physical exertion should be enough to distract her mind from any stray thoughts of her ex-fiancé.
Of how he let her down.
Kate’s heartbeat accelerated. It always did whenever she gave Eric any space in her mind. A reminder that she was better off alone and needed to remember that fact. Men were definitely off her wish list for good.
Despite the rational dictates of her brain, her breath tightened across her ribcage. Logical thinking didn’t make the bleak prospect any easier to bear. But to have a child would mean becoming emotionally involved again in a relationship. To allow someone to get close enough to hurt her.
Her own parents had been killed when Kate was two years old and without any close relatives to take her in, she’d become another tiny number in the overburdened American child foster-care system until ten years ago when she’d finally turned eighteen and was on her own. She’d never been part of a family of her own long enough to feel she belonged anywhere.
She’d longed with all her heart to have a family and Eric had offered her the chance to create her very own. While working as a very new, starry eyed young doctor in one of Chicago’s busiest hospitals, she’d met and tumbled headlong into love with the ruggedly handsome surgeon, Eric Waters. Within six weeks of their meeting he’d asked her to marry him and Kate had happily agreed with all her heart.
Her new life had seemed so complete and flawless.
Her lips twisted. "Well, that was my first mistake."
Stupid! She’d been blinded to the truth by her need to belong with someone. A replacement for the family she never knew. Eric had painted their future with such sweeping and masterful strokes.
Kate closed her eyes on a soft groan. But it had been a sordid one sided affair. Eric was already married and his rich New York wife’s money held more attraction for him than Kate’s love. It had been a cruel blow, but a hard lesson well learned.
"Never look back." She stared unsighted at the view. "It’s all behind me now and half a world away."
Turning to hoist herself up, she sat on the broad top of the wall. Drawing her legs up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around her knees. The mossy stones were smooth and cool.
The heaven-sent chance to work in the rugged green countryside surrounding the attractive New Zealand town of Mountaindale offered her a complete break from her hectic city life and a whole new country where she could rebuild her life.
"Oh, I don’t want to think about the past any more." Get some new thoughts. She needed time to understand her new environment anyway. Her new caseload alone would keep her v
ery busy over the coming weeks. She planned on being too tired to think about anything else.
The sudden staccato sound of distant barking snared her fractured attention. Deep among the scattered stands of trees, she saw the dog first. A chocolate labrador, long pink tongue swinging from the corner of its mouth as it raced along, nose scanning the ground for clues.
Then a boy, perhaps four or five years old, copper haired and laughing, followed closely by a tall man with a strong, athletic build and curling dark hair. His lean, tanned features echoed those of the laughing child.
Except his expression was brooding.
"Damn!" Kate slid from the wall. She wasn't in the moon for casual conversation. She bent quickly to snatch up her discarded sandals and her hat. But she had already attracted the dog’s keen attention.
Its barking increased along with its pace.
So much for her hope of solitude. Willing herself to relax, she folded her arms across her chest and waited as man and boy turned to follow the dog.
Reaching her, the labrador reared to plant his massive front paws in the middle of her chest, leaving a trail of dusty prints across her white T-shirt. Face to face with a happily grinning canine Kate couldn’t avoid having her cheeks licked. Its weight pushed her backwards.
"Lobo, get down." The young boy pulled at the dog’s broad leather collar. "Come on, get down. Bad dog!"
The animal managed to give Kate a final lick before dropping with a disappointed woof to sniff hopefully at her bare toes. The boy succeeded in pulling his large pet to one side, kneeling down to give it a severe lecture on manners. The unrepentant dog began to lick his face instead.
"It’s okay. I like dogs." Kate brushed off her T-shirt, looking up to encounter the man’s frowning blue eyes.
"Lobo has a lot to learn. He’s still young," he said, his hard-eyed gaze clashing with hers.
The frown creasing his forehead deepened as his disbelieving gaze swept over her face. His broad, powerful looking chest rose on a sharply indrawn breath, raw confusion slicing through his expression.
What on earth is he seeing?
She resisted the strong urge to lift fingers to her mouth. Check her lips for dirt or crumbs. She angled her chin defiantly against the intensity of his gaze. He had no right to stare like that!
Muttering something she didn’t understand, he took a swift step forward—half raising one hand—moving close enough to touch. She froze, curling her fingers tight against the sudden crazy urge to reach out and do just that. Test the power and obvious strength of his wide shoulders and strong, athletic frame; the bronzed curve of his lean cheek. Her breath hissed against the crazy impulse.
It was his fault. He certainly shouldn’t be staring at her, astounded, as he was, like he couldn’t quite believe the evidence of his eyes. She felt like some exhibit in a zoo.
"Can I help you?" she asked crisply. "Are you lost?"
"I’m sorry." His tone was deep and cool. He obviously didn’t mean the brusque apology. "I didn’t realize anyone was out here so early."
"That makes two of us." Kate snagged her rising anger. "But this is a private garden, not a dog park."
"We're not doing any harm." His lips thinned. "Are you always this sharp with strangers?" He was still watching her with a frowning expectation she didn’t know how to answer.
"Or is it just me?" The disconcerting directness in his perusal sent tiny shivers rippling up her spine.
"You did startle me." She firmed her chin. "I wouldn’t want…" She halted in shock. Gooseflesh feathered across her skin as a stark realization sliced through her.
Eric had been tall and powerful, almost overbearingly possessive. She knew he’d had her followed by a private detective after she threw him out. He couldn't bear the thought that she no longer wanted him. The memory of his angry, abusive outbursts and his assertions she would never leave him ruffled her senses.
