Pregnant by the Single Dad Doc Read online

  Working with her ex...

  ...leads to unexpected consequences!

  Turning her life around after a crushing loss, medical student Ellie Jones is shocked to discover her new mentor is Dr. Logan Riley—who broke her heart years earlier! Single dad Logan has his hands full raising his autistic daughter, but Ellie finds herself more drawn to him than ever. And when the family losses they’ve both experienced bring them closer, reigniting their old flame, it leads to an unplanned surprise...

  They’d both felt it ever since they’d met up again at the hospital and it didn’t matter that Ellie was in the arms of her mentor right now, because right there and then, he wasn’t a mentor.

  Wasn’t a boss. He was just Logan and she had loved him.

  That meant something.

  It was like he had always been in her life and she’d been on hiatus, waiting for him to come back into it. Seeing him in neonatal had been a surprise, but it had also been expected, in a way. She’d always known he’d come back. It had just been a matter of time before they ran into each other again. Especially with the new career path she had chosen.

  They fumbled backward against a door to an on-call room, pushed it open. The room was empty, not being used, but there was a freshly made bed and he lowered her down upon it, his hands in her hair, on her body, hungry for touch, hungry for her.

  It felt good to be in his arms again. He felt so right.

  Dear Reader,

  Pregnancy can be a very scary time for any new mother. Will they get through the first trimester? Will the scans show that the baby is okay? Will there be any pregnancy difficulties? This worry is multiplied when that mother has had a previous loss, such as a stillbirth or a miscarriage.

  In this story, I wanted to focus on a mother who has experienced a huge, tragic loss and how she deals with that. I hope you’ll see how strong a character Ellie is, how she not only deals with finding herself pregnant after the loss of her son, but also how she deals with reconnecting with her first true love, the demands of a new career and everything else I chose to throw at her.

  Ellie is probably one of the strongest heroines I’ve ever written and for that I love her very much. I hope you enjoy her story, too.

  Louisa xxx

  Pregnant by the Single Dad Doc

  Louisa Heaton

  Books by Louisa Heaton

  Harlequin Medical Romance

  The Baby That Changed Her Life

  His Perfect Bride?

  A Father This Christmas?

  One Life-Changing Night

  Seven Nights with Her Ex

  Christmas with the Single Dad

  Reunited by Their Pregnancy Surprise

  Their Double Baby Gift

  Pregnant with His Royal Twins

  A Child to Heal Them

  Saving the Single Dad Doc

  Their Unexpected Babies

  The Prince’s Cinderella Doc

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com.

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  This is for all the lovely editors who have helped me shape my stories—Charlotte, Nic, Grace, Sareeta and Sara. I couldn’t have done it without you!

  Praise for Louisa Heaton

  “Reunited by Their Pregnancy Surprise is a compelling read about the irrefutable connection between a man and a woman. The story grips you from the moment you pick up the book, and you will not want to put this one down.”

  —Goodreads

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  EPILOGUE

  EXCERPT FROM THE ARMY DOC'S BABY SECRET BY CHARLOTTE HAWKES

  CHAPTER ONE

  WITH HER NOSE almost pressed up against the glass, Ellie stared at the row of incubators. Inside babies, some no bigger than the palm of her hand, lay covered in wires, tubes and nappies and hats that seemed far more suited to bigger, stronger babies. Dwarfing them even more.

  She tried to swallow, but her mouth and her throat were dry. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and her legs were feeling as though if she didn’t sit down within the next ten seconds she was going to collapse.

  Ellie pressed her hand to the glass to steady herself, trying not to look at the faces of the parents who sat by each baby. She didn’t want to see the pain on their faces and be reminded of her own grief. At least these parents still had hope.

  Being here was bad. But it was something she was just going to have to get through if she wanted to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor. The university had placed her here—in the NICU. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Queen’s Hospital. So she didn’t have a choice.

  It was just a few weeks.

  I can do this.

  This part of the hospital had been nicknamed ‘The Nest’, because all the premature babies looked like scrawny, pink newborn birds. Here they got rest, warmth, food and protection, in the hope that one day they’d fledge and leave The Nest to go to their new homes with their families.

  This was a place of hope. These families would not do well if they sensed her fear, so she turned away from the glass and sank down into one of the chairs as she awaited her mentor, Dr Richard Wilson.

  She’d spoken to him on the phone just last week. He’d sounded a kindly old chap. Patient, sympathetic, friendly. Which was nice, considering some of the other mentors she’d been paired with during her training. He’d spoken to her at great length about what he hoped she would get from her placement with him, where she was in her training, what year of study she was in, which wards she’d worked on before, what he would expect from her. All standard stuff, but he had sounded different. Like a kindly grandfather.

