The Doctor's Baby Secret Read Free

already. And the words sounded rehearsed—even a little forced.
    â€˜Thanks,’ he said briskly as he turned to walk away. His stomach gave a little flip. It didn’t matter that this was the news he’d been waiting to hear since he was eight years old. It didn’t matter that he’d taken the time to follow in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps, becoming a navy pilot first. It didn’t matter that his other big love—microbiology—had taken a back seat for the last few years. Astronaut training had always been the golden ticket, the ultimate goal.
    In all his dreams of this moment, he had imagined himself with a squadron of men, yelling and whooping at the news. But this day was a little different from what he’d expected. He’d been confident. He’d been sure he would qualify. He knew he’d aced most of the tests and he was at his peak of fitness right now. There wasn’t a single medical reason to keep him on this planet.
    So, why wasn’t he being more gracious about this?
    It was that dang woman. She was causing crazy, distracting thoughts in his head. He was thrown off his game. Austin Mitchell was used to being completely in control. Usually everyone around him was singing to his tune. Dr Carter seemed like the kind of woman who was only interested in her own tune. She wouldn’t be swayed by a duet with him. And that kind of irked too. Austin Mitchell always got the girl.
    â€˜Lieutenant. Lieutenant!’ The last one was a yell. He could hear the rapid fire of her stiletto heels across the concrete. It almost sounded like a run.
    Her hand reached for his shoulder and she pulled him around sharply. Being manhandled by a woman. This was a first. And he liked it.
    Fire was sparking from her eyes. ‘I wasn’t finished.’
    Wow. He liked her like this. All simmering rage, with colour flushing into her cheeks. He knew he could be infuriating. He’d infuriated everyone from janitors to admirals, and all the people in between. He gave a nonchalant shrug. ‘Sorry, I thought you were.’
    She sucked in a breath and drew herself up. It was all he could do not to allow his eyes to divert to those straining breasts. Pink satin really suited her skin tone and complemented the dark suit.
    She thrust a large brown envelope towards him. ‘Your papers with your instructions. You’ve to report to Houston, Texas at zero eight hundred hours on August the tenth.’ She inclined her head a little. ‘I trust you are able to follow instructions.’
    He gave a little smile. ‘Only the important ones.’
    She folded her arms across her chest. ‘Lieutenant, do you know that as an astronaut trainee you’re assigned an overseeing officer?’
    He blinked. He’d researched just about everything, but this was something he’d forgotten about in amongst all the other stuff. He gave a brief nod. ‘Of course.’
    She smiled. A wide, slightly wicked smile that made her eyes gleam. ‘You’ll be pleased to hear you’ve got the toughest officer of all.’
    â€˜And who might that be?’
    She raised her eyebrows. ‘Oh, that, Lieutenant Commander, would be me. See you in Houston.’ And she turned on her heel and left.

CHAPTER TWO
    A USTIN PULLED UP a stool next to Michael at the bar and they clinked their beer bottles together. ‘Here’s to the next eighteen months.’ Michael smiled. He hadn’t stopped smiling since they’d met a few hours ago—he was still getting over the delight of being selected for the programme.
    Austin took a long slow drink of his beer. The bar was packed. And judging from the photos on the walls it seemed it was a long-time favourite of the astronauts based in Houston, Texas. He tried not to stare but it was difficult—he’d followed the careers of most of these astronauts at one point. He’d even done a school project on