The Surgeon and the Princess by Karin Baine (ebook reader with android os .TXT) 📕

of the way for work. He’d seen her in her overalls so did that mean he missed the feminine side she kept out of sight while at work because she didn’t want the men treating her any differently? It never bothered her what anyone thought of her appearance in heavy duty boots and sensible clothes for all seasons, but when she wasn’t at work there was an array of soft blouses and tight trousers hanging in the wardrobe to relax into, shoes with heels and fashionable boots in bright shades of red and mustard and blue.

At home the hair came down to spill over her shoulders, blonde against the sky-blue satin PJs she was about to put on. They probably wouldn’t impress a classy Frenchman. His casual clothes might be messed up, but they were stylish. But again, so what? This was home and she was being herself, sexy Frenchman hanging about or not.

Slipping a thick white robe over the PJs, she unlocked the door and headed to the kitchen to make that tea she’d been hanging out for since pulling up to the house.

Josue pulled on loose sports trousers and a sweatshirt. He hoped Mallory wouldn’t mind if he made coffee. Being one of his bad habits from the years studying medicine, it didn’t keep him awake. Besides, he was exhausted after the long day travelling and needed a caffeine fix. He’d been so happy about coming to Queenstown he hadn’t bothered to stop for a night on the way down the South Island.

The scenery had been stunning, but then mountains always upped his pulse rate. They were magical, and dangerous, and he enjoyed any time spent on one. They were the reason he’d decided to spend the last months of his New Zealand trip down here. Getting more insight into search and rescue in such rugged terrain to take home to use if he found a doctor’s position at a skiing location, as he intended, was a bonus.

Looking at the bed, he knew he couldn’t go there yet. There was too much going on in his head. Mostly about the woman who’d looked ready to boot him out on his backside when she’d first strode into her house and found him on her couch. She’d been equally shocked and angry, and right away had appeared determined he wasn’t going to get the better of her. Not that he’d had any intention of trying to best her. He’d been the one in the wrong.

But, wow, she was something else, standing straight, her eyes fixed on him, her voice strong. Intriguing, to say the least. And gorgeous. Those freckles sprinkled across her cheeks she apparently didn’t try to hide under layers of heavy make-up like some women he’d known made him long to kiss her gently. They were like a sign saying there was a wonderful woman behind the stance telling him not to mess with her, and that there was another, softer side to her strength hidden away from prying eyes.

He’d messed up completely on arrival, but who’d have thought both women hid the keys to their houses in the same place? And that they were friends? Even then, he should’ve realised when he’d walked into the house and seen all those photos hanging on the wall he’d presumed were of Kayla and her parents. He’d been so taken with the love in everyone’s faces he hadn’t realised Dean was missing in the pictures. Mallory and who he now presumed were her parents looked so happy cuddled together that an old envy had filled his heart.

Growing up in foster homes, he’d never known anything like that. In fact, he often didn’t quite believe people who said they were so in love the world was permanently rosy, yet those photos told him different. Love could be real. But was it possible for the likes of him who’d been left on a doorstep at twelve months old?

Gabriel always insisted it was and he had shown him great affection since the day he’d taken Josue under his wing to help sort his life out. At fifteen, Josue had been going off the rails in the direction of a life of crime when the policeman who’d arrested him for theft had given him a talking-to like no other, basically saying he had two choices in life and not to blame anyone else for which path he took.

Gabriel and his wife had taken him in a few months later and had stood by him as he’d fumbled his way out of trouble and into study and work, eventually making it to medical school and into a career the boy whose mother had abandoned had never imagined. The policeman and Brigitte had been the first to love him unconditionally and he had given the same back, warily at first and then with all his being.

But he’d never found that kind of love with a woman. Perhaps because he always backed off before they could reject him, like most other people had in the past. He wasn’t counting casual friends. They came and went and that was fine. It was the ones who could have loved him, and hadn’t, that had him fearful of being hurt again. Gabriel and Brigitte had been the first to show him unconditional love and he had to learn to return it. Twice he’d started to get close to a woman before fearing they wouldn’t give him the love he craved and so he’d run.

Josue hauled air into his lungs and sighed slowly. It was an old story and he really should let it alone—especially now when he was in a wonderful country where he’d been welcomed with open arms and was having a great time. He didn’t have to juggle emotions over a relationship because he wasn’t getting into one.

Looking around, he sighed. This house wasn’t where he was meant to be, wasn’t number 142. A simple mistake with no serious consequences. If he had reached the right destination