If she hadn't left the States when she did…she bit down hard on her lower lip, tasting blood. Stop thinking about him right now!
Now wasn’t the time to lose her composure. Not in front of a complete stranger.
"Are you all right?" The man questioned brusquely when she didn’t continue. "You look as if you’ve just seen a ghost. Look, I am sorry. We didn’t mean to throw a scare into you."
"I...oh, no. Really, I’m fine." Kate wrenched her attention back to the present.
"If you say so." He nodded, his narrowed look saying he didn’t believe her. "You don't look fine." The frown in his eyes was now one of unwilling concern.
"I didn't ask for your opinion." Kate wished he would go away.
He was just too gorgeous, with dark hair falling across his forehead. His unshaven chin gave him the rakish look of a pirate. A lean, angular face and a strong mouth hinted at a passionate nature.
He stood a full head and shoulders taller than her, well over six feet and with his broad shoulders blocking out the sun, his wide shadow moved over her like a smothering blanket. The tantalizing scent of his musky masculinity drifted through her senses. Everything about him pushed her to escape.
Suddenly his hand moved again, hard fingers brushing her cheek and she jumped. "You missed a bit."
Give me a break! Kate clenched her teeth, staring at the glob of sunscreen he'd wiped off her skin.
"Thanks." Heat washed through her face as he smeared the incriminating evidence away on his tanned forearm.
Her tongue seemed welded to the roof of her mouth. Serves you right for daydreaming about pirates!
"I’m sorry if you feel we’re in the way." Again he didn’t sound sorry at all. "We'll leave you in peace."
Kate shook her head, innate good manners nudging her conscience. "No, I should really be going. I have chores to do."
"You certainly are stubborn." His face softened and her heart flipped inside her chest.
Kate felt trapped by conflicting emotions. The closeness of the man’s vital presence hemmed her in, trapping her against the stone wall at her back with nowhere to hide. "I’m sorry; I didn't sleep well last night. Jet-lag."
"Well, I am sorry about the dog leaping on you like that. Lobo gets excited around strangers," he apologized, as he moved back.
His strong shadow slipped away from her face. She was forced to squint against the abrupt return of the bright sunlight.
"Shall we start again?" He slanted his head. "You must be Kate Martin. The real estate agent phoned me last night to say she’d rented the place out."
He thrust out one lean, long fingered hand. "I’m Spencer Stelanos, your next door neighbor and landlord. And this is my son, Jamie. We decided to come over and check it out, make sure everything’s in order. We didn’t expect to find you’d already moved in. You work fast."
He paused, his frown deepening. Again as if he was expecting her to make some comment. Why would he think that? The estate agent had dealt with everything. After a short hesitation she slowly extended her hand.
"Yes, I’m Kate Martin." She nodded, her slender hand becoming engulfed in the strength of his broad palm. "And I travel light, so unpacking wasn’t much of a problem."
She wasn't about to share that she had left everything but the essentials back in Chicago. A clean break with the past.
She became aware of his long fingers curling slowly around her wrist, his grip cool, firm and dry. The hard contact propelled a fresh charge of awareness racing through her flesh. Kate jerked her fingers away, quickly sliding her palm down the seam of her shorts, trying to erase the electric contact. This was someone she needed to keep well clear of in future. She hoped she wouldn’t need to call on his services as her landlord any time soon.
She didn’t know what to make of him. His olive skin, dark hair and surname were all intensely Greek. But his deep voice held more than a hint of an attractive accent she managed to identify as Australian from movies she'd seen.
It was an unusual combination to find in such a rural setting. There was something about him, an unspoke
n air of total authority that said he wouldn’t be a man to cross lightly.
But a good man to take charge in a crisis, she concluded reluctantly.
His well-worn jeans and black sleeveless T-shirt gave no hint of whom or what he was. A broad gold wedding band glinted on his left hand as he raked long fingers through his unruly hair, pushing it back off his forehead. Seeming to sense her continuing state of unease, he stepped back beside the dog and his son.
Kate was grateful for the space to breathe. She guessed he was in his mid-thirties, despite his unruly hair and unshaven chin giving him a more youthful attractive look.
"So, you’re planning on playing Jane to this jungle?" Spencer turned to frown at the rambling expanse of the garden. "Sorry about the mess it’s in. I only purchased the place a couple of months ago. The last owner left to take up a teaching post in Saudi Arabia. I haven’t found time to have the garden attended to yet. That’s why I decided to make the rental price so reasonable. Hoping to attract someone with green fingers. Are you up for it?"
His frowning look assessed and dismissed her slender body, her too pale, Chicago winter skin. Kate knew she'd lost weight. Skipping meals had become a habit. So another man was judging her and finding her wanting!
The renewed flame of anger boiled through her. "It'll be good therapy," she countered.
His dark brows rose as his intense blue gaze returned to her face, measuring each of her features as if he was trying to work her out. "Therapy? What for?"
Don’t answer that! "Forget it, bad choice of word." Kate lifted one shoulder.
"I see." He folded his arms across his broad chest. "If there’s going to be any future problems I need to know now because—"
"That’s all right. I will manage," Kate interposed quickly. "I won’t give you any trouble. In fact, you'll hardly know I'm here."
Jamie crowded against his father’s side, throwing one arm around his lean waist. "I can help. Auntie Ellie used to let me play in her garden. And sometimes we even made chocolate chip cookies. I love them."