One Night To Wed

One Night To Wed
Alison Roberts

Dr. Felicity Slade has come to the small coastal town of Morriston for a quieter life–and to distance herself from the gorgeous paramedic Angus McBride. She's always known that Angus thrives on the drama and danger of his job with the Specialist Emergency Response Team, and she has never been able to cope with the fear of losing him.The last thing she expects now is to be plunged into a critical emergency situation. When Angus turns up as part of the medical response team, her feelings are thrown into confusion. As they battle through the night to save the lives in their care, it becomes clear to Angus that this is his last chance–he has this one night to prove to Felicity that he really is the right man for her.

“Hey,” she said softly

Angus raised an eyebrow. “What?”

What, indeed? Words rushed to the tip of her tongue. Fliss was so close to confessing how badly she had missed having Angus in her life in the last few months. How much she missed hearing his voice. Feeling the touch of his hands…and lips. Just being with him. The words tangled together as they reached the warning sign flashing from the back of her mind.

“I’m just…glad you’re here,” Fliss whispered.

He didn’t smile, but there was a softening around his eyes as though any tension from their recent conversation had evaporated. “So am I,” he whispered back. “And try not to worry too much. We’ll get through this.”

Fliss nodded and bit her lip to stop it from trembling. “Yeah. We will. We’re working on the same side, aren’t we?”

A quick smile now. A wry one. “We always were,” Angus murmured. “You just couldn’t see it.”

Dear Reader (#ulink_f6410545-6e19-5ac8-81c5-0a1bbc5e4877),

Have you ever set yourself a challenge and then wondered whether you’d bitten off a bit more than you could chew?

My SPECIALIST EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM series has given me the opportunity to try new areas in the realm of rescue drama and emergency medicine, and I wanted something really dramatic, yet emotional, for this second book in the series. A setting that was so tense it would be enough to break down the barriers keeping my hero and heroine apart. I needed a cast of supporting characters and I needed a very short time frame and a confined environment to create the tension I wanted, but I couldn’t let those factors overwhelm the central romance.

One Night To Wed certainly wasn’t the easiest book to write, but when my lovely editor said she put the book down feeling like she’d been up all night with the characters, I knew I’d achieved at least some of what I set out to do. Challenges are great, aren’t they? I came across a quote recently that said, “We don’t know who we are until we know what we can do.”

I guess I’m still learning—and looking forward to finding out what else I can do. Happy reading and all the best for your next challenges.

With love,

Alison

One Night to Wed

Alison Roberts

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

CONTENTS

Cover (#ua36e7a9f-eed9-5f3d-a8ba-af41b8b3eeb2)

Excerpt (#ufddc114d-be17-5536-bbf8-64f0c4b71054)

Dear Reader (#u5f0ddb82-1196-54bd-8ac1-1a2182bac979)

Title Page (#u39840f80-f0d1-5a7b-8898-886d5b2e8121)

CHAPTER ONE (#u4b018d20-bdec-5498-90f3-ea214e83f595)

CHAPTER TWO (#ucebcf533-5228-562e-a862-ac5beb076e93)

CHAPTER THREE (#u18426db9-da1a-53e8-879e-ef1404087f5a)

CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)

EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_72ec0824-43d2-56a4-b503-b6dee545d685)

IT WAS a most unpleasant sensation.

The hairs on the back of Felicity Slade’s neck rose slowly and the nasty prickle was enough to make her lose concentration on the pulse she could feel beneath her fingertips.

A reflection of her sudden disquiet showed in the faded blue eyes of her elderly patient.

‘Something wrong, Fliss?’

There were no words that could convey such a formless fear and for a split second Fliss simply stared blankly, still caught by that primeval and totally unexpected physical reaction to a sense of danger.

Her patient patted her hand. ‘Don’t look so worried, love. I’ve been expecting bad news. This old ticker of mine’s been on its last legs for years.’

Fliss was mortified. How unprofessional was she being here? Not only had she allowed herself to be totally distracted from her examination, she had made one of her favourite patients fear the worst.

‘Your pulse feels fine, Jack. Just a little bit faster than normal. I need to have a good listen to the back of your chest now. Can you lean forward a little, please?’ Fliss pulled her stethoscope from where it was hanging around her neck. ‘I’m so sorry about that,’ she added. ‘I just got distracted by the weirdest feeling. Like something was wrong.’

‘Something is wrong. Why do you think I called you out when you should be having your dinner? My shoes feel too tight and I’m short of puff as soon as I try doing anything.’

‘Hmm.’ Fliss was happy to concentrate on her consultation again. ‘Take some deep breaths for me, Jack.’ She could hear some crackles at the base of both lungs. ‘Have a good, hard cough for me.’

The fruity sound Jack produced made her shake her head ruefully. ‘You haven’t cut down on the smoking much, have you?’

Jack’s grunt was amused. ‘As you well know, my dear, I’ve been on the fags for more than seventy years. Trying to stop would kill me quicker than anything else is going to.’ There was a distinct twinkle in the gaze that caught hers as Jack twisted his head and the faint Scottish brogue in his voice, which had never quite vanished despite being in a foreign country for a large proportion of those seventy years, grew stronger. ‘And you’re not going to tell me to get lost just because I still have the odd wee puff, are you?’