  She’d almost considered telling him about Samuel, but her nerves had got the better of her, and she hadn’t been sure she’d get through it without crying, so she’d decided to delay until she’d been here a while and could judge the best time to tell her story. Because he would be bound to ask questions about it. He’d want to know about her experience as a patient. What had driven her to make the choices she faced today.

  Finding it hard to swallow, she dug in her bag for her bottle of water, rummaging past all the other items. Phone. Purse. Tissues with a soothing aloe vera balm in case she lost control of her tears and didn’t want to look like Rudolph afterwards. Pens. Notebook. A 2014 copy of the BNF that a kindly pharmacist had given her free of charge. It listed all drugs and medicines, what they were used for and what their interactions were, and she didn’t want to look stupid. Tampons, just in case, a packet of painkillers and emergency chocolate...

  Ah! The water bottle.

  She struggled to open the lid, almost burning her palm as it came unscrewed, and then she took a giant swallow.

  That’s so much better.

  Putting the lid back on, she stashed it in her bag and checked her appearance once more. She wanted to make a good impression on Dr Wilson. Show him that she meant business and that she was here to learn and get the most from her placement—even if this department did scare the hell out of her.

  She sat there trying to steel herself, k
nowing that if she could just get through this first day, then the next day would be easier. And the one after that. And then she’d get into the flow. Perhaps see that this place wasn’t as scary as she believed it to be. She would get past this placement and look back at her time on it and laugh that she’d been so scared in the first place!

  It was ridiculous, the state of her nerves! Allowing herself so get so worked up.

  It’s stupid. It’s—

  ‘Ellie?’

  She heard incredulity in a man’s voice and turned to see who’d recognised her, expecting it to be a case of mistaken identity. But it wasn’t. Not at all.

  Shocked, she got to her feet. ‘Logan?’ Ellie couldn’t believe her eyes. Old, painful memories whizzed by at the speed of light. Was it really him?

  Her brain scrambled to try and work out how long it had been since they’d last seen each other, but her mind couldn’t compute and the numbers remained unreachable. Was she overjoyed? Yes. Was she apprehensive? Oh, yes. It had been years. Years since she had last seen him and he’d broken her heart by telling her that he thought it best if they were just friends.

  Did I ever really get over you? No.

  He’d devastated her that day. Had ended all her dreams of the future back then. But perhaps that had simply served to begin making her who she was today. Stronger. More independent. Perhaps she should thank him for that first strike against her heart? It had made her ready for all the others.

  Physically, he looked different. Changed from the gangly youth of their teens into a broader, more solid-looking man. Wider at the shoulders, with a squareness of jaw that was now more pronounced. The years had been good to him and he’d clearly thrived without her.

  Would he look at her and think the same? Probably not. She wasn’t the entrepreneur she’d always said she’d be. She wasn’t at the top of some corporate ladder, wearing a power suit and waving a platinum card. She’d gone back to the beginning. Was a student again. She was on the bottom rung of the career ladder when she’d always aspired to be at the top.

  She noticed he wore a name badge clipped to his belt—a sign that he worked in this hospital, identifying him as a member of staff. A doctor, of course. He’d left her behind to become one. His father was an oncologist, his mother had been... She struggled for the memory. Oh, yes. An obstetrician. When Logan had left her to pursue his dream of medical school she hadn’t known what speciality he wanted to pursue. She hoped it wasn’t this one.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked, hoping he was just passing through. Maybe he was dropping off some notes for a patient and then he would be gone again. Hopefully to work in the department that was furthest from this one. Gerontology, perhaps?

  ‘I saw the name in the diary, but I didn’t think it would be you.’

  In the diary? Why was he looking in the department’s diary? Surely that was private to Dr Wilson and his staff?

  A sense of dread began to filter its way into her body, but she didn’t want it to show on her face. She looked up and down the corridor, past the black and white artistic photographs of babies, past the noticeboard filled with old notices that should probably have been taken down years ago. Looking—hoping—to see Dr Wilson appear.

  Perhaps if she concentrated really hard she could magic him up?

  But the corridor remained resolutely empty and she turned back to face Logan, her cheeks hot, smiling politely. ‘I’m here for Dr Wilson.’

  Logan nodded. ‘You’re the new medical student?’

  Her smile was almost a rictus, and she couldn’t stand there talking to him any longer because it hurt too much already and... Oh, Logan!

  ‘Yes. I am. So, if you could just excuse me? I need to let Dr Wilson know that I’m here. I don’t want him to think that I’m late.’

  And if I say his name often enough it might summon him.

  She pushed past him, glad to find that, yes, indeed her legs were still working, and were even remarkably co-ordinated.

  But as she passed him their shoulders brushed, and she inhaled a pleasurable scent of soap and sandalwood, and it was like being catapulted back to when she was eighteen years old and in his bedroom, sitting cross-legged on his bed, laughing at him because he was trying on different kinds of body spray for their date night. And then she’d got up from the bed and pulled him close to inhale the scent of his skin...

