The Army Doctor's Christmas Baby Read Free Page A

least a couple of
million pounds. A colonel's salary had to be a lot more than she'd thought,
unless his family already had money. She really knew very little about Sean
Fabian apart from his military reputation.
    Her heart pounded as she walked towards the front door. She
hadn't expected seeing Sean again to make her nervous. After all, she was only
working for him. They weren't dating. She sucked in a steadying breath and told
herself not to be so silly.
    She pressed her thumb on the doorbell and waited. A few
moments passed before voices sounded inside, then the door opened. Sean beamed
his crooked smile at her, all dimples and white teeth.
    A small girl with blonde curls rested in his arms, her head
on his shoulder, her chubby fingers clutching his shirt collar. Kelly's heart
skipped a beat, then raced on. If there was one thing better than a handsome
man, it was a handsome man holding a baby. Or in Sean's case, two babies. The
other twin sat on his foot, her arms and legs wrapped around his lower leg.
    "Kelly. Hello. Great to see you again. Come in."
Sean shuffled back, one foot weighed down by his daughter.
    "This is Zoe," he said, bouncing the baby in his
arms. He tried to sit the child higher so she could see Kelly, but the little
girl buried her face in her daddy's neck and hung on. "We're slightly shy
when we meet new people, but she won't take long to get used to you." He
kissed the top of the child's head. "This is Kelly. She's going to spend
some time with you while Monique's away."
    "Hello, Zoe. It's nice to meet you."
    The little girl peeped out at Kelly through huge blue-green
eyes fringed with long golden lashes just like her father's.
    "And down here we have Annabelle, or Belles for
short." Sean lifted his foot off the ground and the child tipped back her
head, viewing Kelly upside down. "As you can see, Belles is not shy. I
think she takes after her mother and Zoe takes after me."
    Kelly crouched down to Annabelle's level and smiled.
"Nice to meet you, Annabelle." The two little girls were identical
twins, both blonde and very pretty.
    "Annabelle has a thing about riding on my foot at the
moment. It's like walking around the house with a lead boot on. By the end of
the day, I feel as though my leg is going to drop off. I'm sure I'll end up
with one thigh muscle twice the size of the other."
    Kelly's gaze rose to his denim-clad thighs, exactly at her
eye level. They looked pretty good from where she was crouched. She stood
quickly, a flush heating her cheeks.
    "I'm afraid Monique's already gone and there's a chance
she won't come back. Her grandmother isn't well, and she took a turn for the
worse. So I'll show you the ropes." Sean angled his head to talk to Zoe.
"Shall we give Kelly a tour of the house?"
    Zoe peered shyly at Kelly and nodded, poking a thumb in her
mouth.
    Kelly suppressed a smile as she followed Sean down a light,
airy hallway. He limped along with Annabelle on his foot, obviously a doting
father.
    "The main living area is a semi-open plan to take
advantage of the view."
    A huge bright room lay before her, the front wall made up of
sliding glass doors. As she'd suspected, the room had incredible views of the
river and surrounding countryside.
    Contemporary white leather sofas and easy chairs filled one
section of the room, while an oak and stainless steel kitchen with a granite-topped
island occupied one back corner and a semi-screened dining area with oak table
and white leather chairs another.
    Kelly wandered across the space and stared out as a boat
drifted past. Wooden decking provided an outside seating area, elevated above
the river. "This is a stunning view, Sean." She glanced over her
shoulder as he shuffled closer, wincing at the weight of Annabelle on his foot.
    "I love it here. I'm a bit of an introvert. I need to
retreat somewhere peaceful after a busy day at work to recharge my
batteries."
    "Yeah, this place would be ideal for that." She
didn't think of herself as an introvert,