Dr Romano's Christmas Baby. Amy Andrews

      

      Rilla murmured something, and rocked her head from side to side, but didn’t waken.

      Luca sighed and hunkered down beside her. He lifted a hand to shake her shoulder, but was caught by the protective way her fingers were splayed down low on her belly.

      His baby lay beneath that hand. Their baby. He shook his head at the wonder of it all and gave in to the urge to lie down beside her. He lay on his side, his elbow bent, his head propped on his hand, and gazed down at her.

      He would never have thought he’d get a second chance at this. Never. When things had ended between them he hadn’t even been able to contemplate something this wonderful ever happening again. The end had been too painful, too soul-destroying for him to ever want to be here again. But he was. And he wanted to hold his baby so badly he couldn’t resist putting his hand out to touch her.

      Amy Andrews has always loved writing, and still can’t quite believe that she gets to do it for a living. Creating wonderful heroines and gorgeous heroes and telling their stories is an amazing way to pass the day. Sometimes they don’t always act as she’d like them to—but then neither do her kids, so she’s kind of used to it. Amy lives in the very beautiful Samford Valley, with her husband and aforementioned children, along with six brown chooks and two black dogs. She loves to hear from her readers. Drop her a line at www.amyandrews.com. au

       Recent titles by the same author:

      TOP-NOTCH SURGEON, PREGNANT NURSE*

      THE OUTBACK DOCTOR’S SURPRISE BRIDE

      FOUND: A FATHER FOR HER CHILD

      THE ITALIAN COUNT’S BABY

      *Brisbane General Hospital

       Dear Reader

      Welcome to Brisbane General Hospital! Set in my home town of Brisbane, this trilogy explores the lives and loves of three nurses, the Winters sisters—Beth, Rilla and Hailey. And three very special doctors—Gabe, Luca and Callum.

      I’ve always wanted to write a linked series, and was thrilled when my editor suggested it. I love catching up with previous characters and being familiar with a particular setting. And Brisbane General is a beauty. Being a nurse, I can tell you there’s no place quite like a hospital to bring out real emotions and make people realise what is truly important in life.

      In DR ROMANO’S CHRISTMAS BABY, it’s Rilla and Luca’s turn. Rilla’s carefully ordered world is turned upside down when, after seven years apart, her gorgeous husband Luca reappears as Brisbane General’s new Director of Emergency Medicine. The seething sexual tension between them cannot be denied—and neither is prepared for the consequences. Will Rilla and Luca get a much deserved happily-ever-after in their Christmas stockings? I hope you enjoy finding out.

      Wishing all my readers a very merry Christmas and the best for 2009.

       Amy Andrews

      Don’t miss Hailey’s story in January 2009!

      DR ROMANO’S CHRISTMAS BABY

      BY

      AMY ANDREWS

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To my sister-in-law Emily, one of my

      biggest supporters. And to all those health care

      professionals who man our hospitals over Christmas

      while everyone else is making merry.

      Extra-special Christmas joy to all of you.

      CHAPTER ONE

      ‘I CAN’T believe I’ve still got a month to go,’ Beth puffed disgustedly as her legs plodded on down the bushy track, her hand kneading the small of her back. ‘I feel like I’ve been pregnant for ever. Now I know how elephants feel.’

      Rilla looked at her sister and stifled a laugh. She’d never seen Beth look more beautiful. ‘Pregnancy becomes you,’ she said, patting her sister’s swollen belly.

      Rilla felt a rush of emotion at the firm swelling beneath her hand and a twinge in her chest that had nothing to do with the exertion of the walk.

      Beth shot Rilla a don’t-patronise-the-expectant-mother look. ‘Oh, yeah. Morning sickness, heartburn, backache and varicose veins. Very becoming,’ Beth muttered. ‘And to top it off I’ve got this damn head cold.’ She blew her nose on a tissue. ‘I mean, who gets a cold in September, for crying out loud?’

      Rilla laughed, startling a nearby parrot, which took to the air with an indignant cry and a blur of crimson wings. ‘You should be at home with your feet up, not trampling through the bush with me.’

      ‘I’m going stir-crazy at home with nothing to do. I could have still been at work but Gabe insisted I take the full six weeks’ maternity leave.’

      ‘He likes to fuss.’ Rilla shrugged.

      ‘He’s driving me mad.’

      Rilla grinned at the thought of her brother-in-law in full don’t-even-lift-a-paperclip mode. She stumbled over a tree root hidden beneath a carpet of leaf litter and fell behind Beth a little. She looked up to see her sister steaming ahead, still tall and straight as a stick from behind, despite the advanced pregnancy.

      So unlike her own shorter, curvier proportions. Rilla had no doubt she’d be well up to the waddling stage by now. If only.

      ‘Anyway, I’m sick of talking about me. Let’s talk about something else.’

      ‘OK, sure.’ Rilla shrugged again. ‘What do you want to talk about?’

      ‘Let’s talk about you.’

      Rilla frowned. ‘What about me?’

      ‘We’re worried about you, Ril.’

      Rilla looked at her older sister. ‘We?’

      ‘The family. All of us.’

      Rilla groaned. She’d been set up. ‘So you’re the emissary, are you?’

      ‘Come on, Ril. We love you. Of course we worry. You’ve been working hard for years to get the NUM job but the last few months, since the position came up, you’ve been working yourself into the ground. Then there was all the stress of the interview last week. Not to mention the divorce papers and taking off your wedding ring. We all know what a big step that was for you. If you’re not careful, you’ll be heading for a breakdown.’

      ‘I’m fine,’ Rilla said testily.

      ‘You don’t sound like it. Maybe you need to talk about it? About him?’ Beth said gently.

      ‘I do not want to talk about Luca,’ Rilla said tersely.

      She didn’t even want to think about her estranged husband. The fact that she would be working with him again in a couple of weeks was causing enough angst. Only a matter of days until her world would once again tilt on its axis.

      ‘Have you heard from him yet? Where’s he going to be living?’ Beth persisted.

      ‘I suppose back at the flat…I don’t know. And I don’t care. I have better things to do than think about Luca Romano,’ Rilla retorted.

      ‘Which is why we’re walking to the very waterfall where he proposed to you eight years ago,’ Beth pointed out.

      ‘Hey,’ Rilla protested. ‘You wanted to go for a bush walk. I’m not David Attenborough. This is the only one I know.’

      Beth raised an eyebrow. ‘It just seems a little… Freudian,’ she suggested.

      The irony of their destination hadn’t been lost on her either, but Rilla refused to dignify her sister’s statement with a comment. The memories of the day Luca had brought her here were