The Best Of The Year - Medical Romance

She didn’t say any of that, though. “What’s done is done. I recommend honesty the next time you get involved with someone.”

His lips gave a rueful twist. “Understood.” He hesitated. “If later on down the line—”

“If you’re going to say what I think you are, then no. You’re right. It wouldn’t have worked.”

“Is it because of that guy you’ve been hanging around?”

Mira swallowed, trying to divert her thoughts to something else. It didn’t work. Jack’s face popped into her mind—the way his eyes had darkened as he’d settled over her last night.

Lord. Robert was right. It was because of Jack. That’s why she was so sure it could never work with him, even if she found out he hadn’t been cheating.

She was in love with Number Five. Someone she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt would never cheat on the person he loved. He’d shown that in how he talked about his wife...the guilt he carried about how she died.

Mira just...knew.

Maybe she really could tell the good guys from the bad.

And she loved him—for that reason and so many more.

The knowledge was both exhilarating and devastating. He’d made it clear he wasn’t looking for anything serious.

But with you, I find myself wanting a next time. And a next.

Jack’s words from last night whispered through her mind, then rewound and played back all over again.

It certainly wasn’t something she was going to admit to Robert, though.

“I’m not involved with anyone. Nor am I planning to be. I’m just not interested in giving us another chance.”

He gazed at her for a second before giving a slow nod. “Okay. Let me know if you change your mind. I’ll be around.”

With that, he picked up his insulated drink carrier and walked away.

Right past Number Five, who was standing not three feet away, his own coffee cup in hand. His eyes were on them.

Oh, God. How much of their conversation had he just heard?

Enough, evidently, since he veered away and chose a table twenty feet away.

Oh, no, he didn’t. If he wanted nothing to do with her, he was going to have to tell her flat out.

Leaving the remainder of her salad uneaten, she got up and went over to his table and pulled out a chair. Unlike Robert, though, she didn’t ask if she could sit. She just did.

“Hi,” she said. For all her bravado, her heart was slipping around in her chest like a skier who’d just realized the run he was on was way above his skill level.

Jack’s fingers tightened on his mug. “Hey. Hope I didn’t run him off.”

“You didn’t.” She licked her lips. “How are you?”

“That’s the question of the year, isn’t it?”

“I’m sorry?”

He blew out a rough breath. “Nothing.”

After several beats went by, she decided to test the waters. “About yesterday—”

“Yeah, I was just coming to talk to you about that.” Another pause. “You love it here, Mira, don’t you?”

“Silver Pass? Yes, of course I do. I grew up here. Why?”

“No reason. Just curious.”

That was a strange thing to be curious about. Besides, what did it have to do with yesterday?

Before she could turn back to that particular subject, Jack started in again.

“I don’t know if you’ve seen the weather forecast, but I’m due back in Texas in a little over a week, just after that storm is supposed to hit. I don’t want to take the chance on my flight being canceled if it’s worse than predicted, so...”

He was leaving. Not in a week. But soon. Maybe even today.

“When are you going?”

“They’re trying to book me on any flight they can get, so I figured I wouldn’t have time to track you down and say goodbye. The reception desk told me you were in here, so I thought...” his jaw tightened “...now was as good a time as any.”

As good a time as any? As if she were no more important than any other business acquaintance. She guessed that put her in her place. If he wanted to tell her exactly where she stood, he couldn’t have chosen a better way to let her down easy.

Only it wasn’t easy. But she wasn’t going to drop to her knees and beg him not to go. He had a job back in Texas. She’d known that from the very beginning.

That was one thing living at a ski resort taught you, that people were not permanent fixtures. They came and they went. An endless cycle that could bring heartache, if you let it. Isn’t that what she’d been trying to teach herself with her resolution? That she needed to let them wander through while keeping her heart away from those high-traffic areas?

God. And look how successful she’d been at that.

“Well, it’s been fun. Thank you.” She swallowed. “Have a good flight.”

When she stood to go, he grabbed her wrist, fingers tight against her skin. “It was more than fun, and you know it. I just can’t do...this.”

