by Annie O'Neil
“Looks like it.” Saoirse nodded, hands clasped tightly in her lap. “Would you like to keep the photo? I can get more to you as the baby grows.”
“What do you mean, get more to me?” Santi tried to temper the disbelief in his voice. “I’m coming with you to the next scan. And the one after that.”
“Oh, Santi, that’s so nice—but you’ve already been so kind to me—”
He put a hand up and she stopped, lips parted, in midflow. The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen and now she was carrying his child. He wouldn’t have expected to feel an instant kinship to the little black-and-white bean in the scan and yet? His heart was near to bursting with joy.
“Dulzera...let me stop you there. It’s my turn now and let me assure you, nothing about this moment is about being kind or nice or polite. This is about what I feel for you. Have been feeling for you over the past few weeks. More to the point, this is about what I wanted to say to you the other night, but should have said weeks ago after I set things right with my brothers.”
Now it was Saoirse’s turn to look bewildered. All the time he’d spent with his brothers—time he’d spent keeping her at arm’s length—had been precisely what had led her to believe he deserved to be freed from their arrangement. Her eyes flitted across his face as if his cheekbones, his eyes, the aquiline strength of his nose would spell it all out for her. His mouth was so beautiful. Too bad her brain was buzzing so much she couldn’t make out what he was saying. She scrunched her eyebrows together and made a concerted effort to tune into that chocolaty voice of his.
“I was going to ask you if you really wanted to get married, but—”
“You were going to ask me to marry you?” Saoirse bolted upright. “What happened?”
Santi threw back his head and laughed a full-bodied guffaw.
“Would you be patient for once, cariño? I was trying to explain to you what happened when you were busy dumping me.”
“I wasn’t dumping you,” Saoirse protested. “I was rescuing you from being trapped in a marriage you didn’t want to be in.”
“Well, what if I didn’t want rescuing?” Santi parried as he, too, rose from the ambulance step.
She froze—gaze glued on his chest—too afraid to look up into those gold-flecked eyes of his.
She watched Santi’s hand slip into the front pocket of his cargos and pull out a... Oh-h-h-h...an eggshell-blue box. Her heart was beating so hard she could virtually see it thumping through her top.
With a single fluid move he flicked open the box so she could see the most beautiful ring that had probably ever been made.
“Saoirse Murphy?”
“You said it perfectly!”
Saoirse’s fingers fluttered to cover her mouth. She could hardly believe her eyes. The man who’d woven himself into her heart was dropping to one knee.
“You were right about one thing,” Santi began, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I didn’t want to marry you so you could get your green card. I wanted to marry you because I loved you—do love you. I love you with all my heart and hope that you will do me the honor of becoming my wife.”
“Are you sure? I mean, I don’t want to find all your brothers showing up at the wedding with shotguns at your back or any—”
“For heaven’s sake, Murph! I didn’t know until just now that you were pregnant. You’re really going to put me through my paces, aren’t you?”
Her face morphed into a hugely apologetic wince before splitting into an enormous smile as she threw herself at him.
“I just want you to be sure. You seemed so happy that you had sorted everything with your brothers and the happier you were, the less time you spent with me.”
“It’s because I didn’t want them to meet you—”
“Ha! I knew it.” Saoirse’s fists landed triumphantly on her hips after jabbing a triumphant finger into the air.
“Murphy!” Santi threw his own hands into the air, nearly losing the ring in the process. They both lurched forward to check it was still nestled in the pillow of satin. Santi took advantage of the proximity and took Saoirse’s hands in one of his own, a finger of the other resting across her lips. “Will you keep your gift of the gab to yourself just this once so I can finish?”
Saoirse nodded obediently.
“I didn’t want to introduce you to my brothers as my fake wife. I wanted to introduce you to them as my fiancée. My real fiancée. Or girlfriend. There’s no rush.”
“Well, there is a bit of a rush actually—”
“For heaven’s sake, woman!” Santi stood up, scooping Saoirse into his arms as he did. “There’s only one way to keep you quiet, isn’t there?”
“What’s that?” Saoirse asked, semi-innocently.
“Like this.” He lowered his lips to hers, gently at first, then intensifying with need and a growing hunger for more as Saoirse responded in kind. The weeks of pent-up desire took flight in their kisses, each one building in passion and intent.
“Can I take the fact that you’re in my arms to be a yes?” Santi murmured after a few moments, his lips whispering against her own.
“Absolutely, it’s a yes,” Saoirse replied, leaning in for yet another life-affirming connection with...she could hardly believe it...her husband-to-be.
“What the—”
Saoirse felt Santiago’s lips leave her own before she put two and two together. They had an audience.
