by Sarah Morgan
‘We’ve been through this—’
‘No.’ He lifted a hand and shook his head. ‘We haven’t been through this. You’ve made certain assumptions about me, assumptions that I wasn’t in a position to correct, but now I am.’
‘Josh—’
‘Let’s look at the facts. You won’t let yourself get involved with me because you think I’ll hurt Archie,’ he said quietly. ‘But I’m not going to hurt him, Kat. I love him. In a different way to the way I love you, that’s true, but I still love him.’
She stood frozen to the spot, frightened to disturb the dream by speaking.
‘I can see you don’t believe me.’ His voice was hoarse and he stepped towards her and took her hands in his. ‘But it’s true. I love you and I love your son, and I would do anything in my power to prevent either of you from ever being hurt.’
Would she wake up? If she spoke, would she wake up?
He cupped her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. ‘I didn’t know anything about children until Archie came on the scene, and I still don’t know much, but I’m learning, Kat. I swear to you, I’m learning as fast as I can. And do you know what?’ He stared down into her face, the expression on his handsome face intensely serious. ‘I understand now why you would sacrifice yourself to keep your son happy because I have those feelings, too. I don’t know where they came from, but I have those feelings, too.’
She swallowed. ‘Josh—’
‘Let me finish. You want to protect Archie from me, but you don’t need to do that, Kat. I also want to protect him. I want to be a part of his future.’ He stroked her cheek gently with his fingers. ‘I want to share Archie with you. I want to be there for him when he falls over and…’ He sucked in a breath and hesitated. ‘And I want to be there for him the first time a girl breaks his heart, the way you’re breaking mine now.’
She stared at him and tried to make her voice work, breathlessly aware of the brush of his fingers. ‘I’m breaking your heart? How?’ Her heart bumped against her chest. ‘How am I breaking your heart, Josh?’
‘By not trusting me. By not saying yes.’
She blinked. ‘But—’
‘Dammit, I’ve told you that I love you! And that I love Archie!’ He released her and spread his hands in a gesture of exasperation. ‘What more do you want to hear? I love everything about you. I love the fact you’re so independent. I love the fact that you don’t care if your hair gets messed up by the wind. But most of all I love the fact that you love your child so much you’ll run half-naked into a stranger’s house to make sure he’s safe. I love you and you’re breaking my heart because you’re not saying any of the things you’re supposed to say!’
‘What am I supposed to say, Josh?’
He stared at her in exasperation. ‘You’re supposed to say that you’ll marry me. That’s what you’re supposed to say!’
There was a long silence. A silence that was suddenly bursting with promise.
‘But you haven’t asked me, Josh.’ Suddenly she felt weak. ‘You haven’t asked me to marry you.’
His gaze dropped to her mouth and he frowned. ‘I haven’t?’
‘No.’ Her mouth curved into a smile that she couldn’t hold back. ‘You haven’t. Maybe you forgot.’
He cleared his throat and dragged his eyes up to meet hers. ‘Maybe I did.’
‘So…She gave a shrug. ‘Are you going to do something about that?’
His mouth curved into a slow smile and he stepped towards her and dragged her into his arms.
‘Wow.’ Archie ran into the kitchen and skidded to a halt. ‘Major lip lock.’
Kat freed herself and gaped at her son. ‘What did you say? Where did you hear that expression?’
Archie gave a shrug and scuffed his foot on the floor. ‘Summer camp?’
Kat made a mental note to rethink summer camp for the following year. ‘Josh and I were just…’ She cleared her throat. ‘We were just…’
‘I know.’ Archie’s voice was patient. ‘You were cuddling. That’s all right. You don’t have to explain. I know about that. Sometimes girls like being cuddled.’
‘They do, indeed.’ Josh shot a last, lingering look at Kat and strolled over to the boy. ‘Hey, Arch.’ He hunkered down so that they were on the same level. ‘You remember this morning when you mentioned that sleep-over? I’m thinking of taking you up on your invitation.’
‘Cool!’ Archie’s face brightened and then fell. ‘Trouble is…’ he eyed Josh’s shoulders doubtfully ‘…you’re definitely too big for my snuggle sack.’
