The Playboy Doctor's Proposal. Alison Roberts

      

      With her arms full of the white silk train of Emily’s dress and the soft tulle of her veil, Hannah walked very slowly, her arm touching Ryan’s as he held the silk ribbons joining the wreaths on the heads of the bridal couple. They got a little tangled at the last corner, and there was a momentary pause.

      And Ryan looked at her.

      There was no mistaking the sensation of free fall. The feeling that all the cells in her body were charged with some kind of static electricity, desperately seeking a focus for their energy.

      That focus was to be found in the depths of the dark eyes that were so close to her own. This was a connection that transcended anything remotely physical. The caress of that eye contact lasted only a heartbeat, but Hannah knew it would haunt her for life.

      It was a moment of truth.

      A truth she hadn’t expected.

      One she most certainly did not want.

      She was in love with Ryan Fisher.

Dear Reader,

      How lucky am I?

      To have colleagues who are also my friends, whose skills I have the utmost respect for, and who share a love of the genre and a dedication to making each story the best yet.

      To work together and have the challenge of a scope broad enough to link several books, along with the sheer fun of intertwining the stories of each other’s characters, is an enriching experience.

      So here we are, back in Crocodile Creek, and we’re throwing a cyclone at our own bit of northern Australia. Scary stuff!

      I’m more likely to experience a bad earthquake or maybe a tsunami where I am in New Zealand, but it’s a good idea to be prepared for whatever dramatic turns nature can take, and we can get some bad storms at times.

      Here’s what you can do if a strong wind warning is issued:

      Bring your pets inside and move stock to shelter

      Secure outdoor furniture

      Tape across large windows to prevent shattering

      Stay inside during storm

      Partially open a window on the sheltered side of the house

      Stay away from doors and windows

      If you have to go outside, watch out for dangling and broken power lines

      Is a cyclone enough of a link for our stories? We didn’t think so. There’s also a little boy called Felixx….

      Happy reading!

      Love,

      Alison

      The Playboy Doctor’s Proposal

      Alison Roberts

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      CROCODILE CREEK: 24-HOUR RESCUE

      A cutting-edge medical center. Fully equipped for saving lives and loves!

      Crocodile Creek’s state-of-the-art medical center and rescue response unit is home to a team of expertly trained medical professionals. These dedicated men and women face the challenges of life, love and medicine every day!

      Look for three more stories revisiting Crocodile Creek in Harlequin® Medical Romance™.

      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

       Extract

       Copyright

PROLOGUE

      ‘SHH, now, Felixx!’

      ‘Hush, OK?’

      ‘Silence. We have to have silence for Alanya to get well.’

      For days this was all he’d heard, it seemed to Felixx. He crept around on the edge of Alanya’s illness, too scared to ask how bad she was, shut away from seeing her except for one or two short visits to the wellness shelter each day, during which he knew he had to be silent or she wouldn’t get better fast enough.

      Sometimes he asked people, ‘How’s Mummy?’ He liked to call her Mummy because that’s who she was. She always wanted him to call her Alanya, because that was her spirit name, but as she couldn’t hear him right now, he said ‘Mummy’ and it helped a little bit.

      The silence helped, too. He had to stay as quiet as anything, or she might not get well. He knew that, but it was so hard. The fish on his sneaker helped. Mummy had drawn it with his felt pens. Mostly the bright orange one. She’d done it the day he’d showed her the hole.

      ‘We can’t afford a new shoe just yet,’ she’d said. ‘So let’s make it special. The hole can be his eye, see?’

      He could poke his finger in the hole. In and out. It was tight at first but now it was easy. His finger went in and out.

      In and out.

      It helped him to stay quiet. To stop the questions he so badly wanted to ask, like, ‘Mummy…Alanya…are you feeling better? Do you need more medicine?’

      She didn’t seem to be eating very much. They gave her carrot juice to drink, to drain the toxins from her system. How long did toxins take to drain?

      Where did they come out?

      He was too scared to ask any of these questions, but he listened more than the healing sisters thought. He heard words like ‘worried’ and ‘taking too long’ and after this he stayed even quieter, stopped even asking, ‘How’s Mummy?’ in case his talking, even outside the healing shelter, was the thing stopping