LITMIR.BIZ

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      She was so wounded, and so fiercely defensive about keeping people away from her, yet the woman standing there at the door, ready to bolt, didn’t fool him at all.

      Not for a minute. She wanted what he wanted to give her—and, unless he was totally mistaken, she loved him.

      He turned back and finally did what he’d wanted to do all along. He pulled Bella into his arms and kissed her—not in a friendly little gesture, as he’d done before, but in the way a man needed to kiss a woman. Crushing her hard to his body, he lowered his head to her and sought her lips with a hunger that surprised him. Prying open her mouth with his tongue, he sought the deep recesses, felt her respond with her own tongue, heard just the slightest whimper of a moan escape her as she wound her fingers around his neck and held him there. Pressed her hips to his in a carnal way that caused him to go erect immediately and groan aloud, with no thought whatsoever about where they were and who might be watching them…

      Now that her children have left home, Dianne Drake is finally finding the time to do some of the things she adores—gardening, cooking, reading, shopping for antiques. Her absolute passion in life, however, is adopting abandoned and abused animals. Right now Dianne and her husband Joel have a little menagerie of three dogs and two cats, but that’s always subject to change. A former symphony orchestra member, Dianne now attends the symphony as a spectator several times a month and, when time permits, takes in an occasional football, basketball or hockey game.

       Recent titles by the same author:

      THE WIFE HE’S BEEN WAITING FOR

      A BOSS BEYOND COMPARE

      ITALIAN DOCTOR, FULL-TIME FATHER

      A FAMILY FOR THE CHILDREN’S DOCTOR

      THEIR VERY SPECIAL CHILD

      DR VELASCOS’

       UNEXPECTED

       BABY

      BY

      DIANNE DRAKE

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

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DR VELASCOS’ UNEXPECTED BABY

      CHAPTER ONE

      “EVERYTHING checks out fine, Dr. Burke.” Dr. Raul Navarro gave Bella an encouraging smile as he handed her a prescription for eardrops. “It’s just a reaction to flying, a little congestion in the eustachian tube. It happens all the time, and it’s nothing to worry about. But it’s better to treat it now than let it go.”

      Fly to Peru, get an earache. Of all the rotten luck. “I’m not worried about it so much as frustrated. My timing’s lousy, isn’t it? I haven’t been sick one day in five years, not even with a simple cold, and yet here I am…” She gestured to the tiny office. “The first thing I have to do when I get off the plane is go see a doctor.”

      Navarro chuckled. “It’s true what they say, you know. Doctors do make the worst patients. But I promise you, in another day or two, with the eardrops, you’ll be as good as new. So, what kind of medicine did you say you practice?”

      “Pediatrics. I specialize in children under the age of six.”

      “It takes someone special to handle the children. I thought about going into pediatrics for about a minute. Then I was assigned to work in the pediatric ward during my first rotation as an intern, and that’s when I learned I had no talent for it. Children are these little balls of mystery, and if you’re not a good detective who can solve that mystery pretty quickly, the child can suffer. It’s easier for me to simply have my adult patient list symptoms and point me in the direction of what’s ailing them.”

      “But children point, too. Just in different ways. It’s all in what you know and what you perceive, I suppose.”

      “Or where your special talent comes in. With children, you’ve either got it, or you haven’t. I don’t, which is why I’m treating you and not the Menendez twins, who come in every few days for one thing or another. So, use the drops and by tomorrow you should notice an appreciable difference. That plugged-up feeling will start to disappear and the popping you’re experiencing will stop. Of course, you already know that, ddin’t you? Working with children, I’ll bet you treat more ear infections than I do. So, what brings you here?” he asked as he made the last of his notes in the chart. “Holiday? Visiting friends?”

      “Just looking around. Curiosity, mostly.” And closure. “My sister loved Peru, and I thought I’d come see what she fell in love with.”

      “Well, your sister has very good taste. I was gone for several years when I was in medical school and I came right back.” Finishing his charting, the doctor handed it to the office nurse then led Bella through the hall to the waiting room.

      Rounding the corner, she bumped straight into a man with a baby in his arms. A very loud baby at that. A cry that caught her attention, except she wasn’t on duty. “I’m sorry,” she said, stepping back from him as he pulled the infant tighter to his chest.

      More intent on the doctor, the man didn’t seem to notice Bella. “Raul, where’s the pediatric clinic?” he asked Dr. Navarro.

      “Gabriel, my friend…” Dr. Navarro started, then glanced at the bundle in his arms. “And who do we have here?”

      “Ana Maria,” Gabriel said. “Two days old, and she needs a doctor.”

      “I didn’t know you had…” Dr. Navarro said, signaling his nurse forward as Bella instinctively stepped closer to take a look at the child. But Gabriel pulled even further away from her. A very natural, protective gesture Bella recognized from so many parents of her tiny patients.

      “Who’s your pediatrician?” Gabriel persisted.

      He seemed more flustered than frightened, Bella thought, as most parents of newborns like his usually were. She saw it all the time in her pediatric practice—when a brand-new infant sneezed or coughed, the parents went to pieces. Sometimes to the point of being irrational or inconsolable. But it was all fear. She understood that, and sympathized with the man.

      “Sorry, Gabriel, but he’s not in today,” Dr. Navarro replied when Gabriel had told him. “I could have one of our general practitioners take a look at her, though. Or perhaps I could…”

      “Or I could take a look,” Bella offered without giving it a thought.

      Both men looked at her. Dr. Navarro smiled, while the man he called Gabriel frowned. “That’s right,” Doctor Navarro said. “You are a pediatrician. So, you wouldn’t mind doing this? Because I’d appreciate your help, especially considering what you already know about my way with babies.”

      Before Bella could reply, Gabriel thrust the baby into her arms. “Her name’s Ana Maria. She’s two days old,” he said. “Closer to three now.”

      “I’m Dr. Arabella Burke,” she responded, although she was sure he wasn’t paying that much attention to her.

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