Josh ran a hand over his roughened jaw and gave a nod. ‘I probably am. But I’m hoping your mum will find me somewhere else to sleep. This sleepover…’ He cleared his throat. ‘How would you feel if I did it quite often?’
‘How often?’
‘How would you feel about every night?’
‘Wow.’ Archie stared at Kat. ‘Every night?’
Her heart jumped into her mouth as she looked at her son. ‘How would you feel about that, Archie?’ Her voice was soft. ‘Josh wants to marry us.’
‘Us?’ Archie pulled a face. ‘Yuck. Do I have to wear a dress and stuff like the girls in school? They’re always trying to play weddings and it’s just gross.’
Josh laughed. ‘You don’t have to wear a dress. And I’m not marrying you exactly, I’m marrying your mum. Or I’m hoping to. It’s just that you come as a pair, so she wants to know that you’re all right with the idea before she says yes.’ His eyes rested on Kat for a moment. ‘And I’m really hoping she’s going to say yes.’
‘You want to marry my mum?’ Archie looked uncertain. ‘But that would make you my dad.’
Josh took a deep breath. ‘That’s right.’
‘Would you teach me to do knots? Mum’s hopeless at knots.’
Kat gasped. ‘Archie!’
He was still looking at Josh. ‘Would you?’
Josh nodded, his face serious. ‘I’d like that. And you could help me do up the boat.’
Archie thought hard and then nodded. ‘Sounds cool.’ He frowned. ‘Would you make me eat broccoli?’
Josh rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and thought hard. ‘Well…’ He looked at Kat for inspiration. ‘It’s certainly important to eat vegetables…’
‘I like carrots.’
‘Well, that’s fine, then.’ Josh gave a shrug, man to man. ‘So, what’s the problem?’
A smile spread across Archie’s face. ‘No problem. You can marry us. Can’t he, Mum?’
Kat swallowed back the lump in her throat. ‘I suppose he can.’ Her voice cracked. ‘If he really wants to.’
Josh rose to his feet and scooped Archie into his arms. ‘Oh, I really want to.’ He leaned forward to kiss her gently, her son held securely in his arms. ‘I really, really want to.’
* * * * *
From the moment they met, fighting together to save two young lives, Dr. Ally McGuire and Dr. Sean Nicholson were and explosive team! Sean was keen to follow his up out of surgery hours, but while he didn’t want commitment of any kind, Ally knew she could never settle for a brief affair. Neither was prepared to risk falling in love…until, after one unexpected night of passion, Ally became pregnant…
Worth the Risk
Sarah Morgan
CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
CHAPTER ONE
ALLY was cold.
Last night, curled up with a hot chocolate in front of a cosy, flickering fire, a walk in the mountains had seemed like a good idea. Solitary. Invigorating. Good for the soul. Something she rarely had time for any more. The weather forecast had predicted a clear, fine day…
Tugging her hat further down over her ears to keep out
the rising wind, she scowled at the swirling mist. How did the weatherman get away with it? If she ever got a diagnosis that wrong she’d be struck off!
With a resigned shrug she put her fingers in her mouth and gave a shrill whistle, bracing herself as a ball of fur streaked through the mist and skidded to a halt in front of her, tail wagging.
‘This was a stupid idea!’ She rammed her fingers back inside the glove before they froze, and glared at the dog. ‘I don’t know what you’re looking so pleased about—I’m in the last stages of hypothermia. Let’s call it a day.’
Dropping her hand to give him a quick pat, she turned on her heel and then stopped dead, every muscle in her body frozen into stillness. The dog growled.
‘Did you hear something, too?’ She listened again, straining her ears to pick out the sound again.
Nothing. Just the wind gusting more heavily by the minute.
Hesitation showing on her delicate features, Ally turned her head to gaze back up the path. It had come from the ghyll, a deep ravine plunging hundreds of feet down towards the valley floor.
Just the wind? Or a cry for help?
Her fingers tickled the dog’s ears. ‘It’s probably nothing, but we’d better just check. We’ll go higher up where the path is better.’
