Read Persuading Spring: A Sexy New Zealand Romance (The Four Seasons Book 4) Online
Authors: Serenity Woods
Persuading Spring: A Sexy New Zealand Romance (The Four Seasons Book 4) (27 page)
“Fuck.” Brock leaned back and frowned. About
a year ago, he’d started talking to a young mum called Erin on one of the
forums. Her son had been hospitalized after having an asthma attack, and she’d
wanted to tell them that the revolutionary inhaler they’d developed had saved Ryan’s
life.
Through Three Wise Men, the guys developed
medical equipment designed with babies and young children in mind. Charlie had
invented a more effective asthma inhaler with Brock’s help, and they’d decorated
it with the Ward Seven characters from Matt’s series of children’s books. It had
proved so popular that Charlie and Brock had since invented a whole range of
medical equipment featuring Ward Seven toys, such as tiny animals that could be
clipped onto pulse oximeters to encourage the children to sit still while they
were being monitored.
Brock had talked to Erin online frequently since
then. In the beginning, they’d mostly spoken about ways to manage childhood
asthma, but over the months they’d taken to messaging most days. Although their
chat had turned a bit more personal, it hadn’t quite stepped over the line to
become intimate, but she had a good sense of humor, and he rather liked her.
“Okay. I’ll go on now.” He pulled the computer
onto his lap.
“Before you go,” Charlie said, “just
checking you’re still on for the Ward Seven December tour tomorrow?”
Brock chuckled. Although the travelling
could be tiring, he enjoyed their visits to the children’s hospitals. “Yeah.
Waikato for me.”
“The Coromandel for me, and I think Matt’s
at Whangarei,” Charlie replied.
“Yep.” Matt nodded. “Talking of which, I’ve
been working on a new Ward Seven character. What do you think?” He turned his
sketchpad around to show his brothers. He’d drawn a possum with bulging eyes
and a dopey smile. “I’m going to call him Squish,” Matt said, presumably referring
to the fact that possums tended to be seen only when flattened on the middle of
the road.
They both laughed. “Terrific,” Charlie
said.
Brock agreed, then said, “Okay, I’m signing
off. Speak later.”
“See ya,” Matt replied.
“Stay loose,” Charlie said. “You know where
we are if you need us.”
“Yeah. Catch you online.” Brock ended the
call.
He double-clicked on the crown icon and
loaded up the forum.
The brothers had been relatively wealthy
even before they’d opened their business, but they’d been so successful that a
few years ago they’d started the We Three Kings Foundation. Through the
Foundation they granted wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses, as
well as running a twenty-four-hour online help center for parents with sick
kids.
Brock often helped out the doctors by
answering questions in the online medical chat room, while Matt chatted to
parents and sometimes the kids as well in the Ward Seven chat room. All three
of them had worked hard to make the Foundation a success, including dressing up
as Ward Seven characters and visiting children’s hospitals to deliver vital
medical equipment as well as more fun gifts for the patients.
The guys had started using pseudonyms on
the forums in an attempt to remain anonymous, although that had flown out of
the window when the New Zealand Herald had done a feature on them announcing
that the creator of the famous
The Toys from Ward Seven
books was one of
the three brothers behind the We Three Kings Foundation, but they’d continued
to use their pseudonyms anyway.
Brock logged in as Balthasar like he always
did, and pulled up the front page to see what new threads were there. His
eyebrows rose as he saw one titled “Hugs for Balthasar,” created by Charlie
under his pseudonym, Caspar. Brock clicked on it and read the opening post.
Today is the second anniversary of the
passing of Balthasar’s wife. If anyone wants to send him an e-hug, feel free to
do so here—I’m sure he’d appreciate it.
Charlie had finished with a smiley face.
Brock stared at the replies beneath. There
were a hundred and seventy two, and it had only been up a few hours. Scrolling
down, he read every one, his throat tightening the more he read. The messages
were filled with thank yous from grateful parents saying how the new asthma
inhaler had saved their children’s lives, as well as from many explaining how
the Ward Seven decorated equipment made their kids’ visits to the hospital a
much more pleasant experience, to the extent that sometimes the children
couldn’t wait to go for their checkups because they got to play with the toys.
