Consultant Care. Sharon Kendrick

       His eyes narrowed.

      ‘Why bother asking me, Staff? You seem about to give a lecture. Pray continue.’

      Patronising so-and-so! ‘With pleasure!’ she responded tartly. ‘Giving juniors nothing but menial chores plays havoc with their self-esteem. Especially if they see the staff nurse swanning around the place like a queen bee, afraid to dirty her apron or have any kind of hands-on contact with the patients. Now that kind of attitude doesn’t earn the kind of respect I like to receive from my junior nurses!’

      ‘Whereas you think that scrubbing out the bath and singing loudly like a fishwife does, I suppose?’ he suggested sarcastically.

      Nicolette gave him her most beatific smile. ‘Yes, Doctor,’ she replied sweetly. ‘I do.’

      Dear Reader,

      One hundred. Doesn’t matter how many times I say it, I still can’t believe that’s how many books I’ve written. It’s a fabulous feeling but more fabulous still is the news that Mills & Boon are issuing every single one of my backlist as digital titles. Wow. I can’t wait to share all my stories with you - which are as vivid to me now as when I wrote them.

      There’s BOUGHT FOR HER HUSBAND, with its outrageously macho Greek hero and A SCANDAL, A SECRET AND A BABY featuring a very sexy Tuscan. THE SHEIKH’S HEIR proved so popular with readers that it spent two weeks on the USA Today charts and…well, I could go on, but I’ll leave you to discover them for yourselves.

      I remember the first line of my very first book: “So you’ve come to Australia looking for a husband?” Actually, the heroine had gone to Australia to escape men, but guess what? She found a husband all the same! The man who inspired that book rang me up recently and when I told him I was beginning my 100th story and couldn’t decide what to write, he said, “Why don’t you go back to where it all started?”

      So I did. And that’s how A ROYAL VOW OF CONVENIENCE was born. It opens in beautiful Queensland and moves to England and New York. It’s about a runaway princess and the enigmatic billionaire who is infuriated by her, yet who winds up rescuing her. But then, she goes and rescues him… Wouldn’t you know it?

      I’ll end by saying how very grateful I am to have a career I love, and to thank each and every one of you who has supported me along the way. You really are very dear readers.

      Love,

      Sharon xxx

      Mills & Boon are proud to present a thrilling digital collection of all Sharon Kendrick’s novels and novellas for us to celebrate the publication of her amazing and awesome 100th book! Sharon is known worldwide for her likeable, spirited heroines and her gorgeous, utterly masculine heroes.

      SHARON KENDRICK once won a national writing competition, describing her ideal date: being flown to an exotic island by a gorgeous and powerful man. Little did she realise that she’d just wandered into her dream job! Today she writes for Mills & Boon, featuring her often stubborn but always to-die-for heroes and the women who bring them to their knees. She believes that the best books are those you never want to end. Just like life…

      Consultant Care

      Sharon Kendrick

      writing as Sharon Wirdnam

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To my beautiful CiCi, who is the best daughter any mother could hope for.

      CONTENTS

       Cover

       Dear Reader

       About the Author

       Title Page

       Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

       CHAPTER FOUR

       CHAPTER FIVE

       CHAPTER SIX

       CHAPTER SEVEN

       CHAPTER EIGHT

       CHAPTER NINE

       CHAPTER TEN

       Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

      ‘Goo-goo-goo!’

      Nicolette lifted baby Tom out of the bath-tub and onto a warm, fluffy towel, where he wriggled about appreciatively as she began to dry him. ‘Goo-goo-goo!’ she cooed at him again in a sing-song voice, her experienced hands rubbing the small, fragrant body. Babies just out of the bath smelt almost good enough to eat, she decided, not for the first time! ‘Who’s an absolutely gorgeous boy, then?’ she murmured. ‘And who knows it, too?’

      The baby gurgled back, seemingly unaware that a week ago he had been hanging on to life by a slender thread.

      Nursing was no like no other job in the world, Nicolette decided with satisfaction as she pulled the plug out of the bath and the water began to gurgle away. You could start on a brand-new ward, in a brand-new hospital, and after a busy, busy morning you would automatically feel as though you’d been there since the year dot.

      Amazing!

      And very convenient, too, since the ward sister she was supposed to have been on duty with had broken her leg while out mountain climbing, and wouldn’t be back for at least six weeks. Which meant, to all intents and purposes, that Nicolette and her opposite-number staff nurse would be in charge of the ward. Talk about being thrown in at the deep end!

      ‘Yes,’ Nicolette murmured as she tickled Tom’s belly button. ‘You are definitely the most scrumptious baby!’

      ‘Do you make a habit of talking to yourself, Staff Nurse?’ came an amused voice from behind her.

      Nicolette turned round without ceasing the patting movements of her hands to see Jane Jones, one of the student nurses, standing at the bathroom door, grinning from ear to ear. Jane was a first-year student, just coming to the end of her stint on the busy paediatric ward, and she had been of invaluable help to Nicolette on her first morning at Southbury Hospital.