Falling for her Mediterranean Boss

Falling for her Mediterranean Boss
Anne Fraser

Enter into the world of high-flying Doctors as they navigate the pressures of modern medicine and find escape, passion, comfort and love – in each other’s arms!The playboy surgeon’s proposal!Dedicated junior doctor Julie McKenzie is dumbstruck by her new boss – plastic surgeon Pierre Didier’s sexy accent, striking looks and professional expertise make him the most gorgeous man she has ever met!However, Julie is the last woman Pierre should allow himself to become involved with. If she falls in love it would be for keeps, and forever is the one thing he cannot give her.Yet Pierre is drawn to shy, pretty Julie, and he can’t help wanting to make her feel like the beautiful woman she really is…



Julie raised her hand to cover the scar. ‘I am happy with my face the way it is,’ she said stiffly.

Pierre reached out and, taking her hand, gently pulled it away. ‘It is a beautiful face,’ he said, looking her directly in the eyes.

He was so close she could almost distinguish the individual eyelashes framing his deep blue eyes. Eyelashes like that were wasted on a man, she thought, trying to ignore the way her heart had started galloping. Then what he had said sank in. He had called her beautiful. Her heart beat even faster. Did he really believe that? She gave herself a mental shake. No, of course he didn’t—he was just being kind. It was far more likely that he just couldn’t stop himself from complimenting every woman who crossed his path.

‘Your bone structure is perfect,’ he continued, scrutinising her face with a professional eye. ‘You are lucky. No amount of plastic surgery can ever improve on that.’

Anne Fraser was born in Scotland, but brought up in South Africa. After she left school she returned to the birthplace of her parents, the remote Western Islands of Scotland. She left there to train as a nurse, before going on to university to study English Literature. After the birth of her first child, she and her doctor husband travelled the world, working in rural Africa, Australia and Northern Canada. Anne still works in the health sector. To relax, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, walking and travelling.

Recent titles by the same author:

POSH DOC CLAIMS HIS BRIDE

HER VERY SPECIAL BOSS

DR CAMPBELL’S SECRET SON

FALLING FOR HER

MEDITERRANEAN

BOSS

BY

ANNE FRASER

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

FALLING FOR HER MEDITERRANEAN BOSS

Gu mo theaghlach an Uibhist—gu h-araid Lachie—tapadh leibh.

(To my family in Uist—especially Lachie—thank you.)

CHAPTER ONE

DR JULIE MCKENZIE wrapped her fingers gratefully around her coffee-cup and sank back in her chair in the doctors’ mess and closed her eyes briefly. What she wouldn’t do for a couple of hours’ sleep. She had been up all night. Just as she had been about to go home and crawl into bed for a couple of hours of much-needed sleep, the head of surgery—Mr Crawford— had asked her to stay on.

‘The new locum consultant is starting today,’ he had told Julie. ‘And since you’ll be working under him for your rotation on Plastics, I think it’s a good idea if you stay on and meet him.’

His tone had made it clear that it wasn’t optional. Besides, Julie was curious, even a little anxious, to meet her new boss. She had enjoyed working with Mr Crawford for the last six months in General Surgery, but as part of her training she was scheduled to spend the next three months attached to Plastic Surgery.

She lifted a hand and touched the scar that ran from the corner of her eye to her jawbone, feeling its raised surface under her fingertips. It was ironic, really, her working in Plastic Surgery. On the other hand, her own disfigurement meant she was drawn to the specialty. At least she would have no difficulty empathising with patients who sought help.

A polite cough aroused her from her reverie. Grief! She realised she had been on the point of dropping off. She jumped to her feet, knocking over her half-drunk cup of coffee. A hand shot out, catching the mug just in time to prevent the hot liquid from spilling over the carpet. In front of her stood Mr Crawford and, holding the errant mug, a blue-eyed man with thick black wavy hair, who was looking at her a half-smile playing on his lips.

Her heart gave an odd erratic beat. He was, by far, the most gorgeous man Julie had ever seen outside the movies. He was tall, a couple of inches over six feet at least, with eyes that glinted like diamonds. Only a slightly hooked nose prevented high cheekbones and a sensuous mouth from looking feminine in their beauty. He was lean but well built, his theatre greens sat low on narrow hips. Julie felt her mouth go dry. She couldn’t ever remember having such an immediate and powerful attraction to a man before. Julie swallowed a groan. She was acutely conscious that her scrubs were crumpled and that she looked a mess after having been on her feet for twelve hours straight.

‘Dr McKenzie, I’d like to introduce you to Dr Pierre Favatier, our new consultant plastic surgeon. He will be with us for the next couple of months.’

Dazed, Julie held out her hand and felt it engulfed. She looked down. He really did have the most beautiful hands, she thought, the long elegant fingers of a piano player or a surgeon.

