Seduced By The Heart Surgeon

Dear Reader,

I was thrilled to be asked to write the first story in The Hollywood Hills Clinic series. It was wonderful to work with so many amazing authors and to hear the exciting plans that they had for their characters.

I always start out with a clear plan for my heroes and heroines, and then they just tend to stray off-course—but never more so than Freya and Zack. I kept trying to warn them that they might live to regret their one night of sizzling passion. They chose not to listen!

Truly, I don’t blame them a bit.

I can’t wait to read the entire continuity and see how the other heroes and heroines behaved.

Or not!

Happy reading!

Carolx

CAROL MARINELLI recently filled in a form asking for her job title. Thrilled to be able to put down her answer, she put ‘writer’. Then it asked what Carol did for relaxation, and she put down the truth—’writing’. The third question asked for her hobbies. Well, not wanting to look obsessed, she crossed her fingers and answered ‘swimming’. But, given that the chlorine in the pool does terrible things to her highlights, I’m sure you can guess the real answer!

Contents

Cover

Introduction

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

‘YOU ALREADY KNOW, don’t you, Freya?’

‘Know what?’ Freya frowned as she attempted to pull up the zipper on her friend Beth’s wedding dress. It had slipped up easily at the final fitting just last week so Freya gave it another tug but it refused to budge. ‘Have you...?’

Freya stopped herself from continuing with the question. She, more than most, knew just how much damage that a throwaway comment about weight could cause and she certainly didn’t want to inflict that pain on Beth. Especially not on her wedding day, but, hell, the dress was tight.

Then it dawned on Freya why she was having so much trouble getting Beth into her wedding dress. Beth had declined Freya’s offer of champagne as they prepared for her late afternoon wedding and the girls’ night in at Freya’s apartment last week had been a very tame affair.

Freya worked it out just a split second before her friend said it.

‘I’m pregnant!’

Oh, Freya was very grateful for that split second because her eyes had screwed closed as yet another friend revealed their happy news, but by the time Beth had turned around, Freya had composed herself and was smiling.

‘That’s fantastic news, Beth.’

‘Don’t pretend that you didn’t know.’

‘I honestly had no idea,’ Freya admitted.

‘I didn’t have even one of the cocktails you’d made!’

‘I thought it was a bit odd,’ Freya admitted, because Beth loved a drink. ‘I just believed you when you said that you were detoxing for the wedding.’

Oh, it had been a tame night. Two of the women were pregnant, one was breastfeeding and now Freya understood why Beth had also declined the cocktails that Freya had prepared. For Freya, it had been a long night of being told, It will be your turn soon, and asked, Are you still not seeing anyone? Her friends didn’t know about her fertility issues, so they hadn’t been deliberately insensitive. She could have told them that day that she’d had blood work done and when Hilary was back from her trip she would be having some further tests to see if she might be a candidate for IVF through an egg donor.

Freya didn’t really open up to anyone, though, not fully.

‘So when did you find out?’ Freya asked Beth.

‘Two weeks ago. I was devastated at first, I have to admit.’

‘Devastated?’ Freya checked. She knew very well that Beth and Neil both wanted a family and so she wondered if they had found out that there was something wrong with the baby.

‘Well, I was very upset,’ Beth clarified. ‘We’ve been saving up for the honeymoon for ages and had paid for all drinks to be included...’ Beth rolled her eyes at the perceived inconvenience. ‘I’m fine about it now.’