“Murph.” Santiago put her back down on the ground. “I think you’ve already met my shift partner, Samuel Rodriguez. Samuel, I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Saoirse.”
Saoirse put out her hand with an embarrassed grin. “Murphy’s fine.”
For the second time that night Rodriguez let out a low, impressed whistle.
“Not for long, though, is it?” Santi slipped an arm around his bride-to-be’s waist.
“What do you mean?” Saoirse looked up at him, her face wreathed in smiles.
“Come St. Patrick’s Day,” he said with a leading grin, “it’ll be Valentino.”
* * * * *
Look out for the next great story in the HOT LATIN DOCS quartet
ALEJANDRO’S SEXY SECRET
by Amy Ruttan
And there are two more fabulous stories to come!
If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Annie O’Neil
THE NIGHTSHIFT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
ONE NIGHT, TWIN CONSEQUENCES
Keep reading for an excerpt from ALEJANDRO’S SEXY SECRET by Amy Ruttan.
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Alejandro’s Sexy Secret
by Amy Ruttan
PROLOGUE
Las Vegas, Nevada
KIRI WALKED OUT onto the patio of the private villa her friends had rented at one of Vegas’s most luxurious five-star resorts. It was getting too crazy inside. There was a lot of alcohol and antics, including a very dirty cake that would make her naanii blush.
Heck, it made her blush just thinking about the racy genital-shaped cake.
There were some shrieks from her friends as the bride-to-be opened up another questionable gift. Kiri chuckled and then shouted through the open window.
“You’re surgeons, you’ve seen those parts before!”
Her friends began to giggle again and Kiri just shook her head and sat down on one of the lounge chairs that overlooked the private pool and walled garden. Sandy, the bridezilla-to-be, was accusing her of being a party pooper on this bachelorette weekend and maybe she was, but she was thinking about her final residency exam that was coming up. Also, she was envious. Sandy had it all. She was getting married, she had a career and she knew Sandy and Tony wanted to start a family right away. It was everything that Kiri had always wanted.
The problem was she couldn’t find the right guy.
Once she’d thought she’d found the right guy, the only problem being she hadn’t been the right woman for him.
To get over her heartache she focused on her work. Never really cutting loose. If she couldn’t have a husband and family right now, she’d have her career.
“You’re my maid of honor, Kiri. You’re coming to Vegas, whether you like it or not!”
“Professor Vaughan is tough, Sandy. He only picks the cream of the pediatric surgery hopefuls to work with him. I have to study. Go have fun without me.”
“No, you’re coming to have fun. The last three men you went on dates with you blew off because of studying. You need to have fun every once in a while too.”
Kiri had come to Vegas, but had brought her books with her. She’d smuggled them like contraband in her luggage. She reached down and pulled out a notebook from where she’d stashed it. She flipped to where she’d left off, brought up the flashlight app on her smartphone and tried to cram like she’d never crammed before.
Except it was kind of difficult with that music blaring in the background.
Lord.
She rammed her fingers in her ears and held the book open with her elbows pressed against her lap and read until her glasses began to slide down her nose.
Blast.
She couldn’t study this way.
Her friends had already completed their exams, knew where they were going to be practicing their surgical skills. The pediatric surgical residency exams weren’t until next week. She should be back in New York and studying, not here. Of course as a maid of honor she had a bit of a duty to Sandy. And she was failing miserably. At least Sandy’s sister had picked up some slack. Like arranging this weekend.
Blast that Sandy for getting engaged to Tony and having a wedding so close to exams. Who does that?
Tony was already a surgeon and was apparently somewhere in Florida, enjoying a golf weekend. Florida was probably warmer than here. She closed her notebook and shivered in the evening chill.
“I thought Vegas was supposed to be hot,” she muttered to herself, and took a sip of her Bellini, which was a poor choice to have when she was already chilled.
“It’s the desert. At night it gets cold. So very cold.”
Kiri spun around to see who was speaking in the thick, Latin drawl that sent a shiver of something down her spine. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of the tall, muscular, Latino god who was leaning casually against the French doors. He had a dimple in his cheek as he grinned at her, perfect white teeth and those dark eyes sparkled in the light that shone out through the doors, promising something sinfully delicious.
“P-pardon?” Kiri said, pushing up her dark-framed glasses, which had slid down her nose again and were beginning to fog up. She cursed herself inwardly for forgetting her contact lenses in New York.
“The desert. It’s very hot during the day, but at night it’s muy frio. It’s cold.”
“Who are you?” she asked.
A lazy grin spread across his face. “Your friends sent me out here to lighten your mood. They said you’ve been a bit of a party pooper this weekend and you need to loosen up.”
