Unwrapping the Neurosurgeon's Heart Read online

  At the heart of a playboy...

  ...is the man of her dreams.

  ER doc Anouk Hart wishes she could ignore her traitorous body’s reaction to high-flying neurosurgeon Solomon Gunn. Yet beneath his playboy reputation, Anouk sees flashes of compassion, which are even more dangerous than his charm! Especially when the warmth of Sol’s Christmas spirit starts to make her long to unleash the real Solomon Gunn and keep him by her side forever!

  If only Anouk could rewind the clock.

  Back to the start of the conversation when she hadn’t been quite so revealing about herself. Or the start of the night before she’d let Saskia walk away and leave her alone with Sol. Or three days ago when they’d worked together on little Isabel and she’d arrogantly imagined she saw something in the man that no one else appeared to have noticed.

  The worst of it was that there was some component of her that didn’t want to rewind anything. Which, despite every grey cell in her brain screaming at her not to be such an idiot, was enjoying tonight. With Sol.

  “In that case, there’s something else you should bear in mind.” He leaned into her ear, his breath tickling her skin, and it was like a huge hand stealing into her chest and closing around her heart. “There are plenty of women who enjoy no-strings sex just as much as I do.”

  Don’t imagine him in bed. Don’t.

  But it was too late.

  Dear Reader,

  I can still remember the moment that, without warning, the Gunn brothers burst into my head. Malachi, the serious, responsible older brother, who had become a carer for both his mother and little brother at such a young age; and Solomon, the younger of the Gunn boys, who had carried the weight of his brother’s expectations.

  Now a fast-rising neurosurgeon—with a reputation as a playboy—I knew that Sol would need a very special heroine to be able to get past his layers of defenses. Only the most skilled, gentle, compassionate woman was ever going to stand a chance of landing the untamable Sol, but there was an issue—my heroine, Anouk, had her own past to confront and didn’t want to play ball!

  I had a blast writing Anouk and Sol’s story, not least the fact that Sol loves Christmas while Anouk loathes it! They helped me to navigate the perfect way to allow them to connect and open up to each other—I really do hope you enjoy reading it just as much.

  It’s wonderful hearing from readers, so I’d love it if you dropped by my website at charlotte-hawkes.com, or meet me on Twitter @CHawkesUK.

  Charlotte xx

  Unwrapping the Neurosurgeon’s Heart

  Charlotte Hawkes

  Books by Charlotte Hawkes

  Harlequin Medical Romance

  Hot Army Docs

  Encounter with a Commanding Officer

  Tempted by Dr. Off-Limits

  The Army Doc’s Secret Wife

  The Surgeon’s Baby Surprise

  A Bride to Redeem Him

  The Surgeon’s One-Night Baby

  Christmas with Her Bodyguard

  A Surgeon for the Single Mom

  The Army Doc’s Baby Secret

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com.

  To my very first hero, who introduced me to mountains, maths and Marmite—love you, Dad xx

  Praise for

  Charlotte Hawkes

  “The romance that shone throughout the story was well-written, well thought out and one of greatness. The characters were some of the most thought out that I’ve come across lately. This is definitely one to pick up for an amazing story.”

  —Harlequin Junkie on The Surgeon’s Baby Surprise

  Contents

  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

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  EXCERPT FROM HIGHLAND DOC’S CHRISTMAS RESCUE BY SUSAN CARLISLE

  CHAPTER ONE

  ‘ANOUK?’ THE RESUS WARD’S sister poked her head around the Resus bay curtain. ‘Are you running the seven-year-old casualty who fell off a climbing frame?’

  ‘I am.’ Anouk spun quickly around. ‘Is she in?’

  ‘Yes, the HEMS team are on the roof now.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Nodding grimly, Anouk turned back to her team for a final check. ‘Everyone happy? Got your gear?’

