Her Hot Highland Doc

by Annie O'Neil

  She shook her head, no, then quickly changed it to yes. Brodie was part of her life now. No more secrets.

  She took a big breath and lifted her fingers off the phone’s mouthpiece. “Hello?” Her voice was barely audible.

  “Aisha?” The familiar name came down the line, the voice causing her tears to spill over. “Aisha, is this connection all right? Can you hear me?”

  Kali nodded silently, only just remembering to speak the word she hadn’t allowed herself to say out loud for over half a decade...

  “Mummy-ji?”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  KALI SET DOWN the phone in disbelief.

  She was free!

  She felt herself go into autopilot—stepping away from her desk, only just remembering to give Brodie’s hand a little squeeze, blindly taking the handful of steps to the small kitchen, filling the kettle, listening to it come to a boil as she had on her very first day here.

  She watched, almost as if she were someone else, as her hands reached for mugs, opened the tea canister, fingers deftly, knowingly, going about making cups of tea for everyone. An extra splash of milk for Ailsa, a sugar-even-though-she-knew-she-shouldn’t for Caitlyn, strong builder’s tea for herself and, of course, leaving the tea bag in the longest for Brodie, and adding just a few drops of milk...one...two...three...four.

  Four weeks.

  Four weeks of living on the sanctuary of Dunregan. Embracing the life here every bit as much as it had embraced her. And now she could just...go...?

  “Hey, you.”

  Brodie slipped into the tearoom behind her. Kali felt the warmth of his hands shifting along her hips and lacing loosely around her waist. The inevitable tremor of desire skittered down her spine as he nestled into the crook of her neck to give her a smattering of soft kisses along her neck.

  She murmured instinctively, tipped her head toward his, loving his scent, his touch, the fact that she knew how to make his tea and which side of the bed he slept on—and the instant she turned around to clink mugs with him felt a cascade of tears begin to pour down her face.

  “Oh, hey, now...” Brodie’s face was wreathed in concern. “What did she say?”

  He took Kali’s mug of tea and set it on the counter.

  “It’s my parents...my family,” she choked out as the wash of tears grew thicker.

  “So that was her?” His voice tightened, concern woven through each word. “Your mother?”

  She managed a nod.

  “And...?” He tugged a hand through his hair, losing his knit cap in the process, his eyes completely locked on her. “Kali, are they—have they been hurt in any way?”

  She shook her head, no, and forced herself to calm down. Happiness came in so many forms, and the flood of tears streaming freely down her cheeks were tears of pure joy.

  At last.

  “They’re safe.” She hiccuped and laughed. “Sorry, it’s just...”

  “Pretty overwhelming?” Brodie finished for her.

  She nodded, and blew out a slow breath before beginning to explain what she’d just learned from her mother. “They’re living in Ireland, near the village where her relatives are. My sister’s great. She’s—” Her eyes filled with tears again. “She’s training to be a doctor.”

  “Like her big sister?” Brodie clapped his hands together.

  “Yup.” She felt a burst of pride taking shape in her heart, then a shot of sorrow. “My dad...” She shook her head at the enormity of putting all of these sentences together. “My dad...he—he is divorced from my mum and lives in India now. He’s become a monk.”

  Her eyes widened in wonder.

  “He spent one year solid looking for me, and my mother said the rage and anger all but killed him. He returned home one night and nearly hit my sister when she stood up to him—told him to leave me be. It was then that he broke down, told my mother he just couldn’t live with the shame of how he’d behaved. So...now he’s a monk in a religious sanctuary somewhere in India.”

  “So...” Brodie began tentatively. “It’s all good?”

  “I’ve just been so scared they wouldn’t have been able to get on with their lives, you know? I so wanted to write to them, tell them to please carry on with everything as if I was still with them, because they were with me.” She clasped her hands to her heart. “Every step of the way I brought them with me.”

  “Of course you did.” Brodie laid a hand atop of hers, as if to cement what she’d said.

  Brodie rubbed his hands along her arms and pulled her in for a hug—but not before she saw a hit of anxiety flash across his face.

  She pressed her fingertips into his back, loving the strength of feeling and connection passing between them. Of all the people in the world she could share her news with—the most joyous news she could ever imagine—this was the one she wanted. The man she could imagine a future with.

  She felt his chin shift along the top of her head, his hand brushing her hair back from her tearstained face, his fingertips tracing along her jawline before tugging her back into his chest for a tight, long-held embrace. She stood, so grateful just to breathe and listen as their hearts began to beat in synchronicity.

  As their breathing shifted and changed, each of them taking on the enormity of the news, she sensed a shift in Brodie’s mood. He was happy for her—she didn’t doubt that. But there was... She tipped her head up to take a look at his face. There was anxiety creasing his forehead, shifting the crinkles alongside his eyes into winces of doubt and worry.

