It Started with No Strings...

It Started with No Strings...
Kate Hardy

Blame it on the champagne!At a London salsa club, consultant Aaron Hughes catches sight of the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. Relationships are off the cards for Aaron, but one night with this perfect stranger can't hurt…For registrar Joni Parker, dancing and champagne are a remedy to what-would-have-been-her-wedding-night blues. Until she discovers an even better cure–her first-ever fling! It started with no strings, but when Aaron walks into the hospital on Monday–as the new consultant!–things get a lot more complicated…

KATE HARDY lives in Norwich, in the east of England, with her husband, two young children, one bouncy spaniel and too many books to count! When she’s not busy writing romance or researching local history she helps out at her children’s schools. She also loves cooking—spot the recipes sneaked into her books! (They’re also on her website, along with extracts and stories behind the books.) Writing for Mills & Boon

has been a dream come true for Kate—something she wanted to do ever since she was twelve. She’s been writing Medical Romances™ for over ten years now. She says it’s the best of both worlds, because she gets to learn lots of new things when she’s researching the background to a book: add a touch of passion, drama and danger, a new gorgeous hero every time, and it’s the perfect job!

Kate’s always delighted to hear from readers, so do drop in to her website at www.katehardy.com (http://www.katehardy.com)

BOUND BY A BABY by Kate Hardy won the 2014 RoNA (Romantic Novelists’ Association) Rose award!

It Started with

No Strings…

Kate Hardy

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

Dear Reader (#ulink_22283b5e-4770-56dc-a4ef-8844505c641a)

This book actually started life about five years ago, when the late author Maggie Kingsley and I were chatting about how interesting it would be to have a shaman as a hero.

I haven’t gone quite that far in this book—my heroine is the daughter of an American Indian healer—but I did enjoy the research. And, given that my heroine has been wrapped in cotton wool for her entire life, it makes sense for her to want to work in an area where she gets to do exciting things vicariously, through her patients—hence she works in the department of tropical medicine and infectious diseases.

Then there’s my poor hero, from a family who doesn’t just have a stiff upper lip—they’re practically encased in permafrost. When he ends up falling for my heroine, who has a close family which adores her, he’s like a fish out of water. How is he going to learn to cope with it and get a happy ending?

You’ll have to read on to find out :) And I hope you enjoy their journey.

I’m always delighted to hear from readers, so do come and visit me at www.katehardy.com (http://www.katehardy.com)

With love

Kate Hardy

IT STARTED WITH NO STRINGS … is Kate Hardy’s 60th Mills & Boon® romance

Dedication (#ulink_f22c9ab7-cbb0-5706-97c9-fb3f8cb98b81)

To Penni Askew and Scarlet Wilson, with love—

and thanks for the encouragement!

Praise for Kate Hardy: (#ulink_f625603e-d313-5b14-b804-4a2e408047aa)

‘BOUND BY A BABY moved me to tears many times. It is a full-on emotional drama. Author Kate Hardy brought this tale shimmering with emotions. Highly recommended for all lovers of romance.’

—Contemporary Romance Reviews

Table of Contents

Cover (#u194afec5-9995-5104-9ff8-e27f15a7fc85)

About the Author (#uf85804fc-c593-5023-a0e8-9e0c097f49b3)

Title Page (#uf23e2e0f-ebf3-5d57-b8f2-de7de6c50a0e)

Dear Reader (#u4a3559fe-ab1d-5f11-9db1-bd0c973af6b2)

Dedication (#u8cef53fb-9602-5e94-ae42-31a7f370b516)

Praise for Kate Hardy: (#u56af4ec2-b34e-53bc-8ee9-bc186cbb790d)

CHAPTER ONE (#u49e8f47b-6ca8-564b-885b-d51a5520db80)

CHAPTER TWO (#u2bb29eb7-a539-53b4-ba15-31d0ba0f2907)

CHAPTER THREE (#ud0f4d841-c5cd-5c47-b755-dd8fb2fc9c41)

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)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_5e4550bd-7760-5b88-95c1-db6c3af3c804)

‘WELCOME TO LONDON.’ Aaron lifted his pint in a wry toast to himself.

It was his own fault that he was sitting here on his own at the bar in a salsa club. When Tim had suggested going out to celebrate Aaron’s first weekend in London and catch up, of course he hadn’t meant just going out for a quiet pint. Aaron should’ve remembered their student days: Tim had always been the life and soul of the party, and always ended up surrounded by a crowd of pretty girls. He was still the same in his thirties as he’d been in his late teens; right now, Aaron couldn’t even see him in the crowded club.

So when he’d finished his pint, Aaron decided, he’d try and find Tim, say a quiet goodbye, and go back to the impersonal flat he’d rented near the hospital.