  The only thing she was missing was the neurosurgeon. The department had been paged ten minutes ago but they must be swamped up there. Still, she needed a neurosurgeon for the young kid. Sucking in a steadying breath, she ducked out of the bay, and slammed straight into Moorlands General’s hottest commodity.

  Solomon Gunn.

  Six feet three of solid muscle, more suited to a Hollywood kickboxing stunt guy than the average neurosurgeon, didn’t even shift under her flexing palms as the faintest hint of a woody, citrusy scent filled her nostrils.

  Her skin prickled instantly. How could it not? It was all Anouk could do to snatch her arms down to her sides and take a step back, telling herself that the alien sensation currently rolling through her was nothing more than a basic physiological reaction.

  Instinct. Nothing more.

  She couldn’t possibly be so unlucky as to have the Smoking Gun as the neurosurgeon on her case, could she? And, for the record, she didn’t think much of the idiot who had bestowed that moniker on him. Not that it would be unlucky for the poor girl who had fallen, of course. As he was one of the up-and-coming stars of the region, the girl couldn’t be in better hands than Sol’s.

  If only the guy weren’t so devastating when it came to women who weren’t in his care.

  He practically revelled in his reputation as a demigod neurosurgeon and out-of-hours playboy. And still it seemed that almost every woman in the hospital wanted him.

  Including, to Anouk’s absolute shame, herself.

  Not that she would ever, ever let another living soul know that fact. Solomon Gunn was the antithesis of absolutely everything she should want in a man.

  Yet, caught in the rich, swirling, cognac-hued depth of his gaze, something inside her shifted and rolled deliciously, nonetheless.

  She’d only been at Moorlands General for a couple of months and been in Resus when Sol had, but so far they’d never worked together on the same casualty. A traitorous part of her almost hoped that tonight was different.

  ‘Dr Anouk Hart, I believe.’

  ‘Yes. Are you here for my case?’ Self-condemnation made her tone sharper than she might otherwise have intended.

  ‘I don’t know.’ He grinned, as though he could see right through her. ‘Which is your case?’

  ‘Seven-year-old girl; climbing frame,’ she bullet-pointed.

  ‘Then I’d say you’re in luck. I’m here for you.’

  Her heart kicked. Anouk told herself it was frustration, nothing more.

  ‘Lucky me,’ she managed, rolling her eyes.

  ‘Lucky both of us.’

  He flicked his eyes up and down her in frank appraisal. On another man it would have appeared arrogant, maybe even lewd. But Sol wasn’t another man; he pulled the act off in such a way that it left her body practically sizzling. An ache spearing its way right down through her until she felt it right there. Right between her legs.

  Wh
at was the matter with her?

  The man was damned near lethal.

  ‘You might be accustomed to women throwing themselves at you.’ She jerked her head over his shoulder to where a group of her colleagues was shamelessly clustered around the central desk and shooting him flirty smiles and applauding gestures. ‘However, I certainly don’t intend to be one of them.’

  ‘Oh, they’re just enjoying the home-made mince pies I brought in.’

  ‘Sorry, what?’

  ‘It is Christmas, Anouk.’ His grin ramped up and she almost imagined she could feel those straight, white teeth against her skin. ‘No need to be a Grinch.’

  He couldn’t have any idea quite how direct a hit his words were. She hated Christmas. It held no happy memories for her. It never had. Not that she was about to let Sol know that.

  ‘Home-made? By whom? Your housekeeper?’

  ‘My own fair hands.’ He waggled them in her face and she tried not to notice how utterly masculine they looked. Not exactly the delicate hands people usually associated with a surgeon.

  Those hands had worked magic on hundreds of patients. But it wasn’t quite the same kind of magic she was imagining now.

  Anouk blinked hard and tried to drag her mind back to the present.

  ‘That’s as may be, but I don’t think it’s your mince pies they’re interested in.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know. They’re pretty good, if I do say so myself.’

  ‘So modest.’ She snorted. ‘Well, if you’ve stopped playing Great British Bake-Off with your home-made mince pies...’

