The Pregnant Surgeon

The Pregnant Surgeon
Jennifer Taylor

The last two things she ever expected – a man and a baby!Sacrificing her personal life to become a high-flying surgeon has left Joanna Martin with few regrets. She has learned not to risk her heart for any man – including her new senior registrar, Dylan Archer, even though her secret desire for him is as strong as her drive to succeed….Dylan's determination to impress and break through his beautiful boss's cool exterior, both in and out of the operating theater, finally results in one night of passion. But convincing her that they could have a future together remains a challenge.Then Joanna discovers she is pregnant…

Joanna’s mouth traveled down his neck, scattering kisses at random, and his throat moved convulsively as he swallowed down his next words

There was no point telling her that he wanted her feelings to last for longer than just this moment. It would only spoil what they had and he wouldn’t do that.

Dylan pulled her down onto his lap and kissed her with every scrap of pent-up emotion he possessed. They had barely three days to make a lifetime of memories and he wasn’t going to waste a second. Maybe they would go back to normal after that, but maybe, just maybe, she would think about what had happened this weekend and wonder if she was right to be so against them having a real relationship.

It was the dimmest ray of hope, but it was something to hold on to.

Dear Reader (#ulink_c2ab6217-4fe8-5f52-941e-641c7c227156),

A woman’s role in society has changed dramatically in the past thirty years. However, even in these enlightened times, surgery is one of the hardest fields in which a woman can succeed. Joanna Martin, the heroine of this book, has pursued her dream of becoming a surgeon with single-minded determination and now, on her forty-second birthday, she is on her way to achieving everything she set out to do.

As the newly appointed head of surgery at St. Leonard’s Hospital in London, Joanna has no time for a personal life and certainly doesn’t need the distraction of falling in love with a man several years her junior. Yet, she soon discovers that it isn’t easy to shut Dylan Archer out of her life. Every day that they work together, their feelings for one another grow stronger, but is she really willing to risk her career for the sake of love?

I hope you enjoy this book and feel, by the end of it, that Joanna has made the right decision.

Best wishes,

Jennifer

www.jennifer-taylor.com (http://www.jennifer-taylor.com)

The Pregnant Surgeon

Jennifer Taylor

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

CONTENTS

Cover (#u6959b746-3014-592b-88d0-d3c1a6c1ce7b)

Dear Reader (#ulink_4a791d5c-a67f-552b-a10c-db2a2e5f7bc6)

Title Page (#u4cd5149c-8061-5a1d-9145-5bd132f9c881)

CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_9ee0fc3f-45f4-5a55-800b-8f82a5a13a40)

CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_320721c4-5fc4-51a9-8da3-d52aef68e23b)

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_411edc3c-375f-5757-871d-6487c661407e)

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_d726c8d6-c87d-5c54-872e-6d2ec7331243)

IT WAS her forty-second birthday today.

As she got out of her car, Joanna Martin felt suddenly depressed by the thought. It was odd because birthdays had never worried her before. With each year that had passed she had gained greater professional standing and that was all that had mattered to her. Even in these enlightened times there was still a great deal of opposition to women becoming surgeons. She’d had to work twice as hard as any man to achieve her goal, and she’d had to sacrifice an awful lot along the way.

Joanna frowned as she strode towards the hospital’s main entrance. She had never considered her decision to focus on her career as a sacrifice before and it surprised her that the thought should have crossed her mind at this stage. Her recent promotion to head of surgery at St Leonard’s Hospital in central London should have been all the proof she needed that she’d made the right decision. So maybe she’d had to forfeit any kind of a personal life but surely it had been worth it? She only had to recall the statistics to know how few women ever reached her level. Surgery was notoriously chauvinistic and very few women possessed the drive to make their way to the top.

She had done so, though, and she should be celebrating her achievements rather than feeling depressed by the thought of what she had given up along the way. Any woman could have a home and a family if that was what she wanted but not many had the kind of fulfilling career she enjoyed.

The thought was heartening and Joanna felt much better as she made her way along the maze of corridors to the lift. St Leonard’s was one of the city’s oldest hospitals and an absolute warren of rooms and passageways. Although there were signs posted at various strategic points, many people got lost on their way to the surgical department.

Joanna checked her watch as she got into the lift, wondering if she should ask her secretary to phone Reception and request that someone should show Dr Archer the way when he arrived. She had a full list that morning and the last thing she needed was her new senior registrar getting lost en route. It wouldn’t be the first time it had happened although, to be fair, Dylan Archer hadn’t struck her as someone who would need help finding his way. He’d seemed far too confident for that.

A shiver raced down Joanna’s spine and she paused before opening the door to her office, wondering why she experienced this odd tingling sensation whenever she thought about the new registrar. She’d become aware of it at Dr Archer’s interview but had put it down to the fact that she’d been anxious that they should appoint the right candidate to the post. St Leonard’s had gone through a bad period a year or so ago when bad management, combined with a lack of funding, had taken its toll. However, the surgical team had been gradually rebuilding its reputation under her leadership and she’d been determined that her hard work wouldn’t be ruined by appointing the wrong person to the post.

It had seemed a logical explanation at the time and she’d thought no more about it until it had happened again when she had spoken to Dr Archer on the telephone the previous day. The minute she’d heard his deep voice coming over the line she’d experienced that same fluttering of her nerves, the same tightness in her stomach. She’d been so surprised that it had been difficult to concentrate as she’d explained to Dr Archer that she would be monitoring his work for the first week or so. It had been a relief when her beeper had gone off and she’d been able to excuse herself but she couldn’t deny that it was worrying that she had found it happening again that day.

What was it about Dr Dylan Archer that disturbed her so much?

Joanna’s mobile mouth thinned when she realised how foolish it was to waste time worrying about something so trivial. Opening the office door, she briskly greeted her secretary. ‘Good morning, Lisa.’

‘Morning, Ms Martin. The post is on your desk and Professor Humphrey’s phoned to remind you about the dinner tonight.’ Lisa handed her a yellow message slip. ‘He said to tell you that twenty minutes should be long enough for your talk.’

‘Right, that’s fine.’ Joanna barely glanced at the message as she headed towards her room, not needing any reminders about the coming evening. She had been asked to give a speech at the Royal College of Surgeons Annual dinner that night and had spent hours working on her script. It was an honour to be asked to speak at such a prestigious event but she wasn’t nervous about it. She was extremely good at her job and she knew it—that gave her all the confidence she needed.

Thinking about confidence reminded her of Dr Archer and she paused, trying to quell that irritating little flutter which had started up once more. ‘Before I forget, Lisa, can you phone Reception and ask them to keep an eye open for Dr Archer? I have a very full list this morning and I don’t want him getting lost when he’s supposed to be assisting me. Perhaps one of the reception staff could fetch him up here?’

‘Oh, he’s already here, Ms Martin! He arrived about half an hour ago, in fact.’ Lisa grimaced. ‘Sorry. I should have told you that before, shouldn’t I?’

‘Yes, you should,’ Joanna agreed, stifling a sigh. Lisa had been working for her for little more than a month and still tended to be rather scatterbrained at times. However, she was a hard worker so Joanna was prepared to allow her some leeway while she settled in. ‘Anyway, you’ve told me now so it isn’t a problem. Can you make some coffee, please, and bring it through to my room? Then you can print out this morning’s list so I can run through it with Dr Archer before we go down to Theatre.’

‘Oh, but he’s already there—in Theatre, I mean. He asked me to tell you that’s where he’d be if you wanted him.’