Dating the Millionaire Doctor. Marion Lennox

       ‘No,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t want to wake up beside you.’

      Something shuttered in his face—an expression she didn’t like. Pain? No. It was a closing of something that had barely started to open.

      

      ‘Jake, no,’ she said swiftly—she did not want to hurt this man but this was important. She was struggling to explain it, struggling to understand it herself, but somehow she had to find words for what she was feeling. ‘What happened tonight was magic, time out of frame. I needed it so much—I needed you—and I’ll be grateful for the rest of my life. But if I wake up beside you in the morning…then I might hold and cling. I don’t want that. I don’t want anything to mess with what we had tonight.’

       I don’t want to fall in love.

      Where had that come from? No matter, it was there, hovering between them as if both had thought it.

      

      Love…After one night? She didn’t think so.

      

      She knew she had to move on. Somehow Jake seemed to have given her the strength to do just that, and she would not mess with it.

      

      ‘I loved tonight,’ she whispered. ‘Tonight I loved you. But we both know our worlds don’t fit together. Let’s just accept tonight’s magic and move on.’

      

      ‘I’m not sure I can.’ He was pushing open the door to her bedroom with his foot…

      Dating the Millionaire Doctor

      By

      Marion Lennox

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MARION LENNOX is a country girl, born on an Australian dairy farm. She moved on—mostly because the cows just weren’t interested in her stories! Married to a ‘very special doctor’, Marion writes romances for Mills & Boon® Medical™ Romance as well as Mills & Boon® Romance (she used a different name for each category for a while—if you’re looking for her past Mills & Boon® Romance stories, search for author Trisha David as well).

      In her non-writing life Marion cares for kids, cats, dogs, chooks and goldfish. She travels, she fights her rampant garden (she’s losing) and her house dust (she’s lost).

      

      Having spun in circles for the first part of her life, she’s now stepped back from her ‘other’ career, which was teaching statistics at her local university. Finally she’s reprioritised her life, figured out what’s important and discovered the joys of deep baths, romance and chocolate. Preferably all at the same time!

      

       Recent titles by the same author:

       Mills & Boon® Medical™ Romance

      CITY SURGEON, SMALL TOWN MIRACLE

      A SPECIAL KIND OF FAMILY

       Mills & Boon® Romance

      CINDERELLA: HIRED BY THE PRINCE

      CROWNED: THE PALACE NANNY

      (Marrying His Majesty mini-series)

      This book is dedicated to all the wonderful volunteers who worked tirelessly to save injured wildlife after the Australian Black Saturday bushfires.

       Dear Reader

      On February 7th, 2009, wildfire destroyed a vast section of Australia’s south-east corner. Almost two hundred lives were lost, many people lost their homes, and vast tracts of farmland and natural bushland were destroyed. But in the days that followed we saw our community at its best.

      

      I was privileged to be part of a livestock appeal, and the response left us overwhelmed by human kindness. People brought in birdseed and cuttlefish, and others staggered in under huge bags of dog food. We had people who looked as if they had no money at all coming in with animal bedding, food—anything they could think of. We had companies donating truckloads of their produce. We had vets arriving with veterinary equipment.

      

      Volunteers loaded, unloaded, distributed. Out in the burned-out bushland volunteers scattered feed, searched for injured animals, did whatever was needed. Volunteers are working still.

      

      In Tori’s story I wanted to share with you some of my pride in my community, and my awe of what people are capable of. From the ashes springs new life. Take care of each other, but know that in times of deepest trouble we’re never truly alone.

      

      And we can still look forward to love.

      

       Marion Lennox

      Chapter One

      FIVE-MINUTE dating was five minutes too long. He’d dated nine women tonight, and the last was the least inspiring of the lot.

      Jake glanced down at his fact sheet, hoping for help. Victoria. Twenty-nine. Single. There wasn’t a lot here to talk about.

      ‘I’m pleased to meet you, Victoria,’ he ventured. That’s terrific, he thought wryly. Snappy dialogue. Incisive. Excellent way to start things rolling.

      ‘My friends call me Tori,’ she ventured, dragging her gaze from the door. Was she thinking about escaping?

      ‘Is this your first try at speed dating?’

      ‘Yes. And you?’

      ‘Yes.’

      This wasn’t exactly scintillating, he conceded. Where did he go from here?

      Each of his last nine ‘dates’ had been vivacious and chirpy. He hadn’t needed to make an effort. Now, when effort was required, he wondered whether it was worth it.

      Had Tori made an effort?

      Victoria—or Tori—looked a real country mouse. She was wearing a knee-length black skirt, scuffed court shoes and a white blouse with ruffles down the front. Her chestnut-brown curls—had she cut the fringe herself?—had been pulled into a rough knot, simply tied with a white ribbon. She wore no make up and no jewellery.

      Why was she here if she wasn’t prepared to spend some time on her appearance? he wondered. The lines around her clear green eyes were stretched tight, making her seem a lot older than twenty-nine years. But did she care? She looked as if she wanted to be here even less than he did, which was really saying something.

      The manager of Dr. Jake Hunter’s Australian properties had promised Jake he’d enjoy it, but enjoy was so far off the mark Jake couldn’t believe it. But he was here. He was stuck. He had to make conversation.

      ‘So what do you do for a living?’

      ‘I care for injured wildlife.’

      That’d be right. She looked like a do-gooder. Not that he had anything against do-gooders, he reminded himself hastily. It was just that she looked…the type.

      ‘So you’ll have been busy in the fires?’

      ‘Yes.’

      And here was another conversation stopper. Six months ago wildfire had ripped this little community apart, decimating the entire district. As an outsider Jake didn’t know where to take it. Should he say something like, Was your house