This. This? What the hell “this” was he talking about?

She had no idea. But whatever it was, he didn’t want it. Didn’t want her.

Her chin went up. “I don’t remember anyone asking you to.”

There. Way to lob it right back at him, Mira.

Instead of pride, though, all she felt was sadness...and that same weird desperation she’d felt in his arms last night.

Number Five was leaving, and she hadn’t even had to tell him to go.

She could try to convince him not to. Tell him how she felt. But did she really want to grasp at someone who...what was it that Robert had said? Oh, yes, who just “wasn’t ready to settle down”—with her or with anyone.

Jack released her and the fingers of her other hand rubbed at the spot, trying to erase the memory of his touch. It didn’t work, though. He’d branded himself on her. Not last night. Not that time in his hotel room. But that very first time their hands had gripped each other’s in the snow.

And now she had to find a way—like he had—to uncurl her fingers and let him go.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, he’s leaving early?”

Ellory’s face was a study in disbelief as she stood in Mira’s room, hands on her hips.

“There’s talk of a winter storm blowing in, and he’s afraid of getting stranded.”

“Oh, he’s afraid all right, but not of getting stranded. What happened?”

Mira went through the whole story, about how they’d gone to the lodge, how everything had seemed to be going really well, about how he’d talked about his wife’s death.

“He told you about that?”

Mira nodded. “Why?”

“That’s not something you tell someone you have no intention of ever seeing again. Why would he bother, unless he felt it was something you needed to know?”

Mira dropped onto the foot of her bed and grabbed her Cheshire cat. “He started acting funny right after we...” she rolled her hand around in the air “...you know.”

“After you boinked like bunnies in front of the fire?”

“Elle!”

Her friend grinned and then sprawled next to her, poking the stuffed cat in its furry little belly. “You were supposed to teach her a thing or two about loosening up.”

Oh, she’d been plenty loose. That was her problem. If she’d held on to her emotions just a little bit tighter, she could have avoided this whole mess.

That wasn’t true, and she knew it.

“Okay,” Ellory said. “Let’s go down the list of things we know. One, his wife died in a plane crash. Two, he asked that you two see each other exclusively while he was here at the resort. Have I got it right so far?”

“Yes, but—”

“I’m thinking here.” She put a finger to her lips and tapped. “Three, after he tells you about his wife, you get down to business and then he seems weird afterwards.”

Mira nodded. “I thought I was being too forward.”

“Get real, ninny. Men love that stuff. So what happened after that?”

Impatience flared to life. She’d wanted hugs and a sympathetic shoulder, not to write a dissertation on what had gone wrong. “What does it matter?”

“It matters.”

Mira’s brows went up. “Okay. Four. He asks me if I like it here in Silver Pass. Five. He says there’s a storm coming...says he’s leaving early.” Her voice sped up as another wave of hurt rolled through her. “I reply that it’s been fun, bye. He grabs me and says it was more than that, and that I know it, but he just can’t do...” she drew quotes in the air “...this.”

“This.”

“Yeah, one minute he’s asking me about Silver... Oh, my God.” Wrapping her arms around her stomach, she let Chessie slide to the floor. “He can’t ask me to leave. That’s what it is.”

“What?”

“Silver Pass. His wife died on the flight to Texas. She’d left her job to be with him.”

Ellory picked up the cat and tossed it onto the pillows behind them. “He’s afraid you’ll die?”

“I don’t think so. Or at least I hope he’s not irrational enough to think it could happen twice. I think his guilt won’t let him ask me to choose between him and the resort. He asked me if I loved Silver Pass. Right out of the blue, after he saw me talking to Robert. It didn’t go along with anything we were talking about. I thought it was strange at the time, since he said he wanted to talk about what had happened at the cabin.”

“I think you’re right, Mirri.” Her brows went up. “So what’s stopping you?”

“From what? He’s probably already left.”

“So? It’s not like you can’t find Texas. It’s freaking huge. Right there on every map.”

Mira closed her eyes. Her friend was right. What was stopping her?