  “So.” Brodie abruptly pulled back from their embrace and put on a bright smile. “I guess this means you’ll be leaving us.”

  “Well, I—” Kali scraped her nails along her scalp, as if it would help clear the jumble of thoughts. “I have to go to them.”

  “Of course.” Brodie nodded as if he were agreeing with a patient about a need to get a second opinion on an unusual condition. “You must.”

  The coolness in his voice physically chilled her. She knew him well enough to know this was Brodie in protection mode, and as much as it pained her she understood completely. If she had been in his shoes she would have done the same.

  * * *

  “Brodie?” Callum flicked off the television. “Stop pacing, would you? She’ll be back.”

  “It’s been over a week now.”

  “You’ve texted. And called.”

  “I know. But everything’s going great for her! She’s having the time of her life.”

  “Aren’t you happy for her?”

  “Of course I am!” Brodie shouted, then checked himself. “Of course I am. It’s just...”

  What if I never see her again?

  “I don’t think Kali is the type to just leave a man hanging,” Callum replied calmly, and his voice was an echo of their father’s.

  Since when had his kid brother become the mature one?

  Brodie wheeled around. “What makes you so sure?”

  Callum’s lips twitched as he unsuccessfully held back a snigger.

  “Oh, go ahead. Get a good laugh in, why don’t you? Enjoy it while you can because—because...” He threw up his hands.

  Helpless. He felt absolutely and utterly helpless. Maybe he should go chop wood or something. If he knew where the ax was that was exactly what he would do.

  “Brodie...” Callum looked his brother straight in the eye. “You may be many things—but the last thing you are is someone who gives up.”

  Brodie harrumphed.

  Callum laughed openly this time, giving his brother a playful jab with one of his crutches.

  “Why don’t you go down to the docks?”

  “What on earth for?”

  “There’s a boat coming in.” Callum checked his watch. “I have something on there I need you
to get.”

  “So I’m your slave boy now?”

  “Hardly!” Callum laughed again. “But I think you’ll like this delivery.” He aimed the remote at the television, feigning a renewed interest in the show neither of them had been watching. “It’ll make you a lot easier to be around, that’s for sure.”

  “What is it? Earplugs so you don’t have to listen to me wallowing anymore?”

  Callum pushed his lower lip out and jigged his chin back and forth. “Something along those lines. Go.” He pointed toward the door. “And take the dogs while you’re at it.”

  * * *

  “What is it, Dougal?”

  Brodie could barely keep a hold of the huge dog’s leash as passenger after passenger walked off the boat. Deliveries always came last.

  Dougal jumped up with a joyful woof and broke free of Brodie’s hold. Hamish dragged Brodie along with him, across the gangplank and onto the boat, where they near enough clobbered someone to the ground. Wagging tails, whines of pleasure—this was no stranger.

  “Dogs! What are you—?” Brodie shook his head in disbelief when he caught a glimpse of green eyes amidst the furry bodies. “Kali?”

  Flat out on the ferry deck, being covered in dog licks, was Kali, her face wreathed in smiles. Brodie elbowed past the dogs and helped to pull her up, pulling her tightly into his arms.

  “What are you doing here?”

  She pulled back from the embrace and smiled shyly up at him. “I thought I would come home...”

  “Are you asking or telling?” Brodie wasn’t going to take any chances here.

  “A bit of both, I guess.” Kali wove her fingers through his and scooped up one of the dog’s leashes, handing him the other. “Fancy a walk on the beach?”

  * * *

  A few minutes later Brodie, Kali and the dogs piled out of the four-by-four onto the beach. The ride had been largely silent. Just two people grinning at each other as if it were Christmas morning. From the deep hits of magnetic connection each of his smiles brought, Kali knew she’d made the right decision.

  “So...seeing your family again...” Brodie began tentatively, unlooping the dogs’ leashes from around their necks, watching them race out to the shoreline for a swim.

  “It was amazing,” Kali answered honestly. “My sister is incredible and my mother—strongest woman I know.”

  A rush of tears filled her eyes. It had been amazing. To be with her family. To find the inner peace she’d long sought.

  “And how was it to be back in Ireland?”

  It was impossible not to hear the worry in Brodie’s voice. Worry she never wanted him to feel again. “It was great, because my family is there, but home...” Her lips parted into a broad, hopeful smile. “This is home.” She scanned the beach, then laid a hand on Brodie’s chest. “You are home.”

  She felt the whoosh of release from Brodie’s chest.

  “I’m pretty happy to hear that.”

  “Just ‘pretty happy’?” She grinned up at him.

  “Relieved—over the moon—ecstatic.” He threw a few more words out into the ether for added measure until they were both laughing.

