The Millionaire Next Door
The Millionaire Meets His Match…Forced to take a vacation, Boston's hottest bachelor and biggest workaholic traveled to sleepy Cottonwood, Texas. All Hudson Stack wanted was a little R and R, but then he met his all-tooalluring neighbor Amanda Galloway. Maybe it was the hot Texas sun that had him yearning to unpin this small-town Rapunzel's hair and feel it slide through his fingers….While Amanda liked her life predictable, Hudson coaxed her out of her cautious world with mouthwatering kisses. But before he knew it, Amanda had stolen his heart and had him rethinking his bachelor ways. The only problem was she didn't know he was a famous surgeon. Would the big-city doctor return to his lonely life, or could he convince Amanda to trust him and take the ultimate risk–of believing in forever?
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“I really should go.”
“How many times are you going to say that?” Hudson asked.
“Until I convince myself to follow through, I guess.”
“I like you, Amanda. I also want you. I guess that’s no big surprise. But maybe it would be better if we didn’t go there.”
She nodded. “Much wiser.”
“Good night, then.”
“Yes, good night.” She turned, got as far as the door, actually had her hand on the knob when she turned to look at him one more time.
The naked hunger she saw in his eyes did her in. No man had ever looked at her like that, as if she was the last morsel of bread on earth. And Amanda could no more deny her own desire than she could stop breathing.
“Don’t look so glum about it. I have to lower my blood pressure, too. We can work on it together.”
She brightened. “Could we make it a contest? Whoever lowers their blood pressure the most gets, um…” Gets to kiss the other one senseless.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Texas native Kara Lennox has been an art director, typesetter, advertising copywriter, textbook editor and reporter. She’s worked in a boutique, a health club and has conducted telephone surveys. She’s been an antiques dealer and briefly ran a clipping service. But no work has made her happier than writing romance novels.
When Kara isn’t writing, she indulges in an ever-changing array of weird hobbies, from rock climbing to crystal digging. But her mind is never far from her stories. Just about anything can send her running to her computer to jot down a new idea for some future novel.
Books by Kara Lennox
HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE
841—VIRGIN PROMISE
856—TWIN EXPECTATIONS
871—TAME AN OLDER MAN
893—BABY BY THE BOOK
917—THE UNLAWFULLY WEDDED PRINCESS
934—VIXEN IN DISGUISE *
942—PLAIN JANE’S PLAN*
951—SASSY CINDERELLA*
974—FORTUNE’S TWINS
991—THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR
Rx
Name: Hudson Stack, M.D.
Diagnosis: High Blood Pressure
General Instructions:
• Take a vacation in a small Texas town.
• Spend some quality time with your adorable daughter.
• Learn how to fish.
• Fall head over heels in love with your beautiful blond neighbor.
Signed: George Blake Stimson, M.D.
Contents
Prologue
Hudson Stack, M.D., sat in the office of George Blake Stimson, Chief of Surgery at Boston General, his irritation rising as he learned the results of his mandatory physical.
“Your blood pressure is in the red zone,” George said, continuing a long harangue. “Your cholesterol is off the charts, your triglycerides are completely out of whack. Your caffeine consumption is three times what it ought to be. Your reflexes are slow, you’re sleep deprived, and you’re irritable. And no doctor, I don’t care how famous or how popular, is going to operate on patients in my hospital when he’s falling apart.”
“Are you telling me I’m fired?” Hudson asked, alarmed. He’d had these little discussions with George before. Usually the crusty old surgeon warned him to take it easy, eat healthier, get more sleep, that sort of thing.
Hudson had believed his job was secure. He’d recently become the hospital’s best public relations tool. Inventing an artificial valve that was going to save millions of lives had put Hudson’s name in the medical journals. Saving the mayor’s life with an emergency quintuple bypass had put his name in the headlines. Most recently, Boston Life magazine had named him “Boston’s Hottest Bachelor,” ensuring he remain in the public eye far longer than Hudson would have liked.
“Of course you’re not fired. Administration would tar and feather me if I did that. But you are going on vacation, starting now.”
“I can’t,” Hudson immediately replied. “I’ve got two surgeries in the morning and three more—”
“Those surgeries will be reassigned to other surgeons.”
“You can’t do that.”
“I can and will do whatever it takes. Would you want a surgeon in your shape operating on your heart?”
“There’s nothing wrong with me.”
“Your test results speak differently.”
Hudson knew that arguing was fruitless. George’s word was like God’s around here. Hudson could appeal to no one; no one would take his side.
“I suppose I could use a few days off,” he finally said, grudgingly. And maybe it was true. He hadn’t seen his daughter in a week—at least, not awake. He usually got home long after she was in bed. He would spend a few minutes just looking at Bethany as she slept, reassuring himself that she was fine.
“I’m not talking about a few days,” George said. “I want you to take off at least a month. And I want you to get far, far away from Boston and go someplace where nobody knows you. And I want you to learn to fish.”
Hudson just sat there, stunned. A month? He couldn’t take that long away from his work.
“Hudson, I’m not speaking now as your superior, but as your friend. You’re a heart attack waiting to happen. Maybe not this week, or this year, but you’re heading in that general direction. I even heard you were seen smoking.”