Fear.

Fear of rejection. Fear of what she’d find when she saw him. Fear...that he didn’t love her.

And?

What more did she have to lose? She’d let him walk away—so he was gone already as far as that went. If she confronted him, and he said he didn’t want to be with her, she hadn’t lost anything more. Just a small chunk of her pride.

But she deserved to know how he felt once and for all.

“You’re right. It’s on the map.” She reached over and grabbed her friend and squeezed her hard. “Thank you, Elle. Wish me luck.”

“I already did that when you made your resolution.” She laughed. “I sent out a little note to the universe, asking them to let me win our little bet. Which meant that Number Five—well, like Obi Wan Kenobi, he was my only hope.”

* * *

Jack slid his sunglasses higher on his nose as he waited in line at the airport. It had taken more than one attempt to finally walk out of the door of the resort this morning, two weeks to the day from when he’d first set foot on that ski slope and seen Mira standing over him.

He’d left two things behind. One thing meant nothing. And one meant everything.

The nothing: his pills, which he’d flushed down the toilet the day after his and Mira’s little trip to the cabin. He wouldn’t be needing them any more. It was time to face his fears and his dreams.

The everything: Mira. He still couldn’t believe he’d found the strength to walk away.

But he wasn’t going to ask her to leave. The words had been on the tip of his tongue, but he’d bitten them back. The storm was just an excuse, but she didn’t need to know that. It had come just in the nick of time, saving him from making the same mistake with another woman that he’d made with his wife.

If she wanted to stay in Silver Pass, he wasn’t going to be the one who urged her to leave.

And what if Mira had asked him to stay, rather than the other way around? Would he have?

His mind toyed with that idea for a few minutes. Yeah. He probably would have. But he’d never given her the opportunity to do anything except say goodbye. He’d cut her off before she could even have her say.

And what if she’d wanted more? More of their days together? More of making love? More...of everything?

Hadn’t she earned the right to be heard?

Yes. He sucked down a breath. And maybe he should do something about that.

Whether it had been a mistake to ask his wife to move for the sake of his job was a moot point. What was done was done—he couldn’t go back and change it, no matter how much he might wish to.

But he could change how he went on from here. What if—instead of asking Mira to leave—he asked her if he could stay in Silver Pass? With her?

It would mean giving up his job with the Hawks, but he could practice medicine anywhere. It didn’t even have to be with a sports team. In fact, he could imagine his services might be in high demand in any of the hospitals around a ski resort.

His heart hadn’t been in his job for a while. The coach knew it, which was why he’d sent him on this vacation in the first place. To clear his head. To help him make a choice.

It had worked. What he wanted out of life had never been clearer to him than it was right now.

Decision made, he tore the plane ticket in half and then in half again, continuing the process until the stack was too thick to rip any further. Then he stuffed all the pieces inside his coat pocket and got out of line, his pace quickening as he caught sight of the exit across the concourse.

“Jack!” A familiar voice came from somewhere behind him.

The sound stopped him in his tracks.

In slow motion, he turned. But he didn’t see anything other than folks hurrying to the security check-in area. It must have been his imagination. Then a hand waved from the line he’d just vacated.

Mira. What was she doing here?

He stood there for a second, before making his way back to the line. She met him halfway.

“What’s going on?” he asked, taking in the hair she’d tugged back in a ponytail, her lightweight jacket. Much too light for the mountains.

She held out a slip of paper. “I have a plane ticket to Texas. On your flight, in fact. If you want me.”

He blinked, staring at her hand, her words not registering for a second or two.

She’d chosen to come with him. Of her own volition. Just like he’d chosen to stay here in Silver Pass.

Jack laughed—the first really free chuckle he’d allowed himself in almost four years.

“What’s so funny?” she demanded.

He pulled the torn pieces of his ticket from his pocket. “This.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You just bought a ticket. And I just shredded one.”

Shock flashed through her eyes. “You did? Why?”

“Because I don’t want to leave. Not yet.”

