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‘I’d like you to meet our new theatre nurse. I’ve just had to practically drag her away from the clutches of young Dr Anderson! Staff Nurse Carpenter, this is Dr Kershaw—our Surgeon-in-Charge.’
It was as though someone had pulled a shutter down in front of those grey eyes, thought Kate as he stared at her. All the passion and amination had been wiped clean from his face, which now looked blank and cold.
‘Miss Carpenter,’ he said. ‘You and I seem to be meeting with monotonous regularity.’
Tessa Hetherington was looking closely from one to the other. ‘Am I to assume that you two are already friends?’ Her voice sounded high and forced. It seemed to Kate that she was carrying a very large torch for the moody Dr Kershaw.
‘Hardly friends, Sister,’ replied Kate evenly. ‘I’ve met Dr Kershaw briefly on two occasions in Perth. Ours has been the most fleeting of acquaintanceships!’
‘You certainly don’t waste much time, Nurse!’ she said brightly and turned to him conspiratorially. ‘As I said, I found Nurse Carpenter in deep conversation with Dr Anderson, and she’d only been in the building for five minutes!’
‘Really?’ The surgeon’s arch query carried a wealth of disapproval. ‘I must say I don’t envy you your job one bit, Tessa. Trying to keep the nurses’ minds on their work and out of the doctors’ hair must be an uphill battle.’ He stood up suddenly and his tall angular frame seemed to fill the room.
Dear Reader,
One hundred. Doesn’t matter how many times I say it, I still can’t believe that’s how many books I’ve written. It’s a fabulous feeling but more fabulous still is the news that Mills & Boon are issuing every single one of my backlist as digital titles. Wow. I can’t wait to share all my stories with you - which are as vivid to me now as when I wrote them.
There’s BOUGHT FOR HER HUSBAND, with its outrageously macho Greek hero and A SCANDAL, A SECRET AND A BABY featuring a very sexy Tuscan. THE SHEIKH’S HEIR proved so popular with readers that it spent two weeks on the USA Today charts and…well, I could go on, but I’ll leave you to discover them for yourselves.
I remember the first line of my very first book: “So you’ve come to Australia looking for a husband?” Actually, the heroine had gone to Australia to escape men, but guess what? She found a husband all the same! The man who inspired that book rang me up recently and when I told him I was beginning my 100th story and couldn’t decide what to write, he said, “Why don’t you go back to where it all started?”
So I did. And that’s how A ROYAL VOW OF CONVENIENCE was born. It opens in beautiful Queensland and moves to England and New York. It’s about a runaway princess and the enigmatic billionaire who is infuriated by her, yet who winds up rescuing her. But then, she goes and rescues him… Wouldn’t you know it?
I’ll end by saying how very grateful I am to have a career I love, and to thank each and every one of you who has supported me along the way. You really are very dear readers.
Love,
Sharon xxx
Mills & Boon are proud to present a thrilling digital collection of all Sharon Kendrick’s novels and novellas for us to celebrate the publication of her amazing and awesome 100th book! Sharon is known worldwide for her likeable, spirited heroines and her gorgeous, utterly masculine heroes.
SHARON KENDRICK once won a national writing competition, describing her ideal date: being flown to an exotic island by a gorgeous and powerful man. Little did she realise that she’d just wandered into her dream job! Today she writes for Mills & Boon, featuring her often stubborn but always to-die-for heroes and the women who bring them to their knees. She believes that the best books are those you never want to end. Just like life…
www.millsandboon.co.uk
Contents
Cover
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
Copyright
CHAPTER ONE
‘SO YOU’VE come to Australia looking for a husband, have you?’
Kate stared indignantly at the tall man in front of her, whose dark good looks appeared to have mesmerised almost every woman in the room. She drew herself up to her full height which, infuriatingly, still only reached to his shoulders.
‘How dare you?’ she said furiously. ‘It may surprise you to realise that not all women regard marriage as the pinnacle of achievement.’
‘I’ve yet to meet one, I’m afraid,’ he said, in an exasperatingly offhand manner. ‘Although that’s what they always say.’
