Flirting with the Socialite Doc

Flirting with the Socialite Doc
MELANIE MILBURNE

The new doc in town… Accepting a GP stint in a remote Australian town seems like the perfect opportunity for Lady Isabella Courtney to mend her broken heart. But keeping a low profile is easier said than done when she mistakes the—incredibly hot—local cop for a stripper! Zach Fletcher is back in Jerringa Ridge to take care of his injured father. And new doc Izzy is a delicious distraction he doesn’t need. But something about her gets under his skin, and soon Zach finds himself flirting with trouble…!

From as soon as MELANIE MILBURNE could pick up a pen she knew she wanted to write. It was when she picked up her first Mills & Boon

at seventeen that she realised she wanted to write romance. After being distracted for a few years by meeting and marrying her own handsome hero, surgeon husband Steve, and having two boys, plus completing a Masters of Education and becoming a nationally ranked athlete (masters swimming), she decided to write. Five submissions later she sold her first book and is now a multi-published, bestselling, award-winning USA Today author. In 2008 she won the Australian Readers’ Association most popular category/series romance, and in 2011 she won the prestigious Romance Writers of Australia R*BY award.

Melanie loves to hear from her readers via her website, www.melaniemilburne.com.au (http://www.melaniemilburne.com.au), or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/melanie.milburne (http://www.facebook.com/melanie.milburne)

Dear Reader

I love fish-out-of-water stories, where a character—usually the heroine!—is thrown into a situation or environment that is totally foreign to her. Like me right now! I am writing this on a four-wheel drive tour bus in The Kimberleys in Western Australia. The heat is intense, but the scenery and the small friendly communities we’ve travelled through are wonderful examples of the wild frontier of the Outback and the larger-than-life people who make it so special.

Lady Isabella (Izzy) Courtney has taken a four-week posting to Jerringa Ridge after the end of her four-year engagement. She’s not looking for love, but Cupid has other plans.

Sergeant Zach Fletcher is the local cop, who also has a broken relationship behind him and has no interest in anything right now but helping his dad get back on his feet after a quad bike accident. But of course when Zach meets Izzy everything changes—for both of them.

They both learn—as I too have learnt over the years—that it doesn’t matter where you live, as long as the one you love is with you.

I hope you enjoy Zach and Izzy’s story.

Warmest wishes

Melanie Milburne

Flirting with

the Socialite Doc

Melanie Milburne

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

DEDICATION

To Alan and Sue Beswick for their continued support of the Heart Foundation in Tasmania.

This one is for you. At last! XX

Praise for

Melanie Milburne:

‘A tale of new beginnings, redemption and hope that will make readers chuckle as well as wipe away a tear. A compelling medical drama about letting go of the past and seizing the day, it is fast-paced and sparkles with mesmerising emotion and intense passion.’

—Goodreads.com on THEIR MOST FORBIDDEN FLING

Recent titles by Melanie Milburne:

DR CHANDLER’S SLEEPING BEAUTY

SYDNEY HARBOUR HOSPITAL: LEXI’S SECRET* (#ulink_0844bfa1-c4f8-52e1-995f-2a07a4f7760d) THE SURGEON SHE NEVER FORGOT THE MAN WITH THE LOCKED AWAY HEART

* (#ulink_6f1f5db3-0715-56ae-9cbc-46272a55813d)Sydney Harbour Hospital

These books are also available in eBook format from www.millsandboon.co.uk

Contents

Chapter One (#u8743da8b-a85c-5d0f-b94f-00965463b8f6)

Chapter Two (#u9ae31695-ab9e-5b88-bf3e-807784f390ef)

Chapter Three (#uba07341d-4c30-5bcb-8ed1-1955e377bceb)

Chapter Four (#u1ff1a96f-ee93-5c5b-9106-1bb710277152)

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)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ONE

EVEN THE DISTANCE of more than seventeen thousand kilometres that Izzy had put between herself and her best friend was not going to stop another Embarrassing Birthday Episode from occurring.

Oh, joy.

‘I’ve got the perfect present winging its way to you,’ Hannah crowed over the phone from London. ‘You’re going to get the biggest surprise. Be prepared. Be very prepared.’

Izzy gave a mental groan. Her closest friend from medical school had a rather annoying habit of choosing the most inappropriate and, on occasion, excruciatingly embarrassing birthday gifts. ‘I know you think I’m an uptight prude but do you have to rub my nose in it every year? I’m still blushing from that grotesque sex toy you gave me last year.’

Hannah laughed. ‘This is so much better. And it will make you feel a little less lonely. So how are you settling in? What’s it like out there?’