“But the storm... Your job—”

“Can all wait,” he said. “I needed to come back and find you.” He blew out a breath, not sure where to start. “When I went to the restaurant two days ago I had everything planned out in my head. What I was going to say. What I was going to do. How hard I was going to kiss you.”

“You were?”

He nodded. Oh, how he’d screwed up his courage, only to have it desert him at the last minute. “And then I saw you there with Robert. Heard him try to win you back and realized you could have so much more if you found someone from Silver Pass. If you spent your life loving a man who shared your life, your passions...your location.”

“But—”

“Wait.” He set his bag down and slung an arm around her shoulders, his heart growing lighter by the second. This was what he should have done at the restaurant. Especially after seeing her beautiful face standing in the line of passengers behind him. “As I was in that line, I started thinking. Why couldn’t I be that man?”

“What?”

“I love you, Mira. I know nothing about the mountains, and I don’t know how to ski or how to ride a snowboard or even a snowmobile. But I swear I’ll be true and that I’ll spend the rest of life learning about all those things. If you’ll have me.”

Mira stared up at him for a minute and then turned toward him, burying her face in his chest, her shoulders shaking.

What the hell?

She’d bought a ticket. Surely she couldn’t be that blind that she hadn’t read the signs...figured out how he felt. But then again, he wasn’t sure about her feelings either, just assumed that buying a ticket to Texas meant she cared about him. “What’s wrong?”

She leaned back, her eyes streaming, swiping away the tears with her palm. Her body still shook. It was then he realized she wasn’t crying. She was laughing.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” she asked between gasps. “I was going to say the exact same thing. I even ordered a surfboard to be sent to the team’s address—guess they’ll be surprised when that package is delivered, huh?”

“You ordered a surfboard?”

She sucked down a deep breath. “I did. I love you too. And I want to be where you are, Jack. You’re not forcing me to leave. I want to.” Her teeth came down on her lip. “Although I have a confession to make.”

His chest tightened. “What’s that?”

“I’m deathly afraid of sharks. Think you can still teach me how to surf?”

He smiled and planted a hard kiss on her mouth, forcing himself not to linger more than a minute or two. “I think that’s something we should discuss in detail. Back at the lodge. Because I suddenly have a very urgent need.”

“Anything I can help with?”

He kissed her again. “Actually, you’re the only one who can.”

* * *

Three hours later they were snuggled together under the covers in her room, perspiration still drying on her skin. Jack lay behind her, his body pressed tight to hers, thumb brushing back and forth over her bare hip. A shiver went through her.

God, she loved this man. No matter where the future took them, she wanted to be right in the middle of it.

“Does this mean you’re not moving on to guy number six any time soon?” The low gravelly tones slid across her temple, carrying more than a hint of possessiveness.

“Mmm. I’ll think about it.”

The hand caressing her hip dropped a quick slap to her butt.

“Oww. Okay. No more men.” She blinked as the stinging in her backside morphed into a wave of heat that washed over her. “Although your reaction to that was kind of hot.”

Something came to life against the swell of her bottom.

“Woman, you are going to be the death of me.”

She rolled onto her other side. “What about the storm? Are you sure you don’t need to go back? I’ll go with you.” She touched his face. “Because I want to. Not because I have to. My dad is getting married in a few months, and I’ve already talked to him about finding a replacement for me.”

“I still have a few things to work out in my head, and you need to know what you’re getting into. I’ve struggled over the last four years.”

“It’s okay. We have plenty of time to figure things out. It doesn’t even matter where we end up.”

He drew her closer. “For now, I just want to ride out the storm here at the lodge. With you.”

“Emphasis on the riding part, I hope.”

“Mira!” He gave a half-strangled laugh that lit her up inside.

She snuggled back against him. “I guess this means I owe Ellory a hundred bucks. She bet I wouldn’t make it past man number five without falling for him.”

Jack turned her over and took her mouth in a long kiss that had her clinging to him, breathless for more. “A hundred bucks, huh? Not sure I’m worth that kind of money.”

She reached beneath the covers and found him, already hard and ready.

