The Doctor Claims His Bride Read Free

week?’ Her voice squeaked out the words. ‘I thought you were only here for tomorrow’s clinic?’
    He tilted his head to the side, his eyes crinkling in a smile. ‘That had been the plan but things change. Kirra has the largest population so I’m here more often than not. I’ve been away for five days so now I need to play catch-up and I’m here for seven days straight.’
    Somehow she managed to force the muscles of her face into a smile, while her gut seemed to fold inward. ‘I guess it’s my lucky week, then.’ But luck had never played a role in her life and she didn’t believe it was going to start any time soon.

CHAPTER TWO
    F LYNN gazed out of his office window, watching the cabbage palms waving in the breeze and desperately trying to ignore the lure of the sunshine and wide-open spaces. Most of him wanted to be outside, swimming in a waterhole or just sitting under the shade of the banyan trees with the local community. He learned a lot by just sitting and listening.
    But he had a major health department report due, and a budget review—two huge tasks that should be claiming his complete attention. Hadn’t he told Mia that Friday afternoon was a good time for admin work? But it seemed he couldn’t take his own advice today and his mind kept wandering. For some inexplicable reason he couldn’t stop thinking about Mia.
    A dull thud sounded behind him, the third bump in the last twenty minutes. It sounded like Mia was tearing apart the treatment room. He grinned despite himself. She was the type of woman who couldn’t sit still even if she was tied to a chair. There was nothing new in that. Each new nurse needed to put his or her stamp on the place.
    He met a new nurse every few months. More malenurses were taking up positions but they were usually younger, came for some adventure, and headed back south for a promotion.
    Generally the nurses were older women, jaded with life, anti-men, and they came up here so they could work solo. Teamwork didn’t usually feature on their agenda and they ‘tolerated’ doctors in their domain. He was used to flying in, running his clinics and flying out. In between he consulted over the phone for emergencies and other than those contact times he rarely gave these competent women another thought.
    But Mia, with her long blonde hair, her vivid blue eyes and high cheekbones, had caught his attention the moment he’d walked around the plane. She didn’t fit the type at all. She seemed out of place and that had piqued his curiosity.
    Yes, curiosity was the only reason he was thinking about her. It had nothing at all to do with honey-brown skin, a hesitant smile and long, long legs.
    No, he was immune to women and had been since three thirty p.m., March eighteenth, two years ago.
    But despite his immunity, the image of Mia—eyes flashing against fleeting shadows, with her hands fixed firmly on shapely hips—wafted across his mind. She’d been prickly from the moment they’d met.
    The least you could have done was send a message to say you were going to be late .
    She was bossy with a take-charge attitude. He laughed out loud, the sudden realisation pushing away the disconcerting feeling that had dogged him since he’d first seen her. Mia wasn’t any different from the usual RAN after all.
    With a clear mind he returned his attention to the spreadsheet blinking at him from the computer and tackled the budget.
    Running feet unexpectedly pounded on the ramp outside his office and the door of the men’s entrance to the clinic was abruptly flung open, its hinges screeching in protest.
    ‘Doc, Sis, come quick.’ The distressed voice bounced off the walls.
    Flynn shot out of his chair, reaching the corridor at the same moment as Mia. He instantly recognised Walter, one of the talented wood carvers on the island. ‘What’s happened?
    ‘What’s wrong?’
    Walter gripped the railing on the wall, panting hard. ‘Jimmy, he’s in the ute. He’s hurt pretty