  ‘“Playing Great British Bake-Off”?’ He flashed a wolfish smile, which made her skin positively goosebump. ‘I would ask if you’re passive aggressive with everyone, or if it’s just me, but, given the reputation you’ve already garnered amongst your colleagues in the few months you’ve been here, I fear I already know the answer.’

  She shouldn’t take the bait. She mustn’t.

  ‘And what reputation would that be?’ she demanded, regretting it instantly.

  His eyes gleamed mischievously. She half expected him not to answer her.

  ‘Focussed, dedicated, a good doctor.’

  ‘Oh.’ She bit her lip. ‘Well...then...thanks.’

  ‘Even if you do walk around like you’ve got a stick up your behind.’

  ‘I beg your pardon?’ Heat flooded her cheeks. She could feel it.

  ‘Sorry.’ He held his hands up as though appeasing her. ‘Their words, not mine. But you have to admit, you are a little bit uptight. A little prim and proper.’

  She opened her mouth to reply, then snapped it closed again.

  If she was honest, she’d heard worse about herself. At best, she was considered to be a good—even great—doctor to her patients, but cold and unapproachable to her colleagues. A bit aloof.

  The only person who knew different was Saskia; her best friend since their Hollywood A-list mothers had declared each other their nemesis, over twenty-five years ago.

  ‘Of course, I don’t think that,’ Sol continued, clearly enjoying himself. Not that she blamed him—he couldn’t have any idea of her inner turmoil. ‘But then, most women have a way of...melting around me.’

  ‘How do you get away with that?’ She shook her head. ‘Do you actually enjoy living up to all the worst stereotypes of your own Lothario reputation?’

  ‘Let me guess, in your book that’s wrong?’

  ‘Oh, you’re incorrigible,’ Anouk snapped. ‘Though I assume you’ll take that as a compliment.’

  ‘You mean it wasn’t?’ He clasped his hand over his heart, laughing. ‘I’m cut to the quick.’

  A deep, rich, sinful sound, which had no right to flood through her the way it did. She hated how her body reacted to him, despite every order from her brain to do the opposite. Tipping her head back, she jutted her chin out a fraction and ignored him.

  ‘All we know so far is that we have a seven-year-old on her way having fallen approximately nine feet off a climbing frame in a park...’

  ‘She landed on her head and suffered loss of consciousness for a minute or so,’ he concluded. ‘The heli-med team are on the roof now and our response team has gone to meet them.’

  ‘Right.’ She didn’t do a very good job of covering her surprise. ‘So, if you could just stop making eyes at the female contingent of our team long enough to concentrate on the casualty, that would be great.’

  The amusement disappeared from his face in a split second. His tone was more than a little cool.

  ‘I always put my patients ahead of anything else.’

  She actually felt chastened.

  ‘Yes... I... I know that.’ Anouk flicked out a tongue to moisten her lips. ‘I apologise, and I take it back. Your professional reputation is faultless.’

  Better than faultless. He was an esteemed neurosurgeon, rapidly heading to the top of his field.

  ‘It’s just my personal reputation that languishes in muddier waters?’ he asked, apparently reading her thoughts.

  But at least the smile was back, his previous disapproval seemingly forgotten. Still, Anouk was grateful when the doors at the far end of the trauma area pulled open with a hiss and the helicopter team brought their patient in.

  In an instant, Anouk was across the room and in the Resus bay, vaguely aware that Sol had fallen in quickly beside her.

  ‘This is Isobel, she’s seven years old and normally fit and well. No allergies or medications, and up to date with her jabs. Around one hour ago she was climbing on a rope basket climbing frame and was approximately nine feet up when she had an altercation with another child and fell, landing on her face or head with a loss of consciousness of perhaps one minute. She has a laceration above her left eyebrow and she has also lost two of her teeth.’

  ‘Okay.’ Anouk nodded, stepping forward. ‘Thanks.’

