The Midwife's New Year Wish. Jennifer Taylor

caused, but he should never have put himself in this position in the first place.

      ‘I’m sorry to butt in but I might be able to help,’ he said with a smile that was meant to be cool but which wavered when Katie’s eyes once again shot to his face and stayed there this time.

      ‘Wh-what do you mean?’ she stammered, and a shiver ran through him when he realised that he was responsible for that catch in her voice. The women he usually dated were far too sophisticated to betray their feelings that way, but Katie had no such pretensions. Nick found himself suddenly awash with tenderness and it was the last thing he needed when he was determined to behave in a purely professional manner from now on.

      ‘That I’m Nicholas Lawson, your new specialist registrar. I should have introduced myself properly before, I suppose, but better late than never, as they say. Anyway, if I can swing it with Niall then I’d be happy to start right away instead of waiting until after Christmas.’

      ‘You’re the new registrar!’

      A second or two earlier Nick had been glorying in Katie’s lack of artifice. Now he found himself wishing that she’d made more of an effort to dissemble. Did she have to make it quite so clear how dismayed she was by the prospect of him being her new colleague? It was hard to hide his chagrin but Nick didn’t have a choice.

      ‘That’s right. Sorry to spring it on you like this, but I’ve got references and everything so you don’t have to take my word that I am who I claim to be. And, of course, Niall will vouch for me because he’s the one who interviewed me for the post in the first place.’ There was a hint of challenge in his voice because he really didn’t appreciate the fact that Katie was staring at him as though he’d just sprouted an extra head.

      ‘If Niall says it’s OK for you to start then far be it from me to question his decision, Dr Lawson,’ she stated coldly, then proceeded to ignore him as she turned to Abbey again. ‘Take Dr Lawson to the office, please, Abbey. He’ll need to speak to Niall and confirm that it’s all right for him to start work earlier than planned. There shouldn’t be a problem, but I expect Niall will want to make sure all the formalities are covered. I’ll be along as soon as I’ve got changed.’

      Nick just managed to step aside before Katie swept past him, not that she’d have had much hesitation in mowing him down, he thought. It was obvious that she was furious with him for not revealing his identity before now and he couldn’t blame her in a way. She probably felt that he’d tricked her and that hadn’t been his intention at all.

      He sighed as he followed Abbey out of the room, wishing that he’d never decided to drive up to Dalverston that day. If he’d stayed in London over the holiday then none of this would have happened. He wouldn’t have been pressganged into playing Santa and he certainly wouldn’t have ended up kissing Katie. This seemed to be turning into a Christmas to remember.

      Katie went straight to the maternity unit after she’d changed into her uniform. It was a few minutes before six and Jean Preston, the senior midwife on duty that day, was delighted to see her.

      ‘Oh, goodie! I was hoping the carol concert wouldn’t run on too long. How did it go? I was on the phone when you came round so I didn’t get much chance to listen to you.’

      ‘Fine. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, anyway,’ Katie told her briefly because she didn’t want to go into detail. The thought of having to explain Nick Lawson’s part in the proceedings was a little too much to swallow at the moment. She would have to deal with the way he’d tricked her, of course, but she needed a breathing space first and swiftly changed the subject. She glanced at the whiteboard where all the patients’ names were listed and nodded when she saw there was just one mum in the delivery suites.

      ‘Any problems there?’ she asked, turning to Jean again.

      ‘No, textbook delivery from the look of it. She’s one of Anita’s mums so she’s only booked in for the birth. She’ll be going home after the baby’s delivered so you don’t need to worry on that score.’ Jean sighed. ‘It doesn’t sound too promising for poor Karen Johnson, though, does it? What a rotten thing to happen and especially at Christmas. Mind you, it was lucky the new registrar happened to be here. It could be ages before Niall arrives if the traffic is really bad.’

      ‘It was fortunate he happened to be around,’ Katie agreed neutrally, although there was a lot she could have said if she’d had a mind to.

      She picked up the pen and wrote Karen’s name on the board in readiness for her arrival, thinking back over what had happened. Nick Lawson had never so much as hinted that he was a doctor let alone admitted that he was their new registrar. He’d had ample time to do so, too, especially after she’d told him that she was a midwife. Had he decided to keep quiet about his identity so he could make a fool of her perhaps?

      Katie’s pretty mouth compressed because she couldn’t come up with a better explanation and it stung to know that she’d been duped. She should have learned her lesson after her experiences with David, but once again she’d been taken in. Nick had even led her to believe that he expected payment for playing Santa but he’d had no more intention of asking for money than she had of…of…flying to the moon and it was the fact that he’d set out to make a fool of her that hurt the most.

      Anyone else would have explained who they were as soon as she’d accosted them in the car park, but Dr Clever-Clogs Lawson had been too busy having fun at her expense. He probably wouldn’t have admitted who he was even now if it hadn’t been for this emergency, and the thought of him turning up after Christmas after the way he’d kissed her was more than she could bear. What made it so much worse was the fact that she’d actually enjoyed the kiss, even believed that it had meant something, when all it had been was a way to make fun of her. Well, she’d be on her guard in future because there was no way that Nick Lawson would get the chance to trick her a second time.

      ‘Niall’s given me the all-clear so it’s all systems go by the look of it.’

      Katie swung round when she heard Nick’s voice and felt her heart give a traitorous little flutter when she saw him standing in the doorway. He’d changed out of the Santa outfit and was now wearing a regulation green scrub suit. Like most of the hospital clothing, it had been washed almost to death so that the thin fabric hid very little of his powerful body. Katie’s ears began to buzz as her blood pressure whooshed several notches up the scale. Nick looked the epitome of every movie hero doctor ever created—tall, dark, handsome, his brooding good looks enough to have the normally sensible Jean all aflutter as he introduced himself to her.

      Katie, however, wasn’t fool enough to be taken in by good looks a second time. She’d fallen for David because he’d been handsome and charming and it had taught her a valuable lesson. Appearance wasn’t enough—it was what was underneath that mattered so the sooner she made it clear to Nick Lawson that she didn’t intend to be charmed by him, the happier she would be. She was just about to set him straight, in fact, when the wail of a siren announced the arrival of the ambulance.

      She hurried out of the office with Nick hard on her heels and went to open the front doors. The paramedics quickly unloaded Karen Johnson from the back of the ambulance and rushed her inside, rattling out information as they pushed the trolley towards the examination room.

      ‘Patient’s name is Karen Johnson, aged 32, and she’s thirty-five weeks pregnant,’ the young woman paramedic recited. ‘Her husband told us that she’s under your care so you should have her notes on file. She was conscious when we arrived but had lost a lot of blood so we’ve given her a litre of saline and have just set up a second.’

      ‘Thanks.’ Katie bent over the trolley. ‘Hi, Karen, I didn’t expect to see you here quite so soon.’

      ‘I didn’t expect to be here,’ Karen murmured. She was obviously in a great deal of pain and that, allied to the massive blood loss, had left her very weak so Katie didn’t waste any time as she pushed open the doors to the examination room and helped the paramedics roll the trolley inside.

      ‘Let’s get her onto the bed, stat!’ Nick ordered,