The Surgeon's Fatherhood Surprise by Jennifer Taylor

for the boys, if you could take them through.’
    ‘Right you are.’
    Jack took the plates in and put them on the table, then went back for the cutlery. Alison handed him the knives and forks, then picked up the other two plates.
    ‘I’ll bring these in.’
    Jack laid the table, then called the boys over. Sam immediately climbed onto a chair, but Freddie didn’t look too sure about the arrangements. Pulling out a chair, Jack bent down so that he was at eye level with him.
    ‘You can sit on this chair or on my knee, Freddie. It’s up to you.’
    The little boy glanced at Sam, then scram bled onto the chair. Jack smiled at him as he pushed him closer to the table. ‘Good boy.’
    Jack sat down and tucked into his own meal, wolfing down the food as though his life depended on it. He was so hungry that he couldn’t remember a meal ever tasting so good, and said so.
    Alison laughed. ‘What about all those wonderful meals you had in London?’
    ‘Vastly overrated. Forget the champagne and caviar. I prefer good old baked beans on toast any day of the week!’
    ‘If you expect me to believe that, you must think I’m really gullible.’ She started to gather up the plates, but Jack took them from her.
    ‘I’ll do that. You cooked, so it’s only fair that I do the washing-up.’
    ‘There’s no need,’ she protested, following him to the kitchen.
    ‘Of course there is.’ He put the plates in the sink and turned on the taps. ‘Where do you keep the washing-up liquid?’
    ‘In here.’
    She reached around him to open the cupboard door at the same moment as Jack turned. His body brushed up hard against hers and every cell suddenly went on the alert. He could feel the softness of her breasts pressing against the wall of his chest and froze.
    ‘Sorry.’
    There was a breathy quality to her voice that sent the blood rushing to his head and he bit back a moan. Another second of this torture and he wouldn’t be held responsible for his actions!
    ‘Here you are.’
    Alison shoved a bottle of detergent into his hands and hastily re treated. Jack’s head cleared as though by magic. He added a squirt of detergent to the water and plunged his hands in, yelping when he discovered how hot it was.
    ‘Have you scalded yourself? Let me see.’
    Suddenly Alison was behind him, her breasts nudging his shoulder blade as she tried to peer around him, and Jack gulped in air like a drowning man. There was only so much temptation a man could stand and he was well past his limit.
    ‘I’m fine,’ he said gruffly.
    ‘Are you sure?’ She leant forward, unconsciously piling on the agony as her breasts flattened them selves against his back.
    ‘Quite sure,’ he said, hoping she couldn’t hear the panic in his voice. ‘Would you mind checking on Freddie for me? I don’t want him thinking he’s been abandoned again.’
    ‘Oh, yes, of course.’
    She hurried from the kitchen and Jack was left on his own. Picking up a plate, he sluiced it in the hot water, wishing he could wash away the feelings that were rioting around inside him. He couldn’t recall feeling so aroused before in his life, and couldn’t understand why he felt this way. Was it the fact that he hadn’t had sex for months that was causing the problem? he wondered suddenly.
    Since Freddie had appeared on the scene he hadn’t had time to think about his sex life. It hadn’t been a priority before that either, because he’d been devoting every waking minute to his career. In fact, thinking back, it must be over six months since he’d been out with a woman, and closer to a year since he’d slept with anyone.
    It was a shock to realise that, although it did help to explain why he was so responsive when he was around Alison. Jack breathed a sigh of relief as he finished washing the dishes. It had been scary to think there was something special about Alison when the answer was actually so mundane.
    He dried his hands and went back to the sitting room. Alison was