“Well, then,” she said. “I guess you’d better start earning your keep.”

She stroked him once and then again, relishing the low groan of pleasure he gave at her touch.

“Mmm...I think I could get used to this.” He rolled her beneath him and parted her legs. “How long do you think it’ll take me to pay off that debt?”

She arched into him, her own need beginning to rise out of control. “How does forever sound?”

* * * * *

A Date with Her Valentine Doc

A VALENTINE TO REMEMBER One day they will never forget!

A DATE WITH HER VALENTINE DOC by Melanie Milburne

Bertie Clark really shouldn’t be fantasising about Dr Matt Bishop—he’s her boss, and is 100% off-limits! But, working on the hospital’s St Valentine’s Day Ball with him, Bertie knows she can’t ignore the sparks flying around for ever—surely a girl deserves a little fun?

Dear Reader

The question I am asked most frequently is: Where do you get your ideas? It’s not always easy to answer as inspiration for stories can be a deeply subconscious thing and I often don’t have a clue where the idea came from. But in the case of Bertie and Matt’s story I know exactly what inspired it.

On St Valentine’s Day in 2014 I was interviewed on national television about ‘How to Write a BestSelling Romance Novel’. One of the panel hosts, Joe Hildebrand, had recently published An Average Joe, a memoir of his quirky childhood, and I just happened to be reading it at the time of the interview—which was kind of spooky! But then, Bertie’s mother would say that was the stars or the planets aligning, or something. :)

Last year I was asked to write a short story for The Australian Review of Fiction (the first romance author ever to contribute—yay!). I wrote EM AND EM in the first person and couldn’t wait to do it again in a full novel, so when my lovely editor Flo Nicoll offered me a chance to write a special St Valentine’s Day book I jumped at it—but on the proviso that I could do it in the first person.

I hope you enjoy Bertie and Matt’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. BTW—watch out for Bertie’s sister Jem’s story, coming soon in Mills & Boon® Medical Romance™!

Best wishes

Melanie Milburne x

From as soon as MELANIE MILBURNE could pick up a pen she knew she wanted to write. It was when she picked up her first Mills & Boon® at seventeen that she realised she wanted to write romance. After being distracted for a few years by meeting and marrying her own handsome hero, surgeon husband Steve, and having two boys, plus completing a master’s of education and becoming a nationally ranked athlete (masters swimming), she decided to write. Five submissions later she sold her first book and is now a multi-published, bestselling, award-winning USA TODAY author. In 2008 she won the Australian Readers’ Association most popular category/series romance, and in 2011 she won the prestigious Romance Writers of Australia R*BY award.

Melanie loves to hear from her readers via her website, www.melaniemilburne.com.au, or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/melanie.milburne

Each year I am part of the silent auction for the Heart Foundation in Tasmania. I offer a book dedication and this year’s winner was Maria Chung, who wanted this book to be dedicated to her husband:

Dr Stephen Chung, a wonderful husband, father and doctor.

Thank you to both of you for your continued support of the Heart Foundation in Tasmania.

MM

CHAPTER ONE

THE FIRST THING I saw when I walked into the ICU office on my first day back to work after my honeymoon was my postcard pinned to the noticeboard. Well, it was supposed to be my honeymoon. I’d booked the leave for months ahead. It’s hard to get three weeks off in a row at St Ignatius, especially before Christmas. There are a lot of working mums at St Iggy’s and I always feel guilty if I’m stuffing up someone’s plan to be at their little kid’s Christmas concert. Which was why I hadn’t come back to work until the ‘honeymoon’ was over, so to speak.

My postcard was right in the centre of the noticeboard. In pride of place. Flashing like a beacon. The last time I’d seen it had been in my chalet room at the ski resort in Italy, along with two others I’d written to my elderly neighbours. I swear I hadn’t actually intended to post them. It had been a therapeutic exercise my mother had suggested to rid myself of negative energy, but the super-efficient housekeeping staff must have seen them lying on the desk and helpfully posted them for me. That’s service for you.