Oh. My. God.
She glanced over his shoulder and could see another group of bronzed muscular gods dancing to music while her friends cheered them on. This was the “entertainment” Sandy had been talking about. Male exotic dancers.
Apparently the best that Vegas had to offer.
Heat flushed in her cheeks as he took a step closer to her. He took her hand and led her into the room, sitting her down on the couch.
“Why don’t you sit back, mi tesoro?” he whispered in that honeyed drawl against her ear that made her forget that she was always just a bit awkward around men. “Let me take care of you.”
“Um...” A million thoughts were racing through her mind, but then all those thoughts melted into a pile of goo as he pushed her back against the cushions.
A familiar song that she’d heard so many times when she’d been young came across the stereo system. The kind her and her high-school friends had giggled at but which the school would never play at a dance.
Sandy and her friends began to shriek as the group of exotic dancers began to move together in a choreographed, erotic dance.
And as that Latino god began to move, his hips rolling, she suddenly understood why they didn’t play that song at high-school dances. Why her parents hated that song. As she sat there on the couch, her friends screaming around her and that gorgeous specimen of a man’s dark eyes locked on her, only her, he grinned at her, as if knowing she was completely aroused by him. He rolled his hips and peeled his shirt off, revealing a tattoo on a muscle-hardened chest, and she realized what she’d been missing. Why she’d been uptight. When was the last time she’d been with someone?
It had been a long time.
Kiri’s leg began to tap in a nervous twitch she’d had since she was a kid, when she’d been the chubby geek that no one had paid attention to.
He moved toward her and laid a strong hand against her leg, settling the incessant tapping. His touch burned and set her blood on fire, her body reacting to the pure magnetism and sex he was exuding.
And for some reason he was focused on her.
He’s being paid to do this. This is what Sandy wanted.
And that’s what she was telling herself as he moved closer to her, pushing her back against the pillows, dancing just for her. He placed her hands on his narrow hips as he moved above her.
“Um...” slipped past her lips and she was mesmerized. Even though she knew it was all an act, this man held her in complete rapture. His deep, dark eyes were locked on hers and there was something about him that completely sucked her in.
Then he turned his back to her as the song ended and Kiri still sat there stunned. The Bellini she had been holding was no longer slushy but melted as she’d been gripping the glass so tightly before he’d taken it from her, deposited it on a table and placed her cool hands on his warm-skinned hips. Her heart was racing and it felt like she was on fire.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so turned on, so enthralled by a man. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d had sex. It had been during her residency and with Chad, the man who had broken her heart, but for the life of her all those moments with Chad were obliterated. All she saw was this gorgeous man in front of her. All she could think about was having him. That much she knew.
The last several years she’d been so focused on becoming a pediatric surgeon she’d thrown every last piece of herself into becoming the best darned surgeon in the program. So much so she’d
forgotten how much she missed connecting with another person.
Just wanting a simple touch.
A kiss.
And more.
I have to get out of here.
The exotic dancers were now focused on Sandy, which was good. She left her glass of sludgy, melted Bellini on the side table and slipped out of the villa, putting some distance between her and the bachelorette party as fast as her little legs could carry her before she did something she’d completely regret.
* * *
“That was a good show tonight. Don’t you think, Alejandro?”
“What?” Alejandro asked. He hadn’t been really listening to Fernando, one of the dancers in his troupe, as they sat in the lounge of the hotel after entertaining that group of women at the bachelorette party. His thoughts were strictly on the beautiful woman he’d given the private dance to at the beginning. The one who had slipped out of the party when his back had been turned.
The one who was now sitting alone at the bar, nursing a glass of wine. Alejandro couldn’t take his eyes off her. She had curves in all the right places and though she was short, her legs looked long and were crossed in a ladylike way and she was swirling her one foot around.
Maybe it was the tight black dress or the stilettos that accentuated her beauty; either way, he couldn’t tear his eyes from her gorgeous legs.
“Yo, Alejandro? Snap out of it.” Fernando waved a hand in front of his face.
“What?” Alejandro said again.
“I asked you if you thought it went well tonight. I was a bit surprised when Ricky decided to fly us in from Miami to Las Vegas, but now, with this cut from that bachelorette party and being put up at this swanky hotel until tomorrow night, I’m never going to question a thing he says again.”
“Yeah, yeah, for sure.” Alejandro got up from the table where he’d been sitting with his fellow dancers. “I think I’m going to stick around here tonight, rather than go out.”
“You sure, bro?” another of them asked.
Alejandro nodded. “Yeah. I’m tired.”