Page 5 of The Doctor's Simple Life

I don’t really know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t someone whose looks would take my breath away. Inside, I kick myself, and outside, I force myself to smile.

“Hello, Dr. Westbrook?”

“Hello,” he says, his eyebrows creasing in confusion. “That’s me. Who are you?”

“I was sent to welcome you. Make sure you’re getting on just fine.”

He looks me up and down, then nods slowly, his hair flopping into his eyes. “I’m just fine. I guess I don’t need you now, but you can get started tomorrow.”

“Whoa, whoa,” I cut him off. “What?”

He blinks, his beautiful mouth dropping open as he processes the information. “You’re… my housekeeper, right?”

“No,” I scoff. “I was sent to welcome you. From the hospital. I’m your boss.”

CHAPTER 3

REECE

“You’re from the hospital?” I stammer, cringing at myself. Way to make myself look like an idiot on day one.

But really, when a beautiful woman knocks on the door, you don’t exactly expect her to be a nurse, do you? I didn’t.

Oh, God. That sounds awful when I say it like that.

But she is beautiful. Her long chestnut hair is coiled into a loose bun on the back of her head, with wisps of her bangs falling across her face. Her nose, cheekbones and jaw are angular and as sharp as her bright green eyes, and though she’s looking at me with utter disdain, I can’t help but imagine her lips pouting.

What would she look like in a nice dress? In red lipstick? Heels? If she dressed up, she could be so beautiful that anyone would want to be with her.

Shame nobody in their right mind would want to stick around here.

“Right…” I say. “And your name was…”

“Nurse Hale,” she replies, then nothing more. I stare at her expectantly, waiting for her to tell me her first name. It’s like a Western showdown until she finally relents. “Sienna,” she says finally, and I bite back a stupid comment about her name sounding like Vienna and about her looking just as beautiful as that city.

She’s probably never been. She’s probably never even left this county, let alone the country.

“Anyway, thanks for coming to check on me,” I say, wanting this to be over. “Can I help you with anything else?”

Her frown grows even more sour, which barely feels possible. For such a beautiful woman, she really can look miserable.

Desperately trying to make the situation better, I force a wide smile onto my face and say, “So, you’ll be looking after me while I’m here?”

“Yes, that’s right,” she says, her expression unchanging. “I’ll be looking after you.” She says it with such disdain that it’s impossible to imagine that she’s doing this of her own volition.

Whatever. It’s not like I’m doing this by choice either. I lost a bet.

There is nothing I want less in the world right now than to be in some backward little town with some backward little people who are all going to treat me like I’m an awful person just because I come from the city.

But even though this isn’t getting off to a good start, I still have to try my best. I’m a professional, after all.

“Do you want to come in? For a coffee or drink? Or just to chat?” Never mind that I don’t have any drinks — or anything at all in the house. I just don’t want to let her go yet.

“No, thank you,” she says, being astonishingly polite despite the fact that she clearly hates me. “I’ve got things to do today. I just came over to say hello and that I will expect to see you at work bright and early tomorrow morning.”

“What time?”

“Your shift starts at eight thirty on the dot.”

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