Her secret valentines ba.., p.1
Her Secret Valentine's Baby, page 1
“I sensed some...”
He glanced at the ceiling while he searched his vocabulary then clicked his fingers as he found the right word. “Hostility from you.”
“Hostility?”
He nodded, inflaming her further. “I thought we could behave like adults, but one minute you’re dismissing my invitation, the next changing your mind.”
“I was not being hostile. I think the word you actually mean is ‘circumspection.’ I was being respectful of our working relationship.” But of course, she had dismissed him, out of fear and nerves and sheer panic.
Sadie tried to stay aloof with him, but the absurdity of their bickering finally registered and she laughed it off with a shake of her head.
When she looked up, he was smiling.
“So, will you meet me for a drink or not?” she asked, dragging in a shuddering breath, because this Roman was the man she’d flirted with in Vienna. A straight-up, say-it-like-it-is, intelligent and funny guy who would surely react positively to the news that he had a daughter.
Wouldn’t he...?
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoy this Valentine’s Day medical story. I loved flinging betrayed Sadie and tortured Roman into an Anti-Valentine’s Party at the start of the book. They were both so smug, both certain that they wanted nothing to do with love. Of course, it’s not over until the final chapter, and everyone deserves a second chance. Fortunately for Roman and Sadie, Valentine’s Day happens every year...
Enjoy!
Love,
JC xx
Her Secret Valentine’s Baby
JC Harroway
Lifelong romance addict JC Harroway took a break from her career as a junior doctor to raise a family and found her calling as a Harlequin author instead. She now lives in New Zealand and finds that writing feeds her very real obsession with happy endings and the endorphin rush they create. You can follow her at jcharroway.com and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Books by JC Harroway
Harlequin Medical Romance
A Sydney Central Reunion
Phoebe’s Baby Bombshell
Gulf Harbour ER
Tempted by the Rebel Surgeon
Breaking the Single Mom’s Rules
Forbidden Fling with Dr. Right
How to Resist the Single Dad
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
To my smart, beautiful and kind daughter. Thanks for the office and the hugs xx
Praise for JC Harroway
“JC Harroway has firmly cemented her place as one of my favourite M&B/Harlequin medical romance authors with her second book in the imprint and with wonderful characters and a heart-melting and very sexy romance set in the beautiful Cotswolds...”
—Goodreads on How to Resist the Single Dad
Contents
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
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
EPILOGUE
EXCERPT FROM BOUND BY THEIR PREGNANCY SURPRISE BY LOUISA HEATON
CHAPTER ONE
Valentine’s Day
DR SADIE BARNES was in no mood for the party filling Vienna’s Danube Hotel bar. She almost turned tail. Just her luck to encounter a group of rowdy singletons on her first Valentine’s Day alone for six years.
She needed wine, stat.
Ducking her head, she bypassed the loved-up gathering and headed for the bar, where she intended to order the largest glass of white possible in her stilted German. Somewhere back in London, her ex was celebrating lovers’ day with his shiny new, pregnant fiancée, the woman he’d cheated on Sadie with.
On any other day, she’d have headed straight upstairs to her room, especially after a long day of lectures and networking at the Progress in Paediatrics medical conference at the hospital across the road. Instead, she placed her order with the bartender and took a seat far away from the party, wearily sagging into the barstool.
Why was it, when you’d been horribly betrayed and humiliated, your heart thrashed to pieces, so easy to believe that every other person on the planet was blissfully in love?
Realising that she had veered into a cynical and self-indulgent wallow, Sadie thanked the bartender for her glass of wine. ‘Vielen dank.’
He smiled what might have been a flirtatious smile.
Sadie looked away, took a huge gulp of Sauvignon Blanc, no longer able to trust her instincts where men were concerned after Mark’s broken promises. Better to focus her energy on work, on today’s highly informative symposium, on returning to London tomorrow refreshed and professionally reinvigorated, this nauseating, love-drenched day over for another year.
If only the Valentine’s revellers would let her forget.
The bar resounded with a series of loud bangs as multiple confetti cannons were discharged into the air. Sadie jumped, her hand flying to her chest as hundreds of pink and red paper hearts fluttered down on the cheering crowd.
She hadn’t realised that she’d actually released the groan of irritation aloud until the man next to her at the bar spoke.
‘That’s two sighs in the space of a minute,’ he said, causing Sadie to notice him for the first time where he’d been previously obscured by a pillar, as if he too wanted to distance himself from the party.
‘But don’t worry,’ he continued in excellent but accented English. ‘Hopefully, that’s as raucous as they’ll get.’
‘I hope so.’ Sadie nodded, carefully observing her fellow party pooper from behind her wine glass.
Broad-chested, dark-haired and with kind blue eyes, he was undeniably the kind of man any woman with a pulse would notice. But she’d been so wrapped up in her private pity-fest, she’d been blind to the hottie skulking with her in the corner.
