I really should go.
How many times are you going to say that? Hudson asked.
Until I convince myself to follow through, I guess.
I like you, Amanda. I also want you. I guess thats no big surprise. But maybe it would be better if we didnt go there.
She nodded. Much wiser.
Good night, then.
Yes, good night. She turned, got as far as the door, actually had her hand on the knob when she turned to look at him one more time.
The naked hunger she saw in his eyes did her in. No man had ever looked at her like that, as if she was the last morsel of bread on earth. And Amanda could no more deny her own desire than she could stop breathing.
Dont look so glum about it. I have to lower my blood pressure, too. We can work on it together.
She brightened. Could we make it a contest? Whoever lowers their blood pressure the most gets, um Gets to kiss the other one senseless.
The Millionaire Next Door
Kara Lennox
www.millsandboon.co.uk
MILLS & BOON
Before you start reading, why not sign up?
Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!
SIGN ME UP!
Or simply visit
signup.millsandboon.co.uk
Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Texas native Kara Lennox has been an art director, typesetter, advertising copywriter, textbook editor and reporter. Shes worked in a boutique, a health club and has conducted telephone surveys. Shes been an antiques dealer and briefly ran a clipping service. But no work has made her happier than writing romance novels.
When Kara isnt writing, she indulges in an ever-changing array of weird hobbies, from rock climbing to crystal digging. But her mind is never far from her stories. Just about anything can send her running to her computer to jot down a new idea for some future novel.
Books by Kara Lennox
HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE
841VIRGIN PROMISE
856TWIN EXPECTATIONS
871TAME AN OLDER MAN
893BABY BY THE BOOK
917THE UNLAWFULLY WEDDED PRINCESS
934VIXEN IN DISGUISE *
942PLAIN JANES PLAN*
951SASSY CINDERELLA*
974FORTUNES TWINS
991THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR
Rx
Name: Hudson Stack, M.D.
Diagnosis: High Blood Pressure
General Instructions:
Take a vacation in a small Texas town.
Spend some quality time with your adorable daughter.
Learn how to fish.
Fall head over heels in love with your beautiful blond neighbor.
Signed: George Blake Stimson, M.D.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Prologue
Hudson Stack, M.D., sat in the office of George Blake Stimson, Chief of Surgery at Boston General, his irritation rising as he learned the results of his mandatory physical.
Your blood pressure is in the red zone, George said, continuing a long harangue. Your cholesterol is off the charts, your triglycerides are completely out of whack. Your caffeine consumption is three times what it ought to be. Your reflexes are slow, youre sleep deprived, and youre irritable. And no doctor, I dont care how famous or how popular, is going to operate on patients in my hospital when hes falling apart.
Are you telling me Im fired? Hudson asked, alarmed. Hed had these little discussions with George before. Usually the crusty old surgeon warned him to take it easy, eat healthier, get more sleep, that sort of thing.
Hudson had believed his job was secure. Hed recently become the hospitals best public relations tool. Inventing an artificial valve that was going to save millions of lives had put Hudsons name in the medical journals. Saving the mayors life with an emergency quintuple bypass had put his name in the headlines. Most recently, Boston Life magazine had named him Bostons Hottest Bachelor, ensuring he remain in the public eye far longer than Hudson would have liked.
Of course youre not fired. Administration would tar and feather me if I did that. But you are going on vacation, starting now.
I cant, Hudson immediately replied. Ive got two surgeries in the morning and three more
Those surgeries will be reassigned to other surgeons.
You cant do that.
I can and will do whatever it takes. Would you want a surgeon in your shape operating on your heart?
Theres nothing wrong with me.
Your test results speak differently.
Hudson knew that arguing was fruitless. Georges word was like Gods around here. Hudson could appeal to no one; no one would take his side.
I suppose I could use a few days off, he finally said, grudgingly. And maybe it was true. He hadnt seen his daughter in a weekat least, not awake. He usually got home long after she was in bed. He would spend a few minutes just looking at Bethany as she slept, reassuring himself that she was fine.
Im not talking about a few days, George said. I want you to take off at least a month. And I want you to get far, far away from Boston and go someplace where nobody knows you. And I want you to learn to fish.
Hudson just sat there, stunned. A month? He couldnt take that long away from his work.
Hudson, Im not speaking now as your superior, but as your friend. Youre a heart attack waiting to happen. Maybe not this week, or this year, but youre heading in that general direction. I even heard you were seen smoking.
What snitch told you that? He smoked two, maybe three cigarettes a day. Smoking gave him an excuse to slip outside, alone, and do nothing for a few minutes.
George rolled his eyes. He handed Hudson a piece of paper with an address and phone number on it. Ed Hardison and I were in med school together. He lives in Texas. I want you to call him. Hell find a place for you to stay. He has a fishing boat and all the tackle.
This was like some drug-induced nightmare. Texas? In the summer? Youre serious about the fishing?
Its the best therapy for stress I can think of, George said with a dreamy look in his eye. Take your kid. Spend a month or two doing absolutely nothing. After that, youll have another physical. If you look better then, you can come back to work.
Hudson went straight home, cursing the entire time. He was just angry enough that he was going to call Georges bluff. There were probably half a dozen hospitals in the Boston area drooling to have him on staff.