‘I’m not even going to dignify your prejudices by discussing them with you,’ she retorted disdainfully.
Turning on her heel, she stalked towards the drinks trolley which stood in a corner of the large airy room whose windows overlooked the Swan river. With a trembling hand she lifted a pitcher and poured herself a glass of punch.
She hadn’t even wanted to come to this party, she reflected, as she quenched her thirst. It was her young cousin Paul, a fourth year medical student at Western Australia’s busy teaching hospital, who had persuaded Kate to accompany him to his ‘end of firm’ party. This was a small affair given by Paul and the other students for the surgical team who had been teaching them for the last two months.
‘But I won’t know anyone,’ she had protested.
‘Then I’ll introduce you! You must come, Katie, you’ll enjoy yourself,’ he had insisted.
So here she was. Presumably the self-opinionated man was one of the surgical team; he certainly looked too old to be a medical student.
Such arrogance! she thought to herself, watching as he stood lounging against the wall, surveying the room slowly. Kate’s place had been quickly filled by a young woman with startling platinum blonde hair who was gazing up at him through thickly mascaraed lashes. He noticed the direction of Kate’s glance and grinned sardonically, raising his glass to her.
She hastily looked away. Heaven save her from all men, especially from men as egotistical as that one! She found herself resenting his obvious good looks—the craggy, tanned face and the coal-black curls which put her in mind of some latter-day Sir Lancelot.
He wore a loosely fitting grey linen suit, but even that could not disguise the sinewy outlines of his tall, hard body. No wonder, thought Kate, that the blonde was pressing herself against him!
She took another sip of her drink and glanced around the room for her cousin. She spotted him talking to a freckled-faced young woman with a mop of thick brown curls.
Paul was such a dear, thought Kate, although at times she felt exhausted just keeping up with the dizzy series of activities which he and his parents had organised for her.
She had been in the beautiful city of Perth for almost twelve weeks, and she had scarcely had time to draw breath. She suspected that they were trying to keep her busy in the hope that she wouldn’t have time to dwell on the reason for her hurried departure from England—the end of her romance with Ben and the unsavoury discovery that he had been unfaithful to her. She had come to Australia to get the whole ghastly business out of her system.
She had dressed carefully for the party. She made a striking vision in a simple cut dress of jade, which emphasised the cat like quality of her green eyes. The rich golden satin of her hair tumbled down around her heart-shaped face, almost to her waist.
Her look would have been quintessentially English if it had included the delicate pink-and-white which so often accompanies blonde hair, but she was able to bask in the sun at will without burning, and already she was the colour of golden syrup, after twelve weeks beneath the strong Australian sun.
The dark surgeon had sought her company uninvited. Their eyes had met across a sea of bobbing heads and Kate had seen a look of astonishment cross his features, almost as though he had seen a ghost, she thought.
She wondered what on earth had caused a stranger to make such an odd remark.
He had come towards her with a slightly bemused expression and had offered to fetch her something to drink. She had accepted gratefully, already used to the disarming friendliness of the Australians, and rather interested in this particular one since he was without question the best-looking man in the room.
It was when he heard her soft, clear English accent that she had seen his grey eyes darken and a frown appear between those dark brows. What did she do? he had wanted to know. State Registered Nurse, she had told him proudly, and it was a just pride, for Kate had trained at St. Jude’s—one of the largest and busiest teaching hospitals, with a reputation for producing some of England’s finest nurses.
She remembered her first few weeks of training when Mrs. French her tutor, had told the class of fresh-faced youngsters before her that training at St. Jude’s was a passport to any hospital in the world. And yet it had not aroused the customary respect in the face of the Australian.
‘What brings you to Australia?’ he had demanded, and she had told him simply that she had had a love affair back in England which had gone wrong.
It was then that he had made his provocative statement. Kate had at first thought that he was joking, but the grey eyes hadn’t looked particularly humorous.
She had felt flabbergasted by his insufferable conceit. The worst type of surgeon, she decided, so used to the power and prestige of the job that he imagined himself irresistible to all women!