  He cupped her face in his hands, tilting it up to his for a long-awaited kiss. Passionate didn’t even begin to cover it. As their lips touched, sparks of desire burst throughout Kali’s body. Her arms smoothed along his chest, up and around his neck, and her feet arched up onto tiptoe. She could feel Brodie’s arms tighten around her waist, pulling her in close to him, close enough for her to feel his heart racing as fast as her own.

  Minutes, hours could have passed for all she was aware. Nothing mattered—nothing existed outside of Brodie.

  “I love you, Brodie McClellan.” Her lips shifted and whispered across his as she spoke.

  “I love you, too, my little one.”

  He loosened his hold on her, then held her out at arm’s length, a serious expression taking over the wash of desire they had both succumbed to.

  “I have something to ask you. Something I probably should’ve asked before you left.”

  “Oh?” Kali’s eyes widened. It was difficult to tell if it was going to be good or bad.

  She held her breath as Brodie reached into his jacket and tugged out a small box. He held it between them, flicking the lid up with his thumb. The soft spring sunshine set the diamond alight, glinting and sparkling like the sea.

  “Kali O’Shea—would you do me the honor of marrying me?”

  He dropped to one knee, holding the diamond up between them.

  She stared, openmouthed.

  “Kali?”

  “Yes!” She nodded and laughed, dropping to her knees so she could smother him with kisses. “Yes! A thousand times yes!” She kissed him again and again then abruptly pulled back. “We’re staying here, right?”

  “As long as you’re happy with that.”

  “Are you mad? There is no place I would rather be. As long as you don’t mind a nutty Indian family with bonkers Irish accents coming to visit.”

  “As long as they’re happy having mad Scottish in-laws.”

  “They’ll love you.” Kali tackled him to the sand, stealing kiss after happy kiss. “But not quite as much as I love you.”

  “You think?” Brodie wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

  “I know.” Kali smirked back, before wrapping her arms around her future husband and giving him a soft kiss. “There isn’t a soul out there who could love you more than me.”

  “Good.” Brodie held her tight to him, the sound of the waves swooshing back and forth only magnifying the joy he felt. He dabbed a finger on her nose. “So, which name do you want on the surgery door? O’Shea? Kalita?”

  “McClellan,” Kali answered solidly. “The Doctors McClellan.”

  * * * * *

  If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Annie O’Neil

  SANTIAGO’S CONVENIENT FIANCÉE

  THE NIGHTSHIFT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

  ONE NIGHT, TWIN CONSEQUENCES

  LONDON’S MOST ELIGIBLE DOCTOR

  All available now!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from HIS PREGNANT ROYAL BRIDE by Amy Ruttan.

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  His Pregnant Royal Bride

  by Amy Ruttan

  PROLOGUE

  “THAT HAS TO be the most monotonous lecturer that I’ve ever had the displeasure to listen to,” Shay teased as s
he took a sip of her pineapple cocktail. She glanced over shyly at Dr. Dante Affini, who was attending the same conference on trauma simulation as her in Honolulu. She felt as if she was talking too loudly, which was something she always did in the presence of a man she found utterly attractive. And Dr. Dante Affini was all that and more. Just a few days with him and she was a lost woman. Add in the tropical setting and drinks...

  It was a perfect paradise.

  Shay had intended to throw herself completely into her work, as she always did, but on the first day of the conference she’d bumped into Italian surgeon Dr. Dante Affini looking perplexed. He hadn’t known where to go and she’d helped him.

  Since she’d let him know that she was attending the same presentations as him, they’d been inseparable. She didn’t mind in the least. Dante was handsome, charming, intelligent and single.

  She bit her lip, blood heating her cheeks. What was she doing? She didn’t get involved with doctors, but with Dante it was hard not to.

  He didn’t look down his nose at her for being a nurse practitioner. Usually at these kind of conferences the nurses stuck together and the physicians stuck together. Except Dante seemed to be the exception. He’d turned down golfing, dinners and drinks with the other surgeons to accompany her. They’d attended the same lectures and seemed to agree on the same approaches to medicine.

  Now the conference was winding up and it had been Dante’s idea to get drinks.

  She knew she shouldn’t have accepted his invitation. It was not something she was used to doing, but this was sort of a work vacation and for once, Shay thought, why not?

  Dante was charming, sexy, and she’d been so busy with her work for the last couple of years that maybe it was the perfect time to kick back and have some fun.

  “Sì, that was most terrible.” He shuddered and took a drink of his pineapple juice, then turned around, his dark eyes flickering out over the water. “It is a beautiful night.”

  Shay nodded. “The breeze is nice. It was sweltering in that room.”

  “Yes, it was most unpleasant.” He waved his hand in a sweeping arc. “This, however, is paradise.”