by Vicki Savage
I moved the trolley as close as I could to the bedroom door, then realized it was too big to enter my small bedroom. I eased around it and pulled back the sheets on my bed. Hopefully the bed was big enough to accommodate his large frame. There wasn’t much I could do about that now, I supposed.
Returning to the trolley, I grabbed his shoulders. “Come on, big boy, you can do it.” He groaned as I pulled, turning his head to the side, revealing a large bump.
“Lovely.” That bump looked nasty, and with my luck it was going to be expensive to fix.
“Lovely, yes,” the man murmured in perfect Portuguese. He slid his arms around my waist and nestled closer to my neck. “Very lovely indeed.”
Great, this guy was clearly delusional. “Hey buddy, why don’t you give me a little help?”
“Help, yes.” Instead of standing, the man began to tug my shirt out of my pants.
“No, no.” I pushed his hands away. “I need to get you to bed, first.”
He leaned back and looked at me through half-closed eyes. His smile lit up his whole face. “Bed. Yes.”
“Come on.” I didn’t know how much longer this guy was going to be conscious, so I had to act fast. “Can you stand? Here, put your arm around me. I’ll help.”
He seemed confused, as if he had been drinking too much. Then he swayed into me, and I did my best to keep him upright.
“Easy there,” I said as I put my hands on his sides. I was surprised at how strong and muscular he was, much stronger than the men staggering home form the bars at night.
“You smell nice.” He leaned over and stuck his nose in my hair, inhaling deeply.
“Thank you.” Frowning, I judged the distance to the bed. It was only a few paces, but it might as well have been an ocean. There was no way I was going to be able to drag him over there myself.
“Okay, the bed is just a short distance away. Do you think you can walk there?”
“Hmm… Maybe.” He turned away from me and focused on the floor.
“That’s right,” I said. “One foot in front of the other.”
Slowly, he shuffled his way to the bed, leaning on me when he needed extra support. When he turned and settled himself down on the mattress, I breathed a sigh of relief.
“There you go.” I helped him lay down and then started to reach for the covers. He grabbed my arms with surprising strength. Startled, I turned back to him.
“Thank you, gorgeous.” He pulled my arms, forcing me down on top of him. My breasts pressed into his chest as he brushed his lips against mine.
The move surprised me, and for a moment I froze, uncertain. Then a deep longing set in. I had not been kissed since Adrian had passed away two years ago, and while he was a good husband, his kisses were never as hot, or as passionate as this man.
And he’s only half-conscious. As he loosened his grip on my arms and leaned back on the pillows, he turned his lips into a lazy smile.
“And does my angel have a name?”
“Carina.” My voice shook with pent-up emotion as I spoke.
“Carina.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “Thank you, Carina.”
I started to ask for his name, but I could tell he had already slipped back out of consciousness. Touching my lips, I raked my gaze over his firm body, realizing that now, with the immediate danger over, I could better appreciate his handsomeness. His skin was pale, his hair the color of ripe apples. His features had a soft, academic appearance that was quite appealing. I wondered if he had ever gone to a university, or had any other scholarly pursuits. Intelligent men were something of a rarity around this place. Besides the developers, many didn’t pass a sixth-grade education.
With a sigh, I turned away and set about putting the trolley back where we found it. I wasn’t going to get any answers now, and with one extra mouth to feed, my time was better spent completing some of my many chores.
Chapter Three
Rafe
“It’s right over here, Mr. Juarez.” The little girl tugged my hand as we climbed the stairs. I stumbled after her in my dress shoes and slacks, wishing I had taken the time to change before agreeing to this little venture. The child had seemed insistent, however, and it appeared as if someone really needed my help. My grandfather agreed that I should go and see for myself whether or not this ‘hurt man’ was real or just some figment of a five-year-old’s imagination.
If it weren’t for the medical conference, I wouldn’t even be here. I thought I had moved on from my meager roots, and up until now had never had the urge to look back. Now that I was here, memories long buried had started to surface. My childhood had been poor, but stable, which was more than I could say for a lot of the neighborhood kids. My grandfather had gotten lucky when the former owner of the apartment complex had died and willed him the building. The rent income had kept us going even when everyone around us were struggling. It even helped me in the beginning years of my education, when I was too stubborn to go to school in Rio and wanted to see the world.
I had forgotten how much I’d missed the place. My grandfather was all the family I had left, and I loved listening to him tell stories of the old days when he used to get in trouble with my grandmother. Neither one of them had been formerly educated, but instead survived by instinct, hard work, and a little bit of luck. It was a refreshing change from the big-shot doctors I was used to back in London.
“Here, Mr. Juarez. He’s in here.”
I could piece together only a little of what happened from the girl’s high-pitch and fast recounting. Evidently someone got in a car accident outside the building. When I asked why they didn’t take this person to a doctor, my grandfather explained that the government-sponsored healthcare was very poor due to the overcrowded hospitals. There simply wasn’t enough funding or enough doctors to meet the demand. Many residents in this section of the city were too poor to get private insurance or were from foreign countries and therefore weren’t covered by the system. No one had cab fare to go to the closest hospital on the other side of the city, let alone money for expensive surgeries.