  ‘Dr Wilson isn’t here.’

  His voice stopped her in her tracks and she closed her eyes in despair. Heart pounding hard against her ribs, she turned back to look at him. ‘No? But he’s meant to be meeting me. He’s my mentor.’

  Logan looked uncomfortable. ‘He’s not. His wife...she died this weekend.’

  Oh.

  That was dreadful news. Terrible! What was she to do? She’d have to ring her university. Tell them she needed to be assigned another mentor.

  Shocked, she began to rummage in her bag.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘I need to phone my tutor so they can assign me to someone else.’

  Where was the damned phone? It had been there just a minute ago, when she’d dug inside to find her water. It must have gone all the way to the bottom and—

  ‘They already have.’

  She looked up at him, frowning. ‘Who?’

  But she already knew the answer just by looking at his face. A face that looked both guilty and apprehensive. A face that she had once kissed all over in bright red lipstick whilst he slept and then taken a picture of to give him as a card on Valentine’s Day. A face that she had once caressed just to see how it went from smooth to bristly around his mouth.

  ‘It’s me. I’m your new mentor.’

  Her heart sank.

  * * *

  Ellie Jones.

  It felt strange, standing there just looking at her again. As if time meant nothing—as if all those years without her had been compressed into a microsecond of time. Her hair was a little longer, but still that dark so-black-it-was-almost-blue colour. Her eyes looked wary. Tired. As if she’d seen enough bad things in the world, thank you very much. Or perhaps it was just the way she was looking at him?

  He was very much aware that he had broken her heart once, ruined her expectations of life and let her down. So perhaps she was suspicious as to how he could be the best mentor for her? He hadn’t meant to break her heart. He thought he’d done the right thing for them both and she couldn’t possibly know just how much their break-up had affected him.

  But he was determined, here and now, to be the best mentor she could possibly have. As far as he was concerned the past was in the past, and though he’d hurt her once he would never do so again! He was going to push her hard during this placement, so that when she left she would realise that he had tried to make up to her for his failure in the past.

  It was the least he could do. If she wanted to be a doctor, then he’d make her one. The best doctor she could be.

  But can I stand to see her walk away from me again?

  She’d never mentioned wanting to be a doctor before. He would have remembered something like that. Hadn’t she wanted to run her own business? What had changed in her life to make her pursue this path? Because it wasn’t easy. Not by a long shot. But if this was what she wanted then he would give it to her.

  ‘I’ll show you where you can put your things.’

  She nodded, uncertain, clearly still hesitant.

  Perhaps he ought to clear the air? State his intentions?

  He turned. ‘Look, Ellie, I know this isn’t an ideal situation for us both, but I’m going to make sure you get the best education whilst you’re on this unit with me, okay? You’re here to learn and I’m here to teach. That’s all it’s going to be. All right?’

  He hoped he could remain true to his word without letting in those pesky emotions he knew were still running so close to t
he surface.

  * * *

  Rooted to the ground, she simply stared up at him. That’s all it’s going to be? What else did he think was going to happen? That she was going to fall in love with him all over again? Or that it had already happened?

  He had to be crazy if he thought that. She didn’t need him stating the facts of the case as if she were some simpering spinster who thought there might be a chance of romance in the air simply because they’d been in love before.

  It got her hackles up.

  He’d walked her to a locker, where she’d left her things, taking only a notebook and pen with her that she could slide into her trouser pocket if she needed her hands free to perform or assist with a procedure. And now she was almost running to keep up with him.

  ‘What’s the number one reason babies end up in the NICU?’

  Logan was giving her a lightning tour of the unit, asking questions as he went, not giving her any time to linger or think too much. So be it. Fine. She was here to learn. She’d show him how much it meant to her.

  ‘Prematurity.’

  ‘And the number one condition we see?’

  She hesitated and he stopped to stare at her, waiting for a suitable answer. Had his eyes always been so blue? So intense? It was hypnotic to be under his gaze once again.

  ‘Newborn jaundice?’

  He considered her answer but his gaze was still scanning her face, as if he was familiarising himself with her features. ‘Tell me about jaundice. What causes it in a newborn?’

  She didn’t know if it was different for newborns, but when she’d been on a general surgery ward there had been a patient there who had had jaundice.

  ‘Er...high levels of bilirubin?’

  ‘Are you asking me or telling me?’

  ‘Telling you.’

  He nodded. ‘Good. In this place, more than any other in the hospital with maybe the exception of Paediatrics, we have to be clear and firm about our diagnoses when discussing our patients with their parents. They don’t want to hear hesitation. They don’t want to hear doubt. They need to hear confidence and assuredness. Yes?’