As he waited for an interminable traffic light to change, he checked his cell phone messages. Janey had called with a litany of reminders: have his tux cleaned, have his car serviced, call his aunt on her birthday tomorrow. Oh, and the Heart Association fund-raiser was Friday night.
His mother had called with a similar listand he was planning to take Janey to the fund-raiser, right?
He sighed. He hated black-tie affairs, but they were a necessary evil, he supposed. At least he never had to scrounge for a date. Janey was always available. He probably should just marry her and get it over with. He knew she would say yes if he asked. Lord knew shed been hinting at it long enough.
Another message was from some radio station that wanted to interview him. He erased that one. The last thing he wanted was more publicity.
The final three messages were from women hed never heard of who thought they were just what a lonely but rich doctor might need to make his life complete. He made a mental note to have his phone number changedagain.
He parked his Jaguar at the curb and stomped through the front door of his Back Bay brownstone. Though he owned two other houses, hed bought this one because it was close to the hospital. Hed intended to spend only an occasional night here, when he didnt want to face a long drive home late at night. But hed found it so convenient, hed ended up living here full-time.
He headed straight for his home office. But the sound of a little girls laughter stopped him.
Bethany. Guilt needled his conscience. He really should spend more time with her. Though his mother and mother-in-law took turns caring for Bethany, and they both seemed anxious for the privilege, nothing took the place of a fathers love and attention. He set down his briefcase and headed up the stairs to the living room. It was lunchtime. He would eat lunch with Bethany, he decided. Then he would figure out his next move.
He found Bethany sitting on the floor of the living room watching TV. She had spread the sofa cushions all over the Persian rug in some game of pretend, and was now sprawled across them, her thumb in her mouth.
Bethany! his mother, Judith, called from the dining room. Lunch is ready. Come quickly, now, before it gets cold.
Bethany, not seeing Hudson, hopped up and scampered to obey her Grandma Judith. Hudson smiled. His daughter was a well-behaved girl, thanks to the time she spent with her grandmothers, who were already grooming her to be a debutante.
Looking forward to eating lunch with his daughter, Hudson paused to pick up the sofa cushions so his mother wouldnt fuss. Since his housekeeper always prepared too much food, he knew there would be plenty.
Is Philip eating with us? he heard Bethany ask from the dining room. Philip was Judiths chauffeur.
Bethany, dear, Philip is a servant. Now that youre a young lady, you dont eat with the servants.
Hudson cringed. He was all for Bethany growing up into a refined young lady, but he didnt condone snobbery. His mother, however, had been raised in a different era, and she couldnt be talked out of her opinions about class and station.
But I like Philip, Bethany argued. When he takes me to school, I tell everybody hes my daddy.
Hudson froze, horrified.
Now, Bethany, Judith said in a very reasonable tone, though her voice shook, weve talked about this. Philip is a very nice man, and you should always be kind to him. But he is not your father.
Hudson didnt think, he just acted. He waltzed into the room, a smile pasted on his face.
Bethany stared at him in surprise. Daddy!
At least she recognized him. Good news, he announced. Bethany and I are going on a father-daughter vacation. Were going to learn to fish.
Chapter One
Look, Daddy, a cowboy! Bethany squealed.
Hudson had just pulled his rental car into a space on the Cottonwood, Texas, town square. Sure enough, a wiry man wearing faded Wrangler jeans, pointy-toed boots and a white cowboy hat climbed out of the truck next to their car. He saw them, smiled and tipped his hat before going on about his business.
Bethany stared at him in rapt fascination, and kept right on staring as she climbed out of the rental car. Everything delighted her.
He took her hand and they walked into Tri-County Realty, which Georges friend Ed Hardison had recommended. A woman in her fifties with a bleach-blond beehive and thin, penciled eyebrows sat behind a desk talking on the phone. She made eye contact with Hudson and held up a finger to indicate shed be with him in a minute.
Hudson nodded, his irritation rising. Hed been looking forward to escaping all the attention hed been receiving in Boston, but that didnt mean he wanted to be ignored.
He wandered over to a bulletin board that featured photographs of various properties for sale and for rent. Bethany climbed up on a chair to study the photos with him.
I want to live here, Daddy, she said, pointing to the most opulent home on the board, a huge mansion on the lake. The asking price was almost a million dollars, which seemed cheap to Hudson. In Boston a property like that would cost three or four times as much.
That ones for sale, not for rent, he explained, though he had no idea if Bethany understood the difference. When the nice lady gets off the phone, well see everything thats available.
Margie never gets off the phone, a voice from an interior office called out. The voice was brisk, but with a honey-edged Southern accent.
Intrigued, Hudson followed the sound of the voice through a doorway, finding himself in a large, well-appointed office with a view of the town square. But the woman who worked here apparently didnt want to take advantage of the view. She had her desk turned so she had her back to the window, and the shades were drawn.
Her walls were covered with plaquestop seller for her company, at least three years running. Million Dollar Club. An award from the chamber of commerce for Cottonwoods Ambassador of the Year. Other spots on the wall were filled with framed letters from grateful clients. Hudson recognized the name of a country-western singer and a former lieutenant governor.