‘It wouldn’t normally bother me,’ Sadie said with a third sigh, ‘but I came in to be alone, for a quiet drink.’
A drink to help her forget that there wouldn’t be a red envelope on her doormat when she returned to her flat. Mark had always ostentatiously marked the romance of Valentine’s Day year after year—a dozen red roses, surprise trips to Paris, candlelit dinners... But his grand declarations and overt shows of affection had been a baseless charade, as if Sadie had been a place keeper, a stand-in until someone better had come along.
‘Me too.’ The stranger’s sexy mouth kicked up with a hint of a conspiratorial smile that turned him from good-looking to drop-dead gorgeous.
He raised his glass in solidarity and settled back behind the pillar, making it obvious that he had no intention of hitting on Sadie.
Deflated, she took a second look.
Maybe because he was so clearly uninterested in flirting, maybe because her loneliness was heightened by the rowdy celebration, maybe because she was so utterly done with relationships after Mark’s hurtful betrayal, Sadie found herself eager to prolong the harmless conversation.
‘Instead,’ she said, drawing his attention once more, ‘we find ourselves in the middle of a Valentine’s party. There should be a law against that kind of thing.’
Matching her smile for smile, the handsome stranger this time eyed her with definite interest.
‘Anti-Valentine’s party,’ he corrected, pointing to a heart-festooned poster behind the bar, which clearly advertised the event.
She dragged her stare from his intense eye contact to ponder the poster, which was written in German way beyond her translational skills.
‘What’s an Anti-Valentine’s party?’ she asked, intrigued. ‘Ordering a drink is about the limit of my capabilities. As you can probably tell, I’m not a local.’
‘Me neither,’ he said, sliding his stool to her side of the pillar so they could talk without a barrier. ‘I’m Czech, but I also speak German, so allow me to translate.’
Sadie nodded, mesmerised by his deep-voiced, accented English. Now she was faced with the close-up of his strong jaw darkened with stubble, the ghost of a smile on his distracting lips and his blue eyes dancing with humour, the tension in her body that she hadn’t been aware of melted away.
‘It says “Anti-Valentine’s Party Rules”.’ He leaned sideways to read the poster, wafting Sadie with his delicious spicy aftershave.
The sexy Czech was around ten years older than her thirty-two, his smile deepening the crinkles at the corners of his eyes, which were framed by a dignified scatter of grey hair at his temples.
Fascinated that for the first time since her break-up seven months ago, Sadie could imagine herself flirting with this man, she took another gulp of wine to hide her body’s unexpected swoon and nodded for him to continue the translation.
‘“Rule number one,”’ Blue Eyes said. ‘“You must be single.”’
Shrugging one broad shoulder in a way that said it was pretty self-explanatory, he paused, waiting expectantly for Sadie’s answer.
Was he flirting with her?
‘Tick,’ she said, emphasising her unavailability by drawing the symbol in the air with a nervous chuckle.
The man helping her to forget that her ex was as shallow as a puddle copied her gesture with a playful smile that left Sadie scoping out evidence of a wedding ring on his hand, only to be pleasantly exhilarated by its absence.
Was she flirting with him?
Even more shocking was how the idea fizzed pleasantly through her veins.
Why shouldn’t she flirt with a smart, attractive single man? Just because her ex had cast her aside despite his grand protestations and empty promises, didn’t mean that Sadie couldn’t once more enjoy feeling desired.
‘“Rule number two,”’ her companion continued, leaning closer as he read so Sadie was aware of his body heat, a thrill of excitement waking up her nervous system. ‘“You aren’t looking for a relationship.”’
‘So far so good,’ Sadie said as she and her mystery man ticked the air in unison, their stares colliding and holding so tingles ping-ponged around inside her belly.
He was flirting with her.
Thrills of delight snaked down her spine. Just because Mark had thrown her away didn’t make her worthless. Yes, she had her...issues, ones that Mark had denied were a problem when they’d first met, but she could still attract a man if she so chose. The right man, of course, one who shared her new philosophy on avoiding commitment.
‘What about rule number three?’ she asked, her smile gaining confidence.
This was the longest rule of the three and Sadie waited with bated breath, now fully invested in the idea of this stupid party given that this sexy and unexpected man obviously shared her relationship aversion.
But was it any wonder that she would lap up the attention of a kind and handsome stranger after being so callously discarded by a man who’d claimed to love her? Perhaps it was time she had a fling to put her ex’s rejection and her decimated instincts well and truly in the past.
‘“Rule number three,”’ he continued. ‘“No...” How do you say...?’ He waved his hand, spoke a few words in what Sadie assumed was Czech, as if he was struggling with the exact translation.
Sadie foolishly watched his lips as they mouthed the German words, torturing herself by calculating the two hundred and eighteen days it had been since she’d been kissed.
Long, lonely days filled with self-doubt that, because of her fertility issues, no one would ever want her again.