‘So this is Dr McKenzie,’ he said in a deep husky voice that made her think of late nights in smoky bars.

‘I’m pleased to meet you,’ Julie said, mortifyingly aware that she sounded breathless.

‘And I am pleased to meet you too,’ he said formally echoing her greeting, and then added, ‘I hope you hold a scalpel more firmly than a coffee-cup.’

She could detect a glint of humour in his eyes. God, was he aware of the effect he was having on her?

‘Of course. You startled me—that’s all!’ she said defensively.

‘Well, that’s a relief,’ he said politely, and, despite the gleam in his eye, Julie wasn’t sure whether he was joking.

‘I understand that you will be my junior while I am here? Mr Crawford speaks well of you.’ He was French. That much was clear from his accent, although it was faint and only evident in the way he pronounced the h’s at the beginning of words.

‘Mr Crawford is right.’ She cast a grateful look at her chief. ‘I am an excellent surgeon—whatever first impression I gave you there.’ Well, she was. In whatever other area she lacked confidence, it wasn’t in her surgical ability, and although she knew she ran the risk of appearing arrogant, she wanted this man to know that she was good at what she did.

He laughed, the sound low and genuine. ‘Ah, confidence. I like that in a doctor. Especially one who works with me.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘I do not like incompetent doctors. I have no time for them. They can learn with somebody else. I demand perfection. Are you perfect, Dr Mackenzie?’ Once again there was a challenge in his ice-blue eyes, although a hint of laughter still lurked in their depths. She had the uneasy feeling he wasn’t just referring to her surgical skills.

Julie squared her shoulders and eyed him coolly, striving to get her racing pulse under control. ‘I don’t think anybody is perfect—least of all me.’ She forced a smile. ‘Although, in my work, I do try.’

For a moment as their eyes locked, it was as if there was no one else in the room. His gaze dropped to her mouth then flickered feather-like over the contours of her face, before coming back to her eyes. Now she knew what animals felt when pinned by the stare of a predator. As heat flooded her cheeks, she couldn’t prevent herself from raising her hand to her scar. Damn it! She hadn’t meant to do that. He tilted his head and regarded her intently, speculation darkening his eyes. Her heart continued to beat as if she had just completed a downhill race.

Mr Crawford broke into the silence that seemed to crackle across the room.

‘I wouldn’t be allocating Julie to your team if I didn’t think she was one of the best, if not the best, junior we have on the rotation at the moment,’ he said mildly. ‘You know, she was once a champion skier,’ he added proudly, as if taking personal responsibility for Julie’s successes. ‘She’s driven to excel in everything she does. No one works harder. She’s always here at the hospital, and even when she’s off duty I find her in the library at all hours, reading up on cases. So, as I said before, Dr Favatier, you can rest assured you have the best working with you.’

Julie felt her blush deepen at the praise. She hadn’t been aware until now that Mr Crawford held her in such high regard. Perhaps finally all the extra effort she put in was paying off. Of course, Mr Crawford wasn’t to know that a barren social life left plenty of time for work and study. She sneaked a glance at the new consultant. Despite his smile, his forehead was knotted again.

He shook his head as if to clear whatever was puzzling him. ‘Bon!’ he said. ‘Then I am satisfied. Too many young doctors have other distractions.’

Julie’s eyebrows rose. With his dark good looks and blatant sex appeal, he struck her as a man who would enjoy many ‘distractions’, as he so oddly put it. Catching her look, Pierre winked at her. The gesture was so unexpected Julie thought she must have imagined it. He was her boss after all! Nevertheless, she felt her blush extend to the tips of her ears and wished she had managed to find the time to shower and change before Mr Crawford had waylaid her. But, she told herself impatiently, what did it matter what Dr Favatier thought of her appearance? Someone who looked the way he did was hardly the type of man to look twice at her—even if she was dressed up to the nines. Nevertheless, she had to fight against the impulse to release her hair from its ponytail and let it fall across her face and cover the scar.

Dr Crawford turned to Julie. ‘And you are extremely fortunate to have the chance to work with Dr Favatier. He’s considered a pioneer in reconstructive plastic surgery in his own country. We are very lucky to have him here for the next couple of months so we must—and I know you will—make the most of the time we have with him to learn as much as possible.’

‘Of course,’ Julie replied, thinking frantically of all the extra reading she’d have squeeze in to make sure she was up to speed. ‘Thank you, Mr Crawford. And I’m very pleased to have the opportunity to work with you, Dr Favatier.’

‘C’mon, then Pierre, let’s leave Dr McKenzie to get herself home for some well-deserved rest. There’s a case in Theatre I’d like your opinion on.’ Pierre gave Julie one last searching look, before allowing Mr Crawford to usher him out the door.

‘Get some rest, Julie, and we’ll see you soon,’ her chief said over his shoulder.