and Luci felt the familiar stirring of longing as she looked at him. Even the sleepless nights associated with a new baby hadn’t been able to diminish her desire for her husband.
‘You know I love it out here and I didn’t want to wake everyone else.’
Seb’s parents were staying with them for Christmas. Seb’s dad in particular was smitten with Eve and Luci knew that her in-laws saw this time as an opportunity to enjoy the things they’d missed out on with their own boys. Luci’s own parents, not wanting to be separated from their first grandchild, had decided to retire to Shellharbour and lived just down the road, and Callum and Flick were also under their roof. Eve was being christened tomorrow and Cal and Flick were to be her godparents.
‘We haven’t taken on too much, have we? Hosting Christmas and then having Eve’s christening?’ Seb asked.
Luci shook her head. She was surrounded by family and she couldn’t be happier. ‘No. This is just what I wanted. Having everyone here with us is perfect.’ She stood up and wrapped her arms around Seb and their daughter. ‘Life is perfect,’ she said as she raised herself onto her toes and kissed her husband. ‘I love you. I love you both.’
* * * * *
Swept Away by the Seductive Stranger
Amy Andrews
When that guy on the train turns out to be your boss!
Nurse Felicity Mitchell’s train journey of a lifetime is even more unforgettable when she meets Callum Hollingsworth. Neither is looking for temptation, but that doesn’t stop them from sharing one hot, wild night!
Except when they disembark, they learn that what happened on the train won’t stay on the train. Because the gorgeous stranger is Flick’s new boss...and it’s increasingly difficult to keep their chemistry under control and leave it at just one night!
When I was asked to write a duo with Emily Forbes centring around a house swap I leapt at the chance. I simply adored the movie The Holiday, and thought the concept would be great to play around with. There are no snowy cottages or Jude Laws in this one, but there is Outback Australia, a delicious wounded doc and a no-nonsense small-town nurse who’s super-wary of love—particularly when it comes in the form of a very temporary locum.
I was also thrilled finally to be able to put a train in a book! In 2012 my husband and I travelled on the Indian Pacific from Sydney all the way across the country to Perth, and I have been wanting to put that trip in a book ever since. Growing up as the daughter of a railway man, I’ve always felt that trains are in my blood, and some of my happiest childhood memories involve train trips with the family. There’s just something so romantic about saloon cars, moonlit landscapes flitting by, and two strangers making love all night to the clickety-clack of the rails against the track.
I hope you enjoy the journey through this book as much as I did bringing it to you.
Happy reading—and all aboard!
Amy
To my dear friend and colleague Emily Forbes.
It was a blast—let’s do it again some time!
AMY ANDREWS is a multi-award-winning, USA TODAY bestselling Australian author who has written over fifty contemporary romances in both the traditional and digital markets. She loves good books, fab food, great wine and frequent travel—preferably all four together. To keep up with her latest releases, news, competitions and giveaways sign up for her newsletter—amyandrews.com.au/newsletter.html..
‘A lovely and sweet romance, but with plenty of heat and some ripping sexual tension.’
—Goodreads on It Happened One Night Shift
CALLUM HOLLINGSWORTH WOULD have had to be completely blind not to notice the sexy blonde in his peripheral vision. Thanks to a combination of excellent medical care, the passage of time and her being on his right, he wasn’t.
Although it was her laugh he’d noticed first.
She was talking on her phone and even though her tone was hushed her occasional laughter practically boomed around the busy café. It was so damn...unrestrained, so carefree, he couldn’t help but stare.
Callum hadn’t had much to laugh about in recent times and a hot streak of envy tore through his chest as he ogled her from behind his sunglasses. Long honey-coloured hair with curly ends that brushed her shoulder blades. A glimpse of sun-kissed skin at her throat and on toned, tanned arms. Legs clad in denim that were shapely rather than skinny and knee-high fringed boots that looked more country girl than dominatrix.
She didn’t wear any make-up or jewellery. In fact, there was a lack of anything flashy or ostentatious about her yet she shone like a jewel in the old-fashioned café in Sydney’s Central Station as the sun streamed in through the high windows overhead.
Maybe it was the way she laughed—with her whole body—that held his attention. Maybe it was the jeans and the boots. Maybe it was her lack of pretension. Whatever, he was just pleased to be provided with some relief from the burden of his thoughts as he sat waiting for his train to depart.
For God’s sake, he was about to embark on one of the great train journeys of the world. He was leaving Sydney and going somewhere else for two months where nobody knew him or about the tumble his career had taken. He could reset the clock. Reinvent himself.
Come back refreshed and show them all he didn’t give a damn.
The sooner he got to grips with his old life being over, the sooner he could get his act together. This was his chance to finally get his head out of his backside and work on being impressively happy once again. Because he sure as hell was sick of himself and the dark cloud that had been following him around for the last two years.
Nothing like moving fourteen hundred kilometres away to send a strong message to himself about the new direction of his life.
‘All passengers for the Indian Pacific, your train is now ready for departure from platform ten.’
Callum gathered his backpack at the announcement over the loudspeaker. The woman on the phone crossed her legs and kept talking and a pang of disappointment flared momentarily. She obviously hadn’t been waiting for the same train. Visions straight from a James Bond movie of a glamorous night between the sheets with a mystery woman on a train as a brilliant way to kick-start his new life fizzled into the ether.
He gave himself a mental shake, his lips twisting at the insanity
