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Breaking Her No-Dates Rule
Emily Forbes
Table of Contents
It’s their last summer of being single!
Off duty, these three nurses, and one midwife, are young, free and fabulous—for the moment …
Work hard and play hard could be flatmates Ruby, Ellie, Jess and Tilly’s motto. By day these three trainee nurses and one newly qualified midwife are lifesavers at Eastern Beaches hospital, but by night they’re seeking love in Sydney— and only sexy doctors need apply!
Together they’ve made it through their first year in
hospital, with shatteringly emotional shifts, tough new bosses and patching together broken hearts from inappropriate crushes over a glass of wine (or two!)
Read on to meet the drop-dead gorgeous docs
who sweep Ellie and Jess out of their scrubs. And if you missed Ruby and Tilly’s stories
CORT MASON—DR DELECTABLE by Carol Marinelli and
SURVIVAL GUIDE TO DATING YOUR BOSS by Fiona McArthur are available from www.millsandboon.co.uk
About the author
EMILY FORBES began her writing life as a partnership between two sisters who are both passionate bibliophiles. As a team, Emily had ten books published—and one of her proudest moments was when her tenth book was nominated for the 2010 Australian Romantic Book of the Year Award.
While Emily’s love of writing remains as strong as ever, the demands of life with young families has recently made it difficult to work on stories together. But rather than give up her dream Emily now writes solo. The challenges may be different, but the reward of having a book published is still as sweet as ever.
Whether as a team or as an individual, Emily hopes to keep bringing stories to her readers. Her inspiration comes from everywhere—stories she hears while travelling, at mothers’ lunches, in the media and in her other career as a physiotherapist all get embellished with a large dose of imagination until they develop a life of their own.
If you would like to get in touch with Emily you can email her at [email protected], and she can also be found blogging at the Harlequin Medical™ Romance blog—www.eharlequin.com
For Sophie Grace, one of my many gorgeous nieces.
This book will be released as you celebrate two major milestones, your eighteenth birthday and the end of your school days. This is my gift to you as you enter the next stage of your life; I hope it is everything you’ve ever dreamed of. Wishing you every success and happiness, with all my love, Auntie K
PROLOGUE
THE old gate at 71 Hill Street squeaked in protest as Ellie shoved it open. The noise went unnoticed by her as she was intent on getting inside, getting home. Tears blurred her vision and she struggled to fit her key into the front door. She was mortified. She wanted to climb into bed, pull the covers over her head and hide from the world.
Finally the door opened and she stumbled through it. She felt physically sick and she got to the bathroom with seconds to spare before she vomited. She leant her head against the cool surface of the tiled wall as she waited to see if her stomach had emptied itself of her dinner. The rich meat she’d ordered didn’t combine well with the nausea that rumbled through her following Rob’s announcement. She’d been so nervous throughout dinner she’d barely tasted her meal and now she wondered why she’d bothered eating at all.
Physically she felt better once her stomach was empty, although emotionally she felt battered and bruised. She rinsed her face and brushed her teeth but the minute the toothpaste hit her stomach she felt herself start to gag again. With one hand she quickly gathered her blonde hair into a ponytail and held it out of the way as she vomited a second time.
Jess and Tilly left the hospital together after their late shifts and walked down Hill Street to number 71; home. Heading straight for the kitchen, Jess put the kettle on and searched through the bread bin for penicillin-free bread. Someone really needed to get to the shops she thought, they were living on takeaways and toast and if they didn’t shop soon ther wouldn’t even be any toast. She found a couple of slices of bread that looked edible and slid them into the toaster.
From the bathroom the girls could hear the sound of running water followed by vomiting.
‘Is that Ruby?’ Tilly asked.
Jess shrugged. ‘No idea.’ They’d arrived home together so she knew no more about what was going on in the house at the moment than Tilly did. And with four, and sometimes five, people sharing a house, there were plenty of things happening. Despite the colour-coded calendar in the kitchen no one could be expected to keep up to date with all the action.
Tilly went into the passage and knocked on the bathroom door. ‘Ruby, is that you? Are you okay?’
‘What are you doing?’ Ruby’s voice came from behind them, startling them both.
Tilly turned around. ‘We thought you