The Sicilian Doctor's Proposal. Sarah Morgan

       MEDITERRANEAN DOCTORS

      Demanding, devoted and drop-dead gorgeous—these Latin doctors will make your heart race!

      Smolderingly sexy Mediterranean doctors

      Saving lives by day…red-hot lovers by night

      Read these four MEDITERRANEAN DOCTORS stories in this new collection by your favorite authors, available from Harlequin Presents EXTRA October 2008:

      The Sicilian Doctor’s Mistress

       Sarah Morgan

      The Italian Count’s Baby

       Amy Andrews

      Spanish Doctor, Pregnant Nurse

       Carol Marinelli

      The Spanish Doctor’s Love-Child

       Kate Hardy

      SARAH MORGAN was born in Wiltshire and started writing at the age of eight, when she produced an autobiography of her hamster.

      At the age of eighteen she traveled to London to train as a nurse in one of London’s top teaching hospitals, and she describes those years as extremely happy and definitely censored!

      She worked in a number of areas after she qualified, but her favorite was A&E, where she found the work stimulating and fun. Nowhere else in the hospital environment did she encounter such good teamwork between doctors and nurses.

      By now her interests had moved on from hamsters to men, and she started writing romance fiction.

      Her first completed manuscript, written after the birth of her first child, was rejected but the comments were encouraging, so she tried again. On the third attempt, her manuscript Worth the Risk was accepted unchanged. She describes receiving the acceptance letter as one of the best moments of her life, after meeting her husband and having her two children.

      Sarah still works part-time in a health-related industry, and spends the rest of the time with her family, trying to squeeze in writing whenever she can. She is an enthusiastic skier and walker, and loves outdoor life.

      The Sicilian Doctor’s Proposal

      Sarah Morgan

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      CONTENTS

       Cover

       MEDITERRANEAN DOCTORS

       About the Author

       Title Page

      PROLOGUE

      CHAPTER ONE

      CHAPTER TWO

      CHAPTER THREE

      CHAPTER FOUR

      CHAPTER FIVE

      CHAPTER SIX

      CHAPTER SEVEN

      CHAPTER EIGHT

      CHAPTER NINE

      CHAPTER TEN

       Copyright

       PROLOGUE

      ‘I DON’T believe in love. And neither do you.’ Alice put her pen down and stared in bemusement at her colleague of five years. Had he gone mad?

      ‘That was before I met Trish.’ His expression was soft and far-away, his smile bordering on the idiotic. ‘It’s finally happened. Just like the fairy-tales.’

      She wanted to ask if he’d been drinking, but didn’t want to offend him. ‘This isn’t like you at all, David. You’re an intelligent, hard-working doctor and at the moment you’re talking like a—like a…’ A seven-year-old girl? No, she couldn’t possibly say that. ‘You’re not sounding like yourself,’ she finished lamely.

      ‘I don’t care. She’s the one. And I have to be with her. Nothing else matters.’

      ‘Nothing else matters?’ On the desk next to her the phone suddenly rang, but for once Alice ignored it. ‘It’s the start of the summer season, the village is already filling with tourists, most of the locals are struck down by that horrid virus, you’re telling me you’re leaving and you don’t think it matters? Please, tell me this is a joke, David, please tell me that.’

      Even with David working alongside her she was working flat out to cope with the demand for medical care at the moment. It wasn’t that she didn’t like hard work. Work was her life. Work had saved her. But she knew her limits.

      David dragged both hands through his already untidy hair. ‘Not leaving exactly, Alice. I just need the summer off. To be with Trish. We need to decide on our future. We’re in love!’

      Love. Alice stifled a sigh of exasperation. Behind every stupid action was a relationship, she mused silently. She should know that by now. She’d seen it often enough. Why should David be different? Just because he’d appeared to be a sane, rational human being—

      ‘You’ll hate London.’

      ‘Actually, I find London unbelievably exciting,’ David confessed. ‘I love the craziness of it all, the crowds of people all intent on getting somewhere yesterday, no one interested in the person next to them—’ He broke off with an apologetic wave of his hand. ‘I’m getting carried away. But don’t you ever feel trapped here, Alice? Don’t you ever wish you could do something in this village without the whole place knowing?’

      Alice sat back in her chair and studied him carefully. She’d never known David so emotional. ‘No,’ she said quietly. ‘I like knowing people and I like people knowing me. It helps when it comes to understanding their medical needs. They’re our responsibility and I take that seriously.’

      It was what had drawn her to the little fishing village in the first place. And now it felt like home. And the people felt like family. More than her own ever had. Here, she fitted. She’d found her place and she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. She loved the narrow cobbled streets, the busy harbour, the tiny shops selling shells and the trendy store selling surfboards and wetsuits. She loved the summer when the streets were crowded with tourists and she loved the winter when the beaches were empty and lashed by rain. For a moment she thought of London with its muggy, traffic-clogged streets and then she thought of her beautiful house. The house overlooking the broad sweep of the sea. The house she’d lovingly restored in every spare moment she’d had over the past five years.

      It had given her sanctuary and a life that suited her. A life that was under her control.

      ‘Since we’re being honest here…’ David took a deep breath and straightened, his eyes slightly wary. ‘I think you should consider leaving, too. You’re an attractive, intelligent woman but you’re never going to find someone special buried in a place like this. You never meet anyone remotely eligible. All you think about is work, work and work.’

      ‘David, I don’t want to meet anyone.’ She spoke slowly and clearly so that