Down here the path was so badly eroded that going too close to the edge would be a quick route down to the bottom.
Her decision made, she turned on her heel and snapped her fingers at the dog, who fell into step behind her, tongue lolling. She stopped at the curve in the path and rubbed the dampness away from her face before dropping to her knees, inching as close to the vertiginous drop as she dared.
‘Are you crazy?’
Hard male fingers bit into her shoulder and wrenched her back from the edge, leaving her spread-eagled on the stony path.
Her heart galloping with shock, Ally closed her eyes briefly and then opened them again to find herself staring at a pair of long, powerful legs. Blinking several times, her eyes moved slowly upwards, past broad shoulders, past a chunky polo—which brushed a rough jawline, and finally clashed with a pair of dark, very angry eyes.
Very angry indeed. With her?
Her heart still thumping, she scrambled to her feet, ignoring his outstretched hand. No way was she going to be on the receiving end of that grip twice in one day! The man obviously didn’t know his own strength.
‘What the hell were you doing?’ His sharp question made her lift her chin defensively.
‘What did you think I was doing?’ Surely it was obvious?
‘Contemplating suicide?’
‘Oh, don’t be ridiculous!’ Ally gave him an impatient look and brushed some stones from her knees. ‘I thought I heard someone shout.’
Smooth, dark eyebrows rose. ‘So you thought you’d dive head first over the edge to investigate?’
‘I wasn’t anywhere near the edge—’
Strong fingers clamped around her wrist and jerked her back towards the head-spinning drop.
‘See that?’ He gestured with his head, a muscle working in his lean cheek as his eyes blazed into hers. ‘This path is crumbling. You were seconds away from joining them at the bottom of the mountain.’
She tugged at her wrist. ‘It’s fine here. The National Trust have—’ She broke off as his words registered. ‘You said them! So you heard something, too?’
He gave a grim nod and released her, swinging a large rucksack off his back. ‘There are two boys in trouble. They were scrambling in the ghyll.’
‘Scrambling?’ Ally’s voice rang with disbelief. ‘But we’ve had ten inches of rain in these fells since Monday. That ghyll is a difficult scramble at the best of times, but when it’s been raining it’s lethal. Were they roped up?’
He unclipped the top of his rucksack with gloved fingers, tugging the collar of his jacket higher to keep out the wind. ‘They’re just kids. I doubt they’ve even got a waterproof between them.’
‘Oh, no!’ Ally bit her lip and glanced anxiously towards the edge. ‘We need to get help for them fast.’
‘We do indeed.’ He glanced up from the rucksack and studied her, those dark eyes sweeping every inch of her face and body before lingering on the logo of her quality weatherproof jacket.
She shifted uncomfortably. Something about those eyes made her feel suddenly gauche and tongue-tied. Like an eighteen-year-old student instead of a twenty-eight-year-old doctor with responsibilities. He had gorgeous eyes. Male eyes. Eyes you could stare into and lose yourself.
She blinked. ‘We need to contact the mountain rescue team. I didn’t bring a mobile phone.’
‘I did, but there’s no signal. I already tried.’ He straightened and wiped a hand across his forehead. ‘You and your party need to go down to the bottom and use a land-line.’
‘And what will you do?’
He turned his attention back to the rucksack. ‘Get down into that ravine and do what I can for them until help arrives.’
Ally stared at him. ‘On your own?’
‘You want me to take the sheep, too?’
Ally gritted her teeth. ‘I’m suggesting that it might be wiser to wait for the mountain rescue team.’
‘They’ll take too long.’ He delved into the rucksack and dragged out a coiled rope. ‘The way those boys were equipped they’ll die of hypothermia before you even make the phone call.’
Ally rubbed a hand over her numbed cheeks. The temperature was dropping fast. ‘It’s too dangerous. You can’t climb down there on your own.’
‘You have a better idea?’
