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Praise for
Kate Hardy’s writing:
GOOD GIRL OR GOLD-DIGGER?
‘Refreshing, captivating and feel-good, GOOD GIRL OR GOLD-DIGGER? is another winner from a fabulous writer whose name alone is sure-fire guarantee of high-quality romantic fiction: Kate Hardy!’
—cataromance.com
PLAYBOY BOSS, PREGNANCY OF PASSION
‘This story features a strong heroine who gains strength from her family, and a hero who realises the importance of love and family before it’s too late. Add in their captivating romance and it makes for one great read.’
—romantictimes.com
SURRENDER TO THE PLAYBOY SHEIKH
‘Surrender yourself to this sexy and romantic attraction-at-first-sight story. Every aspect is spot-on, from the smoking-hot pair to the sensual step-by-step build-up as attraction turns to love. This hero is definitely a keeper!’
—romantictimes.com
THE GREEK DOCTOR’S NEW-YEAR BABY is romantic storytelling at its best! Poignant, enjoyable and absolutely terrific…Kate Hardy proves once again that when it comes to romantic fiction she’s up there with the very best!’
—cataromance.com
FALLING FOR THE PLAYBOY MILLIONAIRE—
‘Kate Hardy never fails to deliver poignant, dramatic, realistic and heartwarming romantic fiction…With its cast of wonderfully believable and fantastic characters, and plenty of powerful emotion and dramatic intensity, FALLING FOR THE PLAYBOY MILLIONAIRE is another dazzling keeper from one of the finest writers of high-quality romantic fiction: Kate Hardy!’
—pinkheartsocietyreviews.blogspot.com
‘You’re a party girl.’ So he’d been right, at heart. She was a media darling—just like his ex-wife.
‘Uh-huh.’ She sighed. ‘But don’t believe everything you see in the press about me.’
‘You’re in the press a lot?’ Although her face seemed familiar, he couldn’t quite place her. He skimmed the business news, most of the time online because it was quicker; he certainly didn’t read the gossip and celeb pages in the newspapers.
But Amber was stunning: next to her, all the other women seemed plain.
And that unsettled him. He’d been here before. Lost his heart and his head to a gorgeous media darling. Married her within a month. And he’d really repented at leisure.
Not that he had any intention of getting involved with Amber. He needed to focus on getting his career back on track. He couldn’t afford to let his libido get in the way.
Amber smiled at him. ‘Excuse me, Guy. I enjoyed our chat. Catch you later.’
And then she was gone.
Funny how his little corner of the terrace had suddenly lost its brightness. Guy shook himself. She wasn’t his type. And he’d be crazy to let himself think otherwise.
Champagne With A Celebrity
By
Kate Hardy
KATE HARDY lives in Norwich, in the east of England, with her husband, two children, one bouncy spaniel, and too many books to count! When she’s not busy writing romance or researching local history, she also loves cooking—see if you can spot the recipes sneaked into her books. (They’re also on her website, along with excerpts and the stories behind the books.)
Writing for Mills & Boon has been a dream come true for Kate—something she’s wanted to do ever since she was twelve. She’s been writing Medical™ Romances since 2001, and also writes for Modern Heat™; her novel BREAKFAST AT GIOVANNI’S won the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Romance Prize in 2008. She says she loves what she does because she gets to learn lots of new things when she’s researching the background to a book: add warmth, heart and passion, plus a new gorgeous hero every time, and it’s the perfect job!
Kate’s always delighted to hear from readers, so do drop in to her website at www.katehardy.com
Recent titles by the same author:
Modern Heat™
RED WINE AND HER SEXY EX
GOOD GIRL OR GOLD-DIGGER?
TEMPORARY BOSS, PERMANENT MISTRESS
Medical™ Romance
NEUROSURGEON…AND MUM
THE DOCTOR’S LOST-AND-FOUND BRIDE
Chapter One
WE’LL have to wait and see. The phrase that Guy had come to hate most in the entire world. How the hell could he be patient about this, when it could turn his entire world upside down?
But this was the second specialist to say it. His third medical opinion in as many months. And while ‘we’ll have to wait and see if your sense of smell returns’ might be perfectly acceptable advice for most people, it absolutely wasn’t fine for a parfumier. Guy couldn’t do his job properly without his sense of smell.
He’d been covering it up for three months now. It was only a matter of time before someone found out. And then things would get seriously difficult; as it was, his business partner wanted to accept a huge conglomerate’s offer to buy out the perfume house. Guy had resisted, so far—he wanted to keep them focused on what their customers wanted, and continue to support local suppliers—but this would give Philippe the ammunition he needed to force the sale. How could GL Parfums possibly continue as it was, when its head of research and development had lost his ‘nose’?
Hell, hell, hell.
He’d been banking on this last specialist being able to help him. On being able to offer him something more than just waiting to see if it cleared up by itself, because the only possible reason for it was damage caused by the virus. He’d sat perfectly still and gone through the truly nasty procedure of having a camera on a tube fed up his nose and into his sinuses. He’d taken vitamin supplements. He’d spent hours online, scouring every possibility, reading the forums of every support group. And still he was being told, ‘We’ll have to wait and see.’
Worse, the specialist had added that it could take up to three years for his sense of smell to come back, and even then it might not come back fully.
Three years?
The last three months had been bad enough.
The prospect of spending three years like this was torture.
Besides, he couldn’t wait for three years. The perfume house couldn’t afford to stand still—if they didn’t develop new fragrances or extend their current lines, they’d have no chance of competing in the market. And then it would go under and everyone would lose their jobs. His staff had supported him and believed in his dreams so much that they’d even taken a pay cut, in the early days, to keep the perfume house going. How could he let them down?
Unless he hired someone to be his ‘nose’ at the perfume house in his stead…and then his own role would have to change. He’d have to shoulder a lot more of the admin and the marketing—the things he’d always been relaxed about delegating, because he’d been happiest in his lab developing new fragrances. Hiring another parfumier would mean that he could keep the perfume house going; but it also meant that the perfume