All the messages sent hugs and kisses and best wishes for him on such a
difficult day.
His eyes stung, and he put the laptop to
one side and rose to pour himself a whisky—following his brothers’ advice and
choosing the ten-year-old malt and not the forty. He took a big swallow and
welcomed the burn of it down into his stomach, looking out at the lights on the
harbor through blurred eyes. He thought about Fleur and how proud she’d be of
him, and then he thought about his sister, Pippa, who’d died of an asthma
attack when he was fourteen, and who was the main reason he’d become a doctor.
He’d been lucky enough never to have to
worry about money, but money couldn’t buy love, and it couldn’t buy life either.
So much of his life had been about loss.
Didn’t he deserve some happiness? He looked down moodily at a couple standing
under a street lamp, kissing. What he wouldn’t give to have a woman’s arms
around him tonight.
Then he blinked and caught his breath at
the thought, guilt flooding him. What a thing to think on the anniversary of
Fleur’s death. He’d promised himself he’d never look at another woman again,
let alone date or fall in love. For two years he’d been celibate and had barely
given women a second thought. He’d loved Fleur with all his heart, and when
she’d died, his heart had not only broken but had shattered into so many pieces
he’d thought he’d never be able to fit them all back together again.
But for the first time, Brock acknowledged
to himself that he was lonely.
You left me
,
he thought, looking up at the star-studded sky.
You left me alone, and I
miss you, and I’ve tried to go on by myself, but I’m only human.
Six months after Fleur had died, friends
had started inviting him out on dates, but he’d refused every suggestion of
meeting someone. He’d grieved for two years. Was it disloyal to feel he was
finally ready to move on?
He ached to feel a warm body against him,
and to feel the shared bliss of sexual release, but equally it wasn’t just
about that. He missed talking to Fleur, telling her his hopes and fears, and
just knowing someone was there for him. That kind of love came around only once
in a lifetime, but if someone else existed who could provide even a fraction of
the joy he’d felt with his first wife, he knew he would be a lucky man.
Glancing at the laptop still resting on the
arm of the chair, he thought about Erin. He had no idea what she looked like,
where she lived, or much about her private life, apart from that she was a single
parent and had a young son. But he liked her, and she made him laugh. Was that
so terrible?
He shouldn’t talk to her. Maybe another
night he could have a chat, but tonight wouldn’t be right. Would it?
What would Fleur say? He could almost hear
her voice, a little impatient, slightly amused.
Her boy’s in hospital,
Brock. For God’s sake, just talk to the woman.
His lips curved up, and he went back to the
chair and pulled the laptop toward him.
Available at most major retailers
Click
here
for
details
*
For
an up-to-date list of available books, please visit the
Books
page on my
website.
The Four Seasons
Book
1:
Seducing
Summer
Book
2:
Tempting
Autumn
Book
3:
Bewitching
Winter
Book
4:
Persuading
Spring
*
Treats to Tempt You
Book 1:
Treat with
Caution
Book 2:
Treat her Right
Book 3:
A Rare Treat
Book 4:
Trick or Treat
Book 5:
A Festive Treat
Book 5.5:
No Way
to Treat a Lady
(Novella)
Book 6.5:
A
Taste of Things to Come
(Novella)
*
Between the Sheets
Book 1:
A
Secret Between Friends
Book 2:
An Ocean
Between Us
*
Three Wise Men
Book 1:
The Perfect
Gift
Book 2:
An
Ideal Present
Book
3:
A Secret
Parcel
*
Serenity Woods lives in the
sub-tropical Northland of New Zealand with her wonderful husband and gorgeous
teenage son. She writes hot and sultry contemporary romances with a happy ever
after, and would much rather immerse herself in reading or writing romance than
do the dusting and ironing, which is why it’s not a great idea to pop round if
you have any allergies.
Website:
http://www.serenitywoodsromance.com