A Family Of Their Own

A Family Of Their Own
Jennifer Taylor

The family they needNurse Leanne Russell leaves her native Australia in search of her real mother – and finds Dr. Nick Slater. Being adopted, she's dreamed of a family of her own – now she knows she wants a family with Nick.Nick is deeply attracted, hopelessly tempted, but he's vowed never to marry. It wouldn't be fair to have children of his own, and it wouldn't be fair, either, to give in to his desire for this woman – unless his love for Leanne is enough to persuade him to take a chance on the family they both desperately need.

“Why can’t we have a future, Nick?”

“Because I’m not looking for commitment and never shall be,” he said bluntly, hating to see how she winced. His fingers curled around the cup, because there was no way that he could risk holding her hand again when his emotions were so finely balanced.

“Never is a long time. You might change your mind.”

“I won’t. I can’t.”

“Can’t? What do you mean by that?” Her eyes were luminous with unshed tears and it hurt to know that he was the cause of them.

“Because I made a decision many years ago never to get involved in a long-term relationship, and I can’t go back on it,” he explained, knowing that he was glossing over the truth.

Dear Reader (#ulink_df07adc8-d9b3-5294-8f0f-526b9579841f),

People often ask me where I get my ideas for a story from and my reply is always the same: from everything I see and hear. A Family of Their Own is the perfect example.

I was passing through one of London’s busiest rail stations when I noticed a sign advertising a walk-in medical center. With almost an hour to wait before my train departed, I decided to make good use of the time by finding out about the services they offered. By the time I finally boarded the train I had enough material to write this book!

When Leanne Russell comes to London to find her mother, she takes a job as a nurse at a medical center operating out of one of London’s busiest rail stations, and there she meets Nick Slater, the charismatic head of the clinic. Leanne certainly isn’t looking for romance during her stay in England and neither is Nick, but there is no denying the instant attraction they feel for each other.

They agree to enjoy their moments together while they last, but Leanne soon realizes that she wants more than just a few weeks with this man. How can she convince Nick that they could have a future when he has put a limit on their relationship?

Nick and Leanne are two of my favorite characters and I loved helping them to get through their problems to find true happiness. I have always firmly believed that love will uncover a way to overcome any difficulties if people will only let it.

Enjoy!

Jennifer Taylor

A Family of Their Own

Jennifer Taylor

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

CONTENTS

Cover (#uef02dfac-31e0-5408-a045-a20c5b1ce4e5)

Dear Reader (#ulink_83f5d0bf-f013-5ea4-af99-78aa76b9375c)

Title Page (#u1a3ab7ed-3b70-5db7-aaef-4efad8909c49)

CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_e280ce9a-d2a6-5bb1-8ff1-7279bb3407a4)

CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_f9a13653-4575-5dae-8952-84495fd41156)

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_dcb3c921-8ffd-5992-9773-11e26357f9fe)

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)

CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_a8386109-c3f7-551a-9aef-21f4d0caea4c)

LEANNE RUSSELL had given up a lot to come to London. As she stood in the crowded railway carriage and thought about the decisions she had made, she sighed.

She’d had a good job, a lovely flat and she had been on the verge of getting engaged, but she had given it all up without a qualm. She knew that her friends back home in Australia thought she was mad, but they didn’t understand.

Discovering that she had been adopted as a baby had shaken the very foundations of her world so that it felt as though she no longer knew who she was any more. She had tried to explain how important it was that she find out the truth about her past, but nobody had understood that, not even Michael—

Especially not Michael! she amended swiftly.

Leanne’s generous mouth tightened as she thought about the row she’d had with her fiancé, Michael Freeman, shortly before she had left for England. She had hoped that he, at least, would support her decision, but she’d been wrong.

Michael had been furious when she had told him about her plans to go to England. At first she had thought that he’d been concerned about her making the trip on her own, but she couldn’t have been more wrong. The only thing that Michael had been worried about had been the fact that the plans he’d made to announce their engagement at the staff Christmas party would have to be changed.

He’d refused to listen when she had tried to explain how important the trip was to her. As he had coldly pointed out, he didn’t see why he should be inconvenienced because she was setting out on some wild goose chase. In the end, he had cut short the discussion and given her an ultimatum: either stay at home or forget their engagement.

If anything had been guaranteed to prove what a mistake she had made by agreeing to marry him, that had been it. If she was honest, she had already started having doubts about whether Michael was the man she wanted to spend her life with, and the ultimatum had been the last straw. Michael’s needs had come first and foremost, and always would. Everyone else’s—hers included—had come way down his list of priorities.

The train drew into the station with a hissing of brakes and Leanne snapped out of her reverie. A mechanical voice was announcing that this stop was St Stephen’s and to change here for Waterloo and Embankment. She felt her heart give a nervous little jolt as she alighted from the carriage. The first day in her new job was about to begin.

It had been pure good luck that she had happened to find the advertisement on the internet asking for experienced nurses to work at HealthFirst, a medical centre operating out of one of London’s busiest railway stations. The jobs were being handled by an Australian recruitment agency, so she had arranged an interview at their office in Sydney.

She had met all HealthFirst’s requirements so the agency had emailed her application to London and received a reply, setting up a time when they could telephone and speak to her in person. Five days later she’d signed a three-month contract and faxed it back to their office.

The wonders of modern technology, she thought wryly as she took the escalator up to the station’s main concourse. The only problem being that it was a little daunting to be starting a new job without having met any of the people she would be working with.

Would they accept her? she found herself wondering as she stepped off the moving stairway. She had always made friends easily in the past but that had been before she’d found out that she wasn’t the person she’d thought herself to be. She wasn’t really Leanne Russell at all. That had been the name her adoptive parents had given her. Until she found out the truth about herself, she couldn’t be certain of anything any more.