She turned her back on the platinum blonde who now appeared to be in the process of nibbling on his ear, standing on tiptoe in order to reach.
Her cousin had noticed that she stood alone and, with his curly-haired companion, had threaded his way through the scattered couples towards her.
‘Hi there, Cousin!’ he exclaimed warmly. ‘I want you to meet Joanne, a fellow student and our hostess for this wonderful party.’ He leaned over and planted a kiss on Joanne’s nose. ‘Joanne’s folks allowed us to use their house tonight,’ he explained. ‘Fortunately that did not include letting her loose in the kitchen, and the food was provided by outside caterers!’
‘Why, you ungrateful beast!’ laughed Joanne, aiming a playful punch at him. ‘I’m very pleased to meet you, Kate. Paul has told me so much about you.’
‘All bad, of course!’ interjected Paul.
‘I hope you’re having a great holiday, so far?’ Joanne asked, in her pleasant voice.
‘It’s been wonderful,’ replied Kate. ‘Everyone has really gone out of their way to be kind to me.’ She paused. ‘Except for that man over there—he’s just been unbelievably rude!’
‘Which one?’ asked Joanne.
‘Him—the one with his back to us, over by the window.’
Joanne followed the direction of her gaze. He stood, nonchantly sipping his drink, seemingly oblivious to the attentions of the amorous blonde.
‘Oh, you mean Grant Kershaw—I should have guessed!’ Joanne grimaced at Kate. ‘I shouldn’t worry about him. He’s hardly the world’s greatest charmer. Half the women in the hospital are madly in love with him and show it; the other half feel the same but pretend to hate him. Consequently his arrogance knows no bounds! He hates women. They say he has only one true love in his life, and that’s surgery. People can stand his bearlike manner because he’s so good at it, too. If he carries on the way he’s going, it’s said that he’ll become the youngest surgical consultant in the state.’
‘All the women in the hospital are in love with him, are they, Joanne?’ Paul raised his eyebrows questioningly. Suddenly Joanne blushed and grinned shyly at him.
‘Please excuse me,’ she said. ‘I must go and organise some more punch. It’s lovely to have met you, Kate.’ She smiled as she hurried away in the direction of the kitchen.
Kate turned to her cousin. ‘Do I detect a romance brewing?’ she asked, her eyes twinkling mischievously.
‘Well detected, Kate,’ smiled Paul. ‘She’s a lovely girl,’ he said, suddenly serious.
The sight of her cousin, so obviously in love, made Kate feel very much an outsider. All at once the room seemed hot and noisy and the babbling of voices were giving her a headache. She had had enough of the party.
‘I think I’ll go home now,’ she told him.
His face fell a little. ‘Let me say goodbye to Joanne, then I’ll give you a lift.’
‘No Paul. It’s sweet of you, but I’ll get a taxi. Really, I insist!’ She was amused to see his look of relief. She had no desire to drag him away from the party, and quite honestly she felt as though she could do with a little solitude.
As she left, she couldn’t resist looking to see whether Grant Kershaw had made any headway with the young woman, but she searched in vain. He was nowhere to be seen.
She thanked Joanne, said goodbye to Paul and stepped outside into the fading light of the warm Perth evening. She found a taxi easily and directed it to the exclusive beach side suburb where her Uncle Mike and Aunt Sue lived. Distant stars had started to glimmer and the coloured lights from skyscraper office blocks danced like a kaleidoscope on the waters of the Swan.
With a sigh she settled into the back seat and closed her eyes.
The last few months had been one mad, hectic whirl. The excitement of a trip to Australia had somehow blurred the reality of her split with Ben. Over the past few days, however, the realisation had at last begun to sink in. She was not to become Mrs. Hillier; her future no longer lay comfortable and secure before her.
All things considered, it had not been a particularly successful evening, she thought as the car gathered speed. That man had quite unnerved her. Thank heavens she was to begin nursing again next week; the demanding physical and mental nature of the job would leave her little time or energy to dwell on affairs of the heart.
Uncle Mike had arranged for her to work in the ‘country’ hospital of Port Dampland, a town with a population of around twelve thousand, which handled the shipping of iron ore supplied by two nearby mines.
