The Italian Doctor's Proposal. Kate Hardy

      “There’s one thing you could do to prove to him you’re not interested in him,” he said

      “What?” Lucy asked.

      “Show him you’re off-limits—you’re someone else’s girl. If he knows you’re still single, he’ll think you’re pining for him. Whereas if he sees you with someone…he’ll know you’re not. And then he’ll leave you alone.”

      The volcano was about to explode at any minute, Nic thought.

      Instead she nodded. “Good point.”

      She was going to go ahead with it?

      “What’s the plan?”

      He didn’t have one! “We go back onto the ward. He overhears you make a date with the man in your life.” This was the crunch. The bit where she’d say no.

      “And you think it’d work?”

      Yes! Yes! his heart screamed. “It’s worth a try,” he said, as casually as he could.

      Dear Reader,

      It’s amazing where ideas come from. This one was inspired by a fifth birthday party invitation! The theme was “superheroes” and the picture of Antonio Banderas as Zorro made the lightbulb ping in the back of my head.

      Just imagine the most gorgeous masked highwayman dancing with you at a charity ball, kissing you and then leaving in a swirl of cape…. (Excuse me while my knees go weak.) And then, next time you meet him, he turns out to be the man who has got your job!

      That’s the situation for Lucy Williams in The Italian Doctor’s Proposal—and you can imagine how she reacts to Nic Alberici. But when her former fiancé starts pestering her, Nic becomes a man with a plan. A plan that doesn’t go how either of them intended it…

      Nic rather ran away with me in this book. One particular scene wasn’t in my original outline, but Nic had his own ideas and insisted on having his own way. So be prepared to be swept off your feet—I certainly couldn’t resist him!

      With love,

      Kate Hardy

      The Italian Doctor’s Proposal

       Kate Hardy

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      CONTENTS

       COVER

Dear Reader

       TITLE PAGE

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

       CHAPTER FIVE

       CHAPTER SIX

       CHAPTER SEVEN

       CHAPTER EIGHT

       CHAPTER NINE

       CHAPTER TEN

       CHAPTER ELEVEN

       CHAPTER TWELVE

       CHAPTER THIRTEEN

       CHAPTER FOURTEEN

       EPILOGUE

       EXTRACT

       COPYRIGHT

       PROLOGUE

      ‘YOUR money or your life?’

      Lucy whirled round and stared at the highwayman. She didn’t recognise the voice or the lower half of his face not hidden by the domino mask. Or the dark hazel eyes, a curious mix of brown and grey that somehow managed to be soft and piercing at the same time.

      Dangerous eyes.

      Your money or your life?

      Without giving her a chance to answer, he smiled at her. A smile that was even more dangerous than his eyes. A smile that started a small, slow smoulder in the pit of her stomach.

      He was a walking definition of gorgeous. Dark hair that curled beneath a flat-crowned black hat; smooth olive skin; a loose white silk shirt, laced half-open to reveal a sprinkling of dark hair on his chest; tight black trousers leading down to highly polished black boots; and a silky black cloak.

      Every woman’s dream highwayman.

      Including Lucy’s.

      ‘A kiss would do,’ he said huskily, and leaned forward to claim it.

      As kisses went, it was fairly chaste. And in the middle of a very public arena: the staff charity fancy-dress ball at Treverro Hospital. But the touch of his mouth against hers did something to her. Lucy’s knees actually buckled. If he hadn’t been supporting both her elbows, she would have fallen flat on her face.

      And it got worse.

      Because when he broke the kiss and pulled back just far enough to see her face, she saw it in his eyes. He knew what effect he’d had on her. He knew he’d blown just about every fuse in her body. And his eyes said that if she’d let him, he’d blow the ones she didn’t even know she had.

      ‘Catch you later, princess,’ he said, then tipped his hat briefly, gave her a broad wink and spun on his heel as he wrapped his black cloak back round him.

      It was completely theatrical and over the top. She should have laughed. Except she felt too sick when she realised what had just happened. Whoever the highwayman was, that kiss had been a set-up. A very public one. She could guess just who’d put him up to it, too—even what he’d said. ‘Lucy’s an ice maiden. It’s about time someone proved she melts.’

      She gritted her teeth. If she ever—ever—came across the highwayman again, she’d roast him alive.

      And as for her SHO…Malcolm Hobart had better hope she was in a better mood when she was