Robin Gianna – Baby Surprise For The Doctor Prince (страница 1)
Their royal bundle of joy!
Two months after her breathtaking night with Prince Enzo Affini, nurse Aubrey Henderson arrives in Venice to discover he’s her new boss. And even more shocking? The news she’s carrying his royal baby!
Guarded doctor Enzo has long protected his legacy—and his heart. He’s determined not to trust his attraction to irresistible, spirited Aubrey. But as their baby grows, so, too, does their undeniable connection...and a longing for a happy-ever-after that neither can deny!
Deciding to set this book in Venice, Italy, was easy—such a magical place! Then my editor Laura asked if I’d like to have the book be part of a duet with the wonderful Amy Ruttan. Brainstorming the story with Amy was a lot of fun—as was figuring out the last details with Amy and Laura poolside in San Diego at the RWA conference. A writer’s life is rough! ;-)
In the story Aubrey thinks she’s going to Italy to nurse there, and to support her pregnant friend Shay … Until Aubrey meets a gorgeous Italian man, Enzo Affini, and can’t resist a hot one-night fling. Except when she returns to Venice two months later she learns he’s the doctor she has to work for!
Enzo is suspicious of Shay showing up in his brother’s life, and then when Aubrey comes to work for him he wonders about her, too! Until a shocking event forces him to rethink his life and what’s most important to him.
This story is about trust and betrayal and learning that the things we may believe about ourselves aren’t always true. I hope you enjoy it!
Robin xoxo
Baby Surprise for the Doctor Prince
Robin Gianna
After completing a degree in journalism, then working in advertising and mothering her kids, ROBIN GIANNA had what she calls her ‘awakening’. She decided she wanted to write the romance novels she’d loved since her teens, and now enjoys pushing her characters towards their own happily-ever-afters. When she’s not writing, Robin’s life is filled with a happily messy kitchen, a needy garden, a wonderful husband, three great kids, a drooling bulldog and one grouchy Siamese cat.
Books by Robin Gianna
Mills & Boon Medical Romance
The Hollywood Hills Clinic
The Prince and the Midwife
Midwives On-Call at Christmas
Her Christmas Baby Bump
Flirting with Dr. Off-Limits
It Happened in Paris...
Her Greek Doctor’s Proposal
Reunited with His Runaway Bride
Visit the Author Profile page at millsandboon.co.uk for more titles.
I’d like to thank my duet partner, Amy Ruttan, for being so great to work with. Let’s do it again, sometime, Amy!
Also, another huge shout-out to my wonderful friend Meta Carroll for helping me with the medical scenes in the story—thanks and smooches!
Contents
AUBREY HENDERSON LIFTED her face to the lagoon breeze and smiled, soaking in the incredible history, vivid colors, and sheer amazement that was Venice, Italy. How lucky was she to have snagged a temporary job here? She might have spent only two days in Venice before leaving for her two-month nursing job in Rome, but every detail of those hours felt etched in her brain.
Which included every detail of her illicit, probably ill-advised, and beyond wonderful fling with Enzo Affini. That one night felt burned into her mind—and body, as well—and just the thought of him made her silly heart both skip a beat and burn with annoyance.
Maybe they’d left it a little vague, but hadn’t he implied he’d be in touch? What exactly they’d said to one another when they’d parted in the wee hours of the morning didn’t seem too clear anymore, but still. She’d expected he’d at least call her while she was in Rome, since he knew she was coming back to Venice around now.
Knowing she might run into him in the flesh had her feeling nervous and excited and ticked off all over again for making her wonder if she’d ever hear from him. Then ticked off at herself for wondering at all.
Then annoyed even more when she realized that when the phrase in the flesh had come to mind, an instant all-too-sexy vision of the man’s glorious body made her feel a little breathless.
Ridiculous. Time to concentrate on why she’d come to Venice, which had nothing to do with a handsome Italian prince who was obviously the love-’em-and-leave-’em type. Which was okay. She didn’t care if she saw him or not. In fact, she had no desire at all to see the guy, since he clearly didn’t want to see her.
No, she’d come here before to support her friend Shay, who’d recently married Enzo’s brother, Dante. Now she was here to work in the clinic, enjoy that adventure, and meet with the art and architecture preservation society she’d donated more money to in her mother’s memory.
Her mom had always been fascinated with Venice and its incredible history, and it had only been her fear of travel and crowds that had kept her from coming to explore it. Seeing the fresco she and her mom had “adopted,” paying for its restoration before her mother had died, would be sad but wonderful, too. Her mother’s legacy as a preservationist in New England had now been expanded across the ocean, and that thought brought her smile back and her thoughts completely away from Enzo Affini.
Really. She wasn’t going to think about him again. Period.
A renewed pep in her step took her down narrow stone passageways in front of colorful homes, over numerous charming footbridges, then across the piazza toward the well-marked clinic she’d be working in for the next four months. When she opened the wide glass door, a bell chimed. Inside, a friendly-looking, middle-aged woman sat at a rather spartan desk. Aubrey had been told most of the people here could speak English, but wouldn’t they appreciate it if she tried a few of the Italian phrases she’d learned?
“Buongiorno. Mio nome e Aubrey Henderson. Um...sono qui...per lavorare.”
She struggled to remember more, then abandoned the effort when she saw the quizzical and amused expression on the poor woman’s face. Doubtless she was completely butchering the pronunciation.
“I’m a nurse with the UWWHA, assigned to the clinic here starting today.”