While my grandfather didn’t say it, I knew that he was hurting for money as well. He had a soft heart, and I suspected that he was very forgiving of those tenants with late payments. When I had remarked on multiple places where the building was starting to show wear, he shrugged and said times were tough. His answers tugged at my chest, making me feel guilty for turning my back on him after he had given me so much.
Not anymore. I made a silent vow to help my grandfather as much as I could. Without his help, I would have ended up in an orphanage after my parents died in a car accident when I was ten. I owed him so much, and yet had given him so little.
The little girl, who I learned was called Angelina, pulled me in through the front door of a small apartment toward the back of the building. As I stepped inside, all thoughts of my childhood vanished as I took in my surroundings. Like the hallway, the apartment seemed worn and in desperate need of repair. There was a quiet serenity about it, however. I couldn’t explain it, but I immediately felt welcome and warm. The contrast was sharp, and it seemed as if this place was a quiet oasis from the dark and dangerous world outside.
“Mommy, Mommy! I’ve got him. He’s here!” The little girl let go of my hand and ran toward a back room.
“Please, don’t shout, Angelina. You’ll wake up our…” A woman appeared in the doorway and stopped. Her words trailed off as she focused on me.
“Angelina’s mother, I presume?” I asked in Portuguese.
She nodded and wiped her hands on a small kitchen towel.
“I am Rafe. I’m visiting my grandfather, your landlord, downstairs, when this beautiful child begged me to follow her.”
“Did I do it right?” Angelina asked.
“Yes, sweetheart.” The woman tore her gaze away from me and patted her daughter on her head.
It was hard to see this beautiful creature as a mother. Young and fresh, she could pass for Angelina’s much-older s
ister. They had the same dark hair, the same wide-hazel eyes. The heart-shaped face and button nose which looked cute on Angelina, matured and looked absolutely gorgeous on the woman before me.
“You must be the doctor,” she said. “Your grandfather spoke very highly of you.”
Doctor, yes. I was a doctor. “I’m afraid I don’t have my equipment with me.”
She gave me a short nod. “I can try to get you what you need.”
I struggled to remember what the little girl had said. “He had been run over by a car?”
“No, he crashed his car.” She pointed to the sidewalk outside the window. “He was driving along the road outside our building and ran into the hole at the construction site.”
I frowned and rubbed my chin as the doctor side of me took over. “He just ran his car into a hole by himself? For no reason?”
The gorgeous woman fisted her hands in the towel she was holding. “Yes, he did.”
“Strange. Perhaps it is best if I have a look.”
“Of course.”
As I followed her, I noticed her stiff movements and straight back. I wondered what I had said to put her so on edge.
“I’m coming, too!” Angelina said.
“No.” The woman turned and waved her hand in the air. “The doctor needs room to work. Why don’t you go outside and find your basket? Dinner will be ready soon.”
“Aw, I want to see.”
“Angelina…” Her mother’s voice was filled with warning.
The little girl turned and sulked her way out of the room.
“You didn’t have to be so hard on her,” I said. “I don’t mind an audience.”
The woman glanced up at me. “Perhaps, but some things are better for children not to see.” Before I could ask her what she meant, she swept into the bedroom.
“Here he is.” She stepped to the side and waved her hand toward the bed. “Do you need me to get anything?”
I didn’t really look at the bed. Every instinct I had, every fiber of my being, wanted to put this poor woman at ease. I took her shaking hands in mine and drew them to my lips. “You don’t have to be scared around me.” I kissed her knuckles. “I will do all that I can, and not breathe a word of what happened here to anyone.”
My guess was correct. Immediately, I could see the tension ease. The fine lines around her mouth and eyes relaxed, and she flashed me a small smile.
“Thank you.” She squeezed my fingers. “Things have been difficult since my husband passed away. I just … I just don’t want any people around here asking questions.”
People asking questions… I wasn’t quite sure why that statement troubled me, but it did. I made a mental note to ask her about it later. But first…
“Now, I would like you to go and get me a bowl of hot water—the hotter the better—and a dish towel.”
“Anything else?”
“Not right away. I need to see him first.”
She nodded and headed toward the kitchen. I resisted the temptation to stare at her lovely backside and instead walked over to the side of the bed where got my first good look at my patient.
“Jesus.” I blinked in shock and stared at the man. Of all the people who could be in this bed, why did it have to be…?
The weight of the world pressed down on my shoulders, and I sank onto the edge of the mattress.
“Miles, what have you done?” I covered my mouth and tried to process the scene before me. Miles Adderley and I had gone to Oxford together. Back then, I was somewhat of a gawky young man, my body much too long and lean to be very coordinated. I had just broken free from my poor Rio roots and was determined to succeed at school so I’d never have to go back to that way of life. Miles had been popular and rather adventurous. To me, he represented everything I had been missing down in Rio. The girls loved him, the boys wanted to be him. For some odd reason, he had decided to take me under his wing and show me what I had been missing all my life. It didn’t take us long to become close friends.