  ‘This is Isobel’s sister, Katie.’ The doctor turned to where another young girl was standing, and Anouk didn’t know when Sol had moved but he was next to her. ‘Katie was with her sister when she fell, and has accompanied her whilst Mum is on her way.’

  Strangely, Katie lifted her head to Sol and offered a tiny, almost imperceptible shake of her head, but Anouk didn’t have time to dwell on that; she needed to help her patient.

  ‘Hi, Isobel, I’m Anouk, the doctor who is going to be looking after you. Do you remember what happened, sweetheart?’ She turned to her team, who had already stepped into action. ‘Two drips in, guys?’

  Isobel muttered something incoherent.

  ‘Can you open your eyes for me, Isobel?’ Anouk asked, checking her young patient’s pupils. ‘Good, that’s a good girl. Now, can you take a really big, deep breath and hold it for me?’

  She palpitated the girl’s chest and stomach.

  ‘You’re doing really well, sweetheart. Can you talk to me? Have you got any pain in your tummy?’

  ‘No,’ Isobel managed tearfully. ‘Katie?’

  ‘Your sister is right here, my love. We just need to check you over to see if you hurt yourself when you fell, and then she’ll be able to come and talk to you.’

  ‘Yep, got blood,’ one of her team confirmed.

  ‘Great. Okay, and let’s give her two point five milligrams of morphine.’ She looked back at the child. ‘That will help with the pain, all right, sweetheart? Good girl.’

  Quickly and efficiently Anouk and her team continued to deal with their patient, settling the girl, doing their observations, and making her as comfortable as they could. Finally, Anouk had a chance to update the girl’s mum, but it was still only the sister, who couldn’t have been more than ten or eleven herself, who was waiting outside the bay. Anouk remembered how Isobel had asked for Katie, and not her mum.

  ‘Katie, isn’t it?’ Anouk asked softly, going over to the worried little girl and sitting on
the plastic seat next to her.

  The girl nodded.

  ‘Mum isn’t here yet?’

  ‘No.’ Katie shook her head before fixing Anouk with a direct gaze, her voice holding a level of maturity that set warning bells off in Anouk’s head. ‘But you can talk to me. I’m eleven and I can answer any questions you need me to about my sister. I’m responsible for her.’

  An image of Sol and Katie exchanging a concerned look crossed her mind.

  Was the girls’ mum at work? Uninterested? She knew those feelings all too well. Still, she had her own protocol to follow now.

  ‘I understand that, and you seem like a very good sister,’ Anouk confirmed, standing back up. ‘But I think it’s better if I talk to your mum when she gets here.’

  ‘No, wait.’ Katie stood up quickly, glancing at her and then across to the team.

  It took a moment for Anouk to realise that she wasn’t looking at her sister so much as looking at Sol.

  ‘You know each other?’

  ‘I need to speak to him.’ Katie nodded.

  ‘He’s just looking after your sister right now.’

  ‘I know, he’s a neurosurgeon.’ The young girl clucked her tongue impatiently as though she thought Anouk was treating her like a baby. ‘And you’re probably going to be taking Izzy to scan her head and see if there is any damage from her fall.’

  Anouk tried not to show her surprise.

  ‘We will be.’

  ‘Well, when he is free, Sol will come and talk to me,’ Katie said confidently, but Anouk didn’t miss the fear that flashed briefly in the girl’s eyes.

  As if sensing the moment, Sol lifted his head and looked straight at them. Then, with a quick word to one of the senior nurses in the team, he made his way over.

  ‘You doing okay, Katie?’

  Quiet, professional, compassionate. It had been one thing to see Sol working from across a ward, to know of his reputation as a good doctor, a good neurosurgeon, but it was another actually to witness it first-hand.

  Her mother had always ranted about the beauty of a brilliant actor playing a different role from the one the world was used to them adopting. That moment when the audience suddenly realised that it had forgotten who the actor was and got lost in the character.