She hadn’t, not that he was exactly interested in her opinion anyway. He was too busy preparing for the descent into the ghyll, seemingly indifferent to the physical challenge it presented. Her heart missed a beat as he tugged off his hat and stuffed it into the top of his rucksack. He was heart-stoppingly handsome. Jet black hair cropped short and a firm mouth and jaw that was overwhelmingly male. For a moment Ally just stared. Then she shook herself and frowned instead. Why was she staring? She never stared at men. Never. Especially not handsome ones. They were bad news.
‘I think what you’re planning is really dangerous. How can you be so calm?’
‘You’d prefer me to panic?’
The dry amusement in his tone made her flush slightly and she wrapped her arms around her body and looked at the threatening profile of the mountains. The weather was getting worse. Much worse.
‘You’re taking a huge risk.’
He rammed a helmet onto his head and glanced at the sky, assessing the weather. ‘As long as the wind doesn’t get any stronger it should be fine, although there’s no way the RAF will be able to scramble a helicopter. If necessary we’ll have to stretcher him off.’
Ally nodded. ‘OK. Well, I’ll wait until I know you’re safely down—that way you can give me an idea of their condition before I contact the mountain rescue team.’
He gave a brief nod. ‘That makes sense. Where are the rest of your party?’
Ally shifted slightly. ‘I’m not in a party…’
There was an ominous silence. ‘You’re walking alone? In this weather?’
Her eyes avoided his. ‘Yes, but I—’
‘You crazy, irresponsible woman!’ His gloved hand captured her chin and forced her to meet his incredulous gaze. ‘You’re walking on your own in the mountains in the middle of winter? You must be nuts!’
Her eyes flashed angrily and she jerked her chin away from his hand. ‘Don’t be a hypocrite! You’re walking on your own, too, remember? And you’re about to abseil down a rock on your own, so don’t lecture me about safety!’
His jaw tightened. ‘That’s entirely different.’
Ally’s chin lifted and her eyes clashed with his. ‘Because you’re a man and I’m a woman, I suppose?’
Anger blazed in his eyes and then suddenly faded and he gave her a sheepish smile that did strange things to her insides. ‘Something like that.’
Ally swallowed hard. I
f he was handsome when he was angry then he was devastating when he smiled. The rapid transformation from macho condemnation to self-deprecating humour was as surprising as it was attractive.
She pulled herself together and glared at him. ‘Has anyone ever told you you’re a chauvinist?’
‘Repeatedly.’ His soft laugh warmed her insides. ‘I just happen to think it isn’t safe for a woman to be up in these mountains on her own. The weather is unpredictable and the world is full of perverts.’
‘I’m equipped for bad weather and I have a dog to take care of perverts.’ Ally stamped her feet to keep warm and met his gaze squarely. ‘So when you’ve finished indulging your prejudices perhaps we can finish working out a rescue plan.’
‘I have worked out a rescue plan.’ He hefted a rope, his mind obviously back on the job in hand. ‘But I hadn’t banked on you being on your own.’
‘Why does that make a difference?’
‘Because I was hoping for reinforcements, and one woman on her own is not reinforcements.’
Ally bristled defensively. ‘What am I, then?’
‘Frankly?’ His mouth twisted into a wry smile. ‘A liability.’
‘A liability?’ She gaped at him and he shrugged without a trace of apology.
‘I don’t need a dizzy blonde distracting me when I’m supposed to be concentrating. It’s the same reason I don’t believe women should be in the army. Men always have protective feelings towards them and that affects the job.’
Dizzy? Stunned into silence, Ally opened her mouth and closed it again. Her voice seemed to have given up the ghost. She tried again. ‘Feel free to stifle your protective feelings. I don’t need them.’
He shrugged. ‘Well, like it or not, you’ve got them. And you’re not going down this mountain on your own.’
She couldn’t believe she was hearing this. ‘I’ve been walking in these mountains on my own since my teens and I’ve never come to any harm.’
He glanced up, his eyes hard. ‘Then you’ve been lucky. If you want to walk, join the Ramblers Association.’
‘The Ramblers…’ She broke off and her small chin lifted angrily. ‘How dare you make judgements when you don’t know anything about me? Dammit, you don’t even know I’m blonde!’