Freshman year, he had taught me that life wasn’t all about studying. He had brought me balance. As our friendship deepened, he had taken me on some wild adventures, and had shown me so many wondrous things.
Looking back, I supposed it seemed only natural that we would have started a relationship. Miles loved both men and women equally, and was as adventurous in bed as he was in other aspects of his life. He was willing to try anything, and through him, I had discovered a desire for kink in the bedroom. We had shared women as often as we shared each other, and as the days passed, I had become more and more wrapped up in his orbit.
Then one day, he left the university to go home to his family. There was no note, no phone call. He had just emptied his dorm room and skipped town without ever saying goodbye. Rumors circulated through the student body that he had some royal obligation to attend to back home. He would be back, I was told, but I never saw him again.
I had been devastated beyond belief, so much so that it took me years to recover. Now, seeing him here, like this, caused all of those memories and hurt feelings to come back to me in a rush.
“Here is your water.”
I jumped off the bed and turned to find the beautiful woman from before, holding a large bowl between her arms. Steam rose from the bowl, and she had a small towel on her arm.
“I’ll just put it over here.” She set it on a nearby table and placed the towel beside it. “I have dinner going. I hope you’ll stay.” She cleared her throat and took several steps toward the door. “My name is Carina, by the way.”
I nodded to her. “Thank you, Carina.”
As she shut the door, I let out a long breath. It made some odd sort of sense to me that Miles would be here with this woman. He had always loved beautiful things. It was a weakness of sorts. More than once he had gotten us in trouble because some girl had flashed him an innocent smile.
Miles groaned and turned his head, showing me the nasty bump on the side. Pushing away my jumbled emotions, I set to work, washing my hands in the water and gently probing the wound to see how much damage had been done.
I kept things strictly professional, even though part of me wanted to explore him like I had all of those years ago. As I worked, I couldn’t help but wonder if he knew I was visiting my grandfather, and if he had arranged this whole thing so that we might relive old times and share a woman once more.
“You’re being ridiculous,” I mumbled to myself. I hadn’t spoken to him in years, and my trip to Rio was last minute, booked when I learned of my grandfather’s failing health. There was no way he could have possibly known I had returned home.
That left one question lingering in my mind: why was he here?
I determined that the wound wasn’t deep or serious. It was only a small concussion and it was likely that he would recover with time and rest.
I pulled my hands away and wiped them on the towel. Standing, I turned to go.
“Rafe.”
I froze as the familiar voice sent a bolt of desire straight through my lower abdomen. Slowly, I turned around and faced the bed once more.
Miles closed his eyes and smiled. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve missed you.”
I took a hesitant step toward the bed. “You took a nasty bump on the head.”
He lifted his arm, touched his temple, and then winced and put his hand back on the mattress. “This little girl came out of nowhere.” He took in a deep breath and let it out. “Swerved to miss.”
“That little girl went for help after you crashed. You’re in her mother’s home.”
“Mother.”
“Just rest now.” I slid my fingers across his cheek. God, it felt so soft, so smooth. Memories flooded back of our time together, causing tears to fill my eyes.
I was being ridiculous. Miles had moved on. I had moved on. It was useless dwelling on the mistakes of the past.
“Wait.” Miles grabbed my hand as I started to pull away. “I’m sorry for leaving, Rafe. Truly. My hands were
tied, and I couldn’t let them know…”
“Hush.” I twisted my hand and placed a finger over his lips. “Rest now. We can talk more about it later.”
He dropped his fingers, and I used the opportunity to gather the bowl and towel and retreat from the bedroom. Miles’s presence in Rio had changed nothing. I had moved on from the wildness of my youth. I was no longer interested in the pursuit of sexual pleasure and great adventures. Instead, I was focused on more worthy pursuits, like saving lives.
“How is he?” Carina asked as I entered the kitchen.
“He will live.” I placed the large bowl and towel on the counter. “He had a small concussion and will eventually make a full recovery.”
“Thank goodness.”
I watched her move about the kitchen and wondered if she knew exactly who she had in her bedroom. I guessed she didn’t. People here didn’t follow politics in their own country, let alone one an ocean away. It was a fair assumption she would be much more nervous if she knew her daughter caused a member of the English royal family to crash his car.
“I suppose you want some sort of payment for your time,” she said.
Disbelief washed over me as I stared at her. “That is not necessary.”
She lifted her chin. “I will not be held in debited to any man, for any reason.”
I knew it was wrong to smile, but couldn’t help myself. This woman was both stubborn and charming, just like Miles. I wondered what she would say if she knew that I had a weakness for strong personalities. I couldn’t help but be drawn to their confidence and energy.
“I can assure you that payment is not needed.” I gave a small bow and took a step back. “Good day, ma’am.”
“Carina.”
“Miss Carina.”
A hint of a smile touched her lips. “No, just Carina.”
The woman was even more beautiful when she smiled. Her entire face lit up brighter than the sun and made me want to bask in her presence.
I didn’t dare overstay my welcome, however. Instead, I nodded and smiled in return. “I will return tomorrow to check on the patient.” I had discovered a chink in her armor, and as I left the small apartment, I decided that it would be fun to try to see if I could find any more.