The Doctor's Baby Secret by Scarlet Wilson

prescription.’
    He pointed to the plan. ‘But that’s kids’ play.’
    He saw the little flicker next to her jaw. She was mad. But right now he didn’t care. He was religious about his exercise regime. He didn’t want anyone interfering with it.
    She reached over and prodded his bicep. ‘Your training programme has been specially formulated. We need all our candidates to be fit. We usually recommend one hour of cardio and one hour of resistance training every day. But you have more muscle bulk than the rest of the candidates.’ She stared at him hard. ‘You must realise that muscle wastage is one of the biggest problems for our astronauts.’ For the first time today a smile hinted at her lips. ‘If your muscles are overdeveloped you’ll suffer from more muscle wastage in space. You’ll be up in space, Lieutenant Commander, where will all that lactic acid go?’
    Boy, she was cute when she flirted. But he wasn’t going to get distracted.
    â€˜I’m already in top shape. This programme will bring me down. Why would anyone want to do that?’
    â€˜Because this isn’t just about you. If you stay in your current shape your muscles will atrophy quicker than everyone else’s and you’ll feel the effects. It will affect your performance on the team.’
    Boy, she was good. She seemed to know exactly what to say to stop him arguing. And she wasn’t finished. ‘You do a lot of weight training, don’t you? And you probably take those protein drinks too? We’ll need to have a look at that to check if that’s really the best for you. This is all about forward planning, you know. Space is the ultimate goal. It’s my job to make sure you’ll be fit enough to take all the effects a no-gravity environment will throw at you.’ She took the crumpled sheet and smoothed it back out on her desk, then pushed it back across to him. ‘So, let me do my job. Follow my instructions.’
    She was back to her no-nonsense approach. He stood for a few seconds, letting her aroma of scrubbed-clean soap and light floral perfume drift around him. She was wearing a pale yellow shirt with some kind of print on it. It was tucked tightly into her skirt, but he was imagining it knotted at that slim waist of hers along with a very hot pair of denim shorts. Now, that would be perfect.
    â€˜Lieutenant?’ She was looking at him suspiciously, as if she’d just guessed exactly what was going through his mind.
    He shot her a smile. ‘You’re right,’ he said as he took the plan from her hand, brushing his fingers against hers. ‘Space is the ultimate goal.’ He headed towards the door and spun back round just before he left. ‘As for the plan...’ he waved it at her ‘... I’ll let you know.’
    He laughed as her chin dropped but didn’t wait for her response. He had other plans for that.

CHAPTER SIX
    I T WAS THE most chilled she’d felt in a week. Things had settled down a bit. Austin Mitchell wasn’t there every time she turned around. Her stomach had stopped doing flip-flops and had reduced itself to a steady buzz.
    Her senses had stopped being in a state of overdrive. The skin on her fingers had finally stopped tingling and she’d stopped licking her lips whenever he was around.
    The rest of the team had finally finished with the quips. Because there wasn’t anything to quip about. Really.
    She didn’t lie in her bed at night and think about Austin Mitchell. He didn’t cross her mind at all on the drive to work in the morning. And now, her favourite part of the evening, sitting on her porch on her rocker drinking a glass of wine, he definitely didn’t feature on her radar.
    She rested her feet up on the white railing and looked out onto the fields beyond. The old farmhouse was her dream come true; she might not own all the land around it, but at least she had the