Needed: Full-Time Father. Carol Marinelli

      “Madison, I want to get to know you, all of you. I want to get close to you….”

      She frowned up at him as if he were speaking a foreign language, a language that she’d barely even started to grasp. But occasional words filtered through, and despite her utter confusion somehow she understood what Guy was saying. She wanted to get close to him too, wanted to get to know all of him. She stared back at his gorgeous face, and it almost seemed possible that with a man like Guy she could work it out, that maybe they could learn this language together.

      Dear Reader,

      The opening of a new hospital generates an enormous amount of interest and excitement. I know, because it happened recently in the area where I live. Every week the local papers outlined the building’s progress. And as opening day neared, parents waiting for their children in the playground could be heard chatting about the jobs they were applying for, while expectant mums counted the days till the maternity ward opened so that their baby could be delivered in one of the very new, very sumptuous birthing suites.

      Taking the tour of the new hospital (yes there was a tour for the public!) I found myself caught up in the excitement and knew there had to be a story there. In fact, by the time the ribbon had been cut, Madison had already introduced herself to me!

      I hope you enjoy her story.

      Happy reading,

      Carol Marinelli

      Needed: Full-Time Father

      Carol Marinelli

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      CONTENTS

       COVER

Dear Reader

       TITLE PAGE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

       CHAPTER FOUR

       CHAPTER FIVE

       CHAPTER SIX

       CHAPTER SEVEN

       CHAPTER EIGHT

       CHAPTER NINE

       EPILOGUE

       COPYRIGHT

       CHAPTER ONE

      HER very own parking space!

      Pulling on the handbrake of her smart, practical and incredibly clean sedan, Madison Walsh took a moment out of her busy schedule to indulge herself, staring with quiet satisfaction at the writing on the wall.

      RESERVED / ED NUM

      OK, it didn’t say reserved for Madison Walsh, Nursing Unit Manager, Accident and Emergency Department, it didn’t even matter that a parking space was possibly the last thing a perpetually early-for-everything woman like Madison needed—but it was hers!

      Another step in the right direction, another life goal achieved.

      Locking her car, Madison waved as Gerard Dalton slid his dark blue car into his own reserved parking spot and waited politely as the elderly gentleman climbed out.

      ‘One day I’ll beat you to work!’ Gerard grinned. ‘You’re not due to start for another two hours, Madison.’

      ‘Neither are you,’ Madison pointed out, walking with Gerard through the dark car park, bypassing the darkened accident and emergency entrance and heading instead to the main reception area of the hospital.

      ‘I guess we both just want to have that one final check before it’s all systems go. Mind you,’ he added rather more lightly, ‘not before a good strong cup of coffee. Let’s hope the kitchen staff remembers that we’re here and delivers us some milk…’ His voice trailed off as Madison held up a carrier bag.

      ‘I stopped at the garage, just in case there wasn’t any.’

      ‘Of course you did,’ Gerard said with a wry note to his voice. ‘Who’s looking after that gorgeous daughter of yours while her mother’s out all hours?’

      ‘Emily’s fine.’ Madison laughed. ‘She’s having a sleepover at my friend Helen’s, so that I could be here early today.’

      ‘And she’s enjoying going to school?’

      ‘She loves it,’ Madison responded warmly, as they arrived outside the deserted reception area. She nodded her thanks as the security guard gave a thumbs-up and the doors slid open.

      ‘Morning, Vic!’

      ‘Morning, Professor, morning, Sister,’ Vic responded cheerfully. ‘All ready for the big day?’

      ‘I hope so,’ Madison said, rolling her eyes. ‘If we’re not, we’re about to find out the hard way.’

      ‘How could we not be ready?’ Gerard said assuredly as they walked along the highly polished corridor and into the vacant emergency unit. ‘We’ve been planning this day for months now.’

      ‘I know,’ Madison sighed, flicking on lights as she went, noticing how hard the domestic staff had been working in the last couple of days, every last trace of builders’ dust gone. The plastic wraps had been removed from the chairs in the waiting room, even the vending machines had been stocked up, but nothing could take away the scent of new paint and carpeting, and the pristine look of a hospital that had yet to see a patient. ‘At least that’s what I keep telling myself, but I’ve been awake every night for the past week, thinking of a million and one things that might go wrong.’

      ‘You worry too much,’ Gerard admonished, steering her away from the empty nurses’ station and into the staffroom. ‘You’re the most meticulous, organised person I know, Madison. That’s one of the reasons I insisted on having you as the NUM when they offered me the director’s role for the new accident and emergency department. Designing a hospital from scratch is a hard enough task, but without a well-run, functioning emergency department…’ He paused for a moment, kettle poised in mid-fill, and Madison noted he’d pulled out three mugs, which summed Gerard Dalton up in a heartbeat.

      He’d be making a brew for Vic as well—porter or professor, it didn’t matter. If you were on Gerard’s team, you belonged.

      ‘You know this is one of the proudest days of my life.’

      ‘There’d be a lot of proud moments