The Playboy Doctor's Surprise Proposal. Anne Fraser

      CHAPTER ONE

      HE PLUCKED her out of the sea. One minute she was floundering in the water, the next she was being manhandled to shore by a stranger with bronzed muscles and nutmegcoloured eyes. It was by far the most embarrassing thing that had happened to her for as long as she could remember.

      Ten minutes earlier, Caitlin had plunged into the Pacific, gasping as the cold water chased the heat of the Australian sun from her skin. She had ploughed through the water for a few moments until life had returned to her frozen limbs, then turned on her back and floated.

      Her sister, Brianna, and the rest of the group were on the beach. Niall was fussing around lighting the barbecue, while Brianna relaxed with a book. The children were making sandcastles on the startingly white sand, and the sounds of their laughter drifted over to Caitlin on the perfectly still air. She could still scarcely believe that she was here in Brisbane. Months of planning followed by a forty-eight-hour journey from Dublin and finally here she was. She only wished her trip could have been made under happier circumstances. Flipping over onto her stomach, she swam for a few more minutes, then trod water. Brianna’s husband, Niall, had promised her that she was safe from sharks this close to shore, but Caitlin wasn’t going to take any chances. She’d keep the beach within easy distance.

      Looking towards the shore, she could see Niall and Brianna waving to her. Without her glasses, they were slightly fuzzy shapes against the glaring white of the sand. Caitlin waved back. Just a few more minutes then she’d return to shore and help her sister with lunch.

      Her stomach gave the familiar flutter of anxiety that she always experienced these days when she thought about her older sister. Although Brianna was recovering well from her treatment, the sight of her nearly bald head with the wispy tendrils of hair had brought tears to Caitlin’s eyes when she had first seen her at the airport. It had taken all her resolve not to show how shocked she was when she had hugged her sister and felt the fragile bones. Still she was here now. When she wasn’t working, she’d be around to help, at the very least offer moral support.

      The next time she looked up the beach had receded. She became aware that Brianna and Niall were still waving and Caitlin waved back again. They probably wanted her back on shore.

      Flipping over on her stomach once more, she struck off towards the beach. She was a good swimmer, managing twenty lengths most mornings at her local pool before she left for work. Caitlin believed that routine and discipline were essential parts of life.

      Stopping for a moment, she lifted her head out of the water to check the distance to the beach. To her dismay, she didn’t seem to have made any progress. In fact, if it was possible, she appeared to have moved away from the shore and further out to sea. For the first time, Caitlin felt a flutter of anxiety. Niall had warned her about the currents but she hadn’t paid too much attention, putting his concerns down to him being an anxious brother-in-law. Now, she realised grimly that he hadn’t exaggerated. Clearly she was caught in a current that was dragging her out to sea. She felt the first flicker of real alarm.

      She had read somewhere that the best thing to do was to swim across the current rather than against it. That way you’d eventually reach a point where the current would disappear. From there it should be easy to swim back.

      By this time Niall had waded in up to his thighs and was gesticulating wildly. He had been joined by another figure, and although it was too far for Caitlin to see more than blurry outlines, she could see enough to know that the figure was tall, topping Niall by a good couple of inches, although her brother-in-law was no slouch in the height stakes. Caitlin had just enough time to wonder if the new figure was Andrew, her new colleague, who she’d been told was to join them for lunch, before she started swimming again.

      Don’t panic, she told herself as she cut through the water. You’ve been in difficult situations before, and panicking never did anyone any good. Just swim parallel to the beach and everything will be fine. Eventually.

      She had only been swimming for another couple of minutes, but already she could feel the energy sapping out of her limbs. Swimming in the safe confines of her local pool was not the same thing as swimming in the sea. If she were to make it back safely she would need to conserve her energy. She would tread water for a few moments, just long enough to get her breath back, then start swimming again. She shuddered as she saw a mass of translucent blobs float past her. That was all she needed—jellyfish. She’d been told that Australian jellyfish could be lethal, along with hundreds of other snakes, sharks, spiders and goodness knew what else that seemed to favour the continent. And Caitlin didn’t do dangerous animals. But typical of the way her luck had being going lately, she felt a sudden pain in her calf, as if she’d been stung by a thousand wasps. She cried out in pain and shock, swallowing water, and as she grabbed her leg, she felt herself go under.

      She popped up again, gasping and choking. Now she was really worried. What if she had only a few minutes to live? One way or another right now her chances of survival seemed grim. At that moment she felt something touch her shoulder. What now? She twisted her body round to face this new threat and found herself looking into a pair of unfamiliar brown eyes. She guessed immediately it was the man she had seen standing with Niall.

      ‘I’ve