‘It’s a rough and ready place,’ her uncle had warned her. ‘There’s sea on one side and desert on the other. Few shops, no theatre, one pub and the hospital. You could be lonely there, Kate.’
Frankly, it had sounded just what she needed—lots of hard work as a nurse in her beloved theatres. It needed stamina, anticipation and dexterity to be a good scrub nurse, and Kate had been told that she was one of the best.
The taxi drew up outside the imposing white colonial-styled house of her relatives. Her uncle had emigrated from England twenty years previously, a newly-married houseman at the time. Now he was Chief of Surgery at Perth’s largest hospital.
She paid the taxi-driver and, hearing no sounds from the house, wandered through the gardens towards the swimming pool where her uncle and aunt often sat to drink their coffee after dinner. She strolled across the lawn, whose manicured emerald smoothness belied the heat of the harsh Australian sun. There were hundreds of wild flowers massed around the edges of the lawn, and the fading light seemed only to intensify their colours, making them jewel-bright and unreal.
She made a beautiful, wraith-like vision, her hair like a shimmering waterfall as she picked her way towards the table where her aunt and uncle were sitting. She could see that they had a guest, a man, sitting with his back to her.
Her aunt saw her and waved. ‘Kate!’ she called. ‘How lovely? Come and have some coffee.’
As she drew nearer, Kate realised with a start that she recognised the broad line of those shoulders. She recognised the dark curls which showed jet against the white of his shirt collar. Furiously, she realised that her heart was thumping painfully in her chest.
He turned in his chair to greet the niece of his host, and she had the pleasure of reading the momentary discomfiture which flashed across his face. Then it was gone and he was on his feet, hand outstretched, that hateful sarcastic smile on his lips.
Her uncle smiled broadly. ‘I’d like you to meet Grant Kershaw, Kate. He’s one of our rising stars and, though I hate to admit it, my most likely successor! Grant—my niece Kate Carpenter.’
‘How do you do, Miss Carpenter?’ he said formally, extending his hand and clasping her own.
So he was not going to acknowledge their earlier meeting, thought Kate angrily. And no wonder, since he behaved so rudely towards her. Well, two can play at your silly games, Mr. Kershaw! she thought doggedly.
‘Very well, thank you,’ she answered coolly as she sat down in the chair he’d pulled out for her. ‘Enjoying both the Australian sun and the warm hospitality of its people.’ She smiled at him politely and he winced slightly.
‘How was the party, darling?’ enquired her aunt as she handed her a cup of coffee. ‘I’m suprised that you didn’t run into each other.’
‘It was a bit of a crush, Auntie. I spent most of the time chatting to Paul and Joanne. Actually, I’m feeling quite tired, so I think I’ll turn in soon, if you don’t mind.’
‘You do that, Katie,’ replied her aunt. ‘Make the most of the last few days of your holiday!’ She turned and smiled at Grant. ‘I’m glad that you’ve met each other, though. At least you’ll know one person in Port Dampland, Kate.’
Kate saw him start while she herself grew hot. She noticed that he was avoiding her eyes.
‘Grant is doing a year as Surgeon-in-Charge at Port Dampland Hospital,’ her aunt explained. ‘Kate is a theatre nurse, Grant, and starts at Dampland Hospital next week. I expect you’ll be working together quite often.’
‘I expect we will, Mrs. Saunders, and I shall look forward to it.’ He smiled evenly at his hostess.
How disgustingly obsequious! thought Kate. Now that he knew she was related to his boss, his earlier rudeness had been replaced by charm itself. He obviously thought he could behave just how the mood took him, where women were concerned. Well, he wouldn’t find her so easily manipulated!
‘I’m going up to Dampland myself tommorrow,’ continued the surgeon. ‘I’ll be travelling in a converted jeep, and spend a couple of days getting there. It’s a marvellous opportunity to see the Australian bush. If you’d care to come along, Kate, there’s plenty of room, and I should be a most willing guide. That is, if your uncle approves of the arrangement.’