Having figured it out, he said, ‘“No hook-ups...unless you are prepared to risk being lured to the dark side of red roses, broken hearts and shattered expectations when the phone stays silent...” Or something along those lines.’
‘Oh...’ A stab of disappointment jabbed at her ribs. Even though she agreed with the sentiment, Sadie couldn’t bring herself to make a tick this time, keeping her fingers wrapped around the stem of her wine glass.
‘Well, thanks for the translation,’ she said, studying the liquid left in the glass, hoping to hide her crestfallen expression that they wouldn’t be taking their fun flirtation to the next level.
‘It turns out that this is my kind of party after all, but I think I’ll give it a miss anyway...’ she prattled on, not daring to look his way. That last rule had dumped a bucket of iced water on her fantasy of hooking up with this like-minded stranger.
Except now that the idea was out there, it was stuck in her mind like a deep splinter.
‘I just came in for a drink after a long day.’ She waved her hand at her near empty glass of wine. ‘I’m leaving Vienna in the morning...so a party probably isn’t a good idea.’
She always over-talked when she was nervous, and he was the first man in a long time to make her nervous.
‘But what about you?’ She finally braved eye contact. ‘Tempted to join the other cynics and commitment-phobes?’
To stop her mouth making more unnecessary words, she gulped her drink, trying to forget how, for a few minutes, while they’d flirted and learned how much they had in common when it came to love and relationships and the dreaded Valentine’s Day, this compelling man had made her feel attractive again, whole, hopeful that she’d be okay, even if it was alone.
His stare lingered, sending shivers of anticipation down her limbs.
His answer, when it came, was delivered with quiet intensity that left Sadie in no doubt of his sincerity.
‘I can’t be lured to the dark side,’ he stated flatly, cryptically. ‘All that love and relationship stuff is for people hoping to find the one and start a family. That’s not me.’
He shrugged, the slight hunch to his broad shoulders, the flicker of sadness in his blue eyes telling her that they might have much more in common than either of them had realised when they struck up this conversation.
Sadie froze as his frown-pinched gaze traced her face, pausing at her mouth in a disconcerting way. Was he, like Sadie, gutted about rule number three? Had he, too, been considering a one-night stand with a stranger to banish the loneliness?
‘Me neither,’ she whispered, fighting the absurd urge to reach out and touch his arm, to comfort and be comforted, certain that they each had painful reasons for being alone tonight.
A different kind of tension sparked between them, an awareness, recognition, a breathless moment of possibility.
Galvanised by memories of her ex’s excuses and lies, by the hurtful truth of his betrayal, which had damaged the self-acceptance she’d worked hard for following her diagnosis of infertility in her twenties, Sadie bravely raised her glass.
‘Well, cheers to us and down with Valentine’s Day,’ she said.
Just because she couldn’t be a mother, didn’t diminish her as a woman. This sexy stranger had helped her to cement that conclusion tonight. She had a good life, a career she loved, her family and friends.
With an unflinching gaze, he touched his glass to hers. ‘To us.’
Holding his stare while they each took a sip, Sadie searched for relief that their flirtation would go no further, only to be pleasantly frustrated.
She didn’t know his name. She hadn’t been looking to meet him and would most likely never see him again. Only she sensed an affinity with this intriguing man. And something in his eyes told her he felt it too.
‘Well, it was lovely to meet a like-minded romance sceptic,’ she finally said, noticing that the party had all but disbanded, the staff clearing away glasses and sweeping up paper hearts from the floor.
Almost reluctantly, she slid from her stool and held out her hand for him to shake, forcing herself to walk away. As much as she found this stranger wildly attractive, as much as she’d resolved to move on, she hadn’t slept with anyone but her ex in six and a half years.
But maybe she should.
Mark was in London with his pregnant fiancée, most certainly not thinking about Sadie tonight.
Her stranger stood too, taking her hand so her stomach flipped at his warm and confident touch. ‘It’s been an unexpected pleasure—the best Anti-Valentine’s Valentine’s Day I’ve had in years.’
Sadie laughed, beyond flattered.
Although he smiled warmly, he regarded her as he had done all evening—with self-assured interest and a quiet calm she found so appealing after Mark’s effusive but empty promises.
‘Good luck staying single,’ she said, her heart hammering so hard he would surely hear it.
‘You too.’ He leaned in and kissed her cheek in that European way, the soft brush of his lips agonisingly brief, the scrape of his stubbled jaw thrilling, the warmth of his body enticing her to admit how comfortable she felt with him, how similar they were, how easy it would be to surrender to this unexpected and fierce attraction.
Her hand was still clasped in his, neither of them pulling away as they faced each other. Vulnerable but safe. Strangers but somehow also allies against the folly of love.
Sadie stared into his blue eyes, the word goodbye trapped in her throat. Her resolve wavered back and forth. Was there an old condom in the bottom of her wash bag? Was she wearing the tattiest underwear she owned? Could they keep tonight anonymous and regret-free?
