Susanne Hampton - The Doctor's Cinderella

One magical night...

...could change their lives forever!

After her ex leaves her penniless, nurse Molly Murphy takes an admin job in doctor Ryan’s practice. When Ryan needs a date for a charity ball, Molly finds herself wearing a gorgeous gown and sipping champagne for one sparkling night. But her Prince Charming guards his emotions closely. Dare they trust what’s in their hearts to find their own fairy-tale ending?

Married to the man she met at eighteen, SUSANNE HAMPTONis the mother of two adult daughters, Orianthi and Tina. She has enjoyed a varied career path, but finally found her way to her favourite role of all: Medical Romance author. Susanne has always read romance novels and says, ‘I love a happy-ever-after, so writing for Mills & Boon is a dream come true.’

Also by Susanne Hampton Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Dedication 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 Extract About the Publisher

Unlocking the Doctor’s Heart

Back in Her Husband’s Arms

Falling for Dr December

Midwife’s Baby Bump

A Baby to Bind Them

A Mummy to Make Christmas

Twin Surprise for the Single Dco

White Christmas for the Single Mum

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

The Doctor’s Cinderella

Susanne Hampton

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07522-0

THE DOCTOR’S CINDERELLA

© 2018 Susanne Panagaris

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To my father.

You gave me unconditional love.

You encouraged me to pursue my dreams.

You wanted me to be the best version of myself.

You are my hero, looking down from heaven.

And to Helen Mckerral for encouraging me to write this story and believing that I could do it justice.

Thank you.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text One magical night... ...could change their lives forever! After her ex leaves her penniless, nurse Molly Murphy takes an admin job in doctor Ryan’s practice. When Ryan needs a date for a charity ball, Molly finds herself wearing a gorgeous gown and sipping champagne for one sparkling night. But her Prince Charming guards his emotions closely. Dare they trust what’s in their hearts to find their own fairy-tale ending?

About the Author Married to the man she met at eighteen, SUSANNE HAMPTON is the mother of two adult daughters, Orianthi and Tina. She has enjoyed a varied career path, but finally found her way to her favourite role of all: Medical Romance author. Susanne has always read romance novels and says, ‘I love a happy-ever-after, so writing for Mills & Boon is a dream come true.’

Booklist Also by Susanne Hampton Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Dedication 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 Extract About the Publisher Unlocking the Doctor’s Heart Back in Her Husband’s Arms Falling for Dr December Midwife’s Baby Bump A Baby to Bind Them A Mummy to Make Christmas Twin Surprise for the Single Dco White Christmas for the Single Mum Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk .

Title Page The Doctor’s Cinderella Susanne Hampton www.millsandboon.co.uk

Copyright ISBN: 978-1-474-07522-0 THE DOCTOR’S CINDERELLA © 2018 Susanne Panagaris Published in Great Britain 2018 by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental. By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher. ® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries. www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dedication To my father. You gave me unconditional love. You encouraged me to pursue my dreams. You wanted me to be the best version of myself. You are my hero, looking down from heaven. And to Helen Mckerral for encouraging me to write this story and believing that I could do it justice. Thank you.

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

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

MOLLY MURPHY WAS sad and irritated in equal amounts and she was barely awake. Clanging sounds followed by thuds in the street outside had woken her from a deep and much-needed sleep. Soft frown lines formed on her forehead as she rolled over and pulled the pillow around her ears but the harsh sounds continued. She gave up trying to block them out. The pillow was far too thin and no match for the noise.

It was officially the first day of winter in Australia and unrelenting rain had been teeming down for five days straight. Molly could hear that hadn’t abated overnight. The tin roof was still being hammered by the downpour but the other sounds were even louder. She rubbed her eyes, then closed them again as she contemplated whether she should get up. Her alarm hadn’t sounded so she decided to stay put.

Pleasant dreams were hard to come by for Molly and she wasn’t happy that one had been cut short as it had been far better than her reality of late. As she lay in the cosiness of her bed, her immediate recollection was a little scattered but it had included a sun-drenched, sandy beach, a cocktail with a tiny paper umbrella...and no overdue bills on the kitchen counter.

Suddenly her musing stopped as she peeked through her heavy eyelids in the direction of the window. Winter sunlight was streaming in through kinks in the ageing venetian blinds. The intensity of the light saw irritation turn to panic. Even half-asleep Molly knew her room should not have been that brightly lit at six-thirty. It was the first of June. It was officially winter and it should have been dark outside. Feeling her heart begin to pick up speed, she anxiously reached over for her mobile phone on the nightstand. The screen was black. The phone was flat. The alarm was never going to sound. She tried to focus on the clock hanging in the hallway opposite her door. It was almost eight o’clock. She had overslept by an hour and a half.

‘Oh, God...no, no, no, not today...’

Her reality was now even further from dreams of a cocktail on a beach.

Molly sat bolt upright in her bed. Only to collapse back down again in pain. Her head had collided with the ridiculously placed wooden bookcase that jutted out from the vinyl-covered bedhead. Hideous decorating from the sixties had sent her crashing back onto her pillow. Her knees instinctively lifted up to her chin and she rocked as her fingers gently rubbed the smarting skin underneath her mop of messy curls. Through tired and now-watering eyes, she looked upwards at the heavy wooden structure inconveniently protruding only twelve inches over the top of her bed.

‘Damn you,’ she spat as a few tears began spilling from her eyes and trickling down her cheeks. Molly surmised her crying was partly from the shock of hitting something so hard, partly from the pain that followed and maybe more than a little from what had led her to be sleeping in a bed with such a goddamn ugly bedhead.

Love. Naive, stupid love.

Molly had lost almost everything because of it.

And she still blamed herself.

But the new, resilient, heart-of-stone Molly Murphy would never fall in love again. Not ever. It hurt too much.

Taking a deep breath and wiping away the tears with the back of her hand, she attempted to calm herself. She didn’t have time for self-pity, not even a few minutes of it. She had to put on her big-girl panties and get going because she was running late. Very late. And since she had been sleeping in the same bed for close to a year with the horrific bookcase bedhead hovering over her, she had no choice but to assume at least part of the responsibility. Each time she had knocked her head on the oak eyesore, and there had been numerous times, she had vowed not to do it again. But then, half-asleep, she would go and do it again . If the house were hers, she would have ripped the monstrosity of a bedhead from the wall. But as a tenant she had no choice but to be the victim of it. And that unfortunately happened with annoying and painful regularity.