‘Good heavens, yes, Grant,’ answered her uncle. ‘I’m sure Kate would have a wonderful time and is perfectly capable of looking after herself.’
‘How very thoughtful of you to make such a kind offer,’ said Kate stiffly. ‘Thank you very much, but I intended to fly, and I’m looking forward to it. I’m picking up my ticket tomorrow, actually.’ She looked directly at Grant Kershaw.
‘Look here,’ he appealed, ‘that’s easily changed. Do come!’ He sounded as though he meant it.
Perhaps he was feeling guilty, and so he should be, she thought. His behaviour earlier had been quite unwarranted. No doubt he was used to changing women’s minds . . . but Kate could be stubborn.
And, if she were being entirely honest, she wasn’t sure that she wanted to spend two days in close confinement with such a dangerous man. She lifted her chin.
‘Thanks again, Mr. Kershaw,’ she replied, trying to sound as indifferent as possible, ‘but I really do enjoy flying, and my mind is made up. Now if you’ll excuse me.’
She turned to kiss her uncle and aunt goodnight, but not before she had seen his lips tighten in anger. He obviously wasn’t used to having his wishes thwarted! she thought gleefully.
Her goodnights said, she picked up the black silk shawl which she had slung across the back of one of the garden chairs and walked slowly towards the house. She sensed his eyes on her and looking casually over her shoulder, saw that she had perceived correctly. He looked furious too!
As she showered later, Kate puzzled at the unpredictable nature of sexual chemistry. She had quite definitely felt a strong pull towards the lofty surgeon she had met twice that evening, yet the man was a complete stranger and a condescending one, moreover.
On the other hand, she had gone out with Ben for over two years and sometimes they had seemed more like brother and sister.
That was probably the root of all the trouble, she thought as she rubbed shampoo into her hair. They had known each other since schooldays, when Ben used to see the young Kate safely home. Their parents even played tennis and bridge together in the sleepy Surrey village. Then Ben had gone away to study law and Kate had stayed behind to do her ‘A’ levels.
They had met up again in London where Kate was doing nursing training and Ben was reading for the bar, and had slipped into being girlfriend and boyfriend. All their friends had been so pleased, and had said what a perfect couple they made. Both sets of parents were delighted. Everything seemed so cosy and familiar. There had been talk of an engagement, and Kate had been mulling over her answer.
If she hadn’t decided to pay a surprise visit to Ben’s London flat, she might never have discovered him, in what she believed was known as a compromising situation, with a young redheaded secretary from his chambers.
It had been unbelievably sordid. And to her astonishment, Ben had seemed to imagine that she would forgive this one lapse on his part. As she towelled her hair dry, she remembered the rather bovine look of dismay on his face when she told him that the relationship was over and that she was going to Australia to forget.
She climbed in between the cool sheets and switched off the light. She lay in the darkness and watched the moon cast strange shadows on the ceiling.
She wasn’t going to think of Ben and she certainly wasn’t going to start thinking about Grant Kershaw. She wanted work to have a cathartic effect, leaving her at peace.
She hoped sleep would come quickly tonight. She badly wanted Monday to come.
CHAPTER TWO
‘THE HEAT hit Kate the moment she stepped from the aircraft. It was like a solid wall, and it made her gasp as it entered her lungs.
She managed to look cool and composed in an ice-pink cotton sun-dress with matching sandals. Her hair lay in a single plait down her back, woven with ribbon of the same pink as the dress.
Inside, however her stomach was churning. The flight from Perth to Port Dampland had been awful. She realised now that she should never have flown in the middle of the afternoon, when the fierce heat of the sun over the mountain ranges had created severe turbulence that, at times, had made her believe she had parted company with her stomach.
She reached the bottom of the aircraft steps and surveyed the scene around her. It was some of the most dramatic terrain she had ever seen. The earth was coloured a deep, dusty red and it seemed to stretch into infinity.
Behind a fence which bordered the runway stood a small wooden building whose front bore the legend ‘Dampland Airport’. The interior of the building awaited Kate with all its air conditioned coolness, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she handed her papers to the burly official.