Alejandro's Sexy Secret

by Amy Ruttan

  What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...

  If only that were true! Surgeon Kiri Bhardwaj never expected to see sexy exotic dancer Alejandro Valentino again after their fantasy life-changing night together. But now they’re face-to-face, and he’s a specialist in her pediatric department!

  Working with Kiri proves to Alejandro that they haven’t finished what they started all those years ago. But to claim what he’s lost he’ll have to lay his heart on the line and prove to Kiri their chemistry is for keeps!

  Hot Latin Docs

  Sultry, sexy bachelor brothers on the loose!

  Santiago, Alejandro, Rafael and Dante Valentino are Miami’s most eligible doctors. Yet the brothers’ dazzling lives hide a darker truth—one that made these determined bachelors close their hearts to love years ago...

  But now four feisty women are about to turn the heat up for these sexy Latin docs and tempt them each to do something they never imagined—get down on one knee!

  Find out what happens in:

  Santiago’s Convenient Fiancée by Annie O’Neil

  January 2017

  Alejandro’s Sexy Secret by Amy Ruttan

  January 2017

  Rafael’s One Night Bombshell by Tina Beckett

  February 2017

  Dante’s Shock Proposal by Amalie Berlin

  February 2017

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for picking up a copy of Alejandro’s Sexy Secret.

  This quartet was concocted by Amalie Berlin. So I completely blame her! No, I love Amalie, and she has been one of my bestie writing buddies since pretty much day one. During one of our online chat sessions she came up with this idea about four sexy Latino doctors in the hot city of Miami, Florida.

  I had so much fun planning this story with my coauthors. Surprisingly, they let me have the youngest brother—Dr. Alejandro Valentino. Alejandro has a very dark past, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to live life to the fullest. And during the day he spends his time saving the lives of children in need of transplants. There’s so much to love about Alejandro—it’s just too bad he doesn’t want to take a chance on love himself.

  Enter Dr. Kiri Bhardwaj. She also carries a wound from the past that she shares with Alejandro. And working with him at Buena Vista Hospital as his boss just makes that raw hurt fresh once again.

  It took a lot of work and tears to get these two together. I hope you enjoy Alejandro and Kiri’s story. And please do check out Alejandro’s brothers’ stories: Santiago, Rafe and Dante.

  I love hearing from readers, so please drop by my website, amyruttan.com, or give me a shout on Twitter, @ruttanamy.

  With warmest wishes,

  Amy Ruttan

  ALEJANDRO’S SEXY SECRET

  Amy Ruttan

  Books by Amy Ruttan

  Harlequin Medical Romance

  The Hollywood Hills Clinic

  Perfect Rivals...

  Sealed by a Valentine’s Kiss

  His Shock Valentine’s Proposal

  Craving Her Ex-Army Doc

  One Night in New York

  Tempting Nashville’s Celebrity Doc

  Unwrapped by the Duke

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!

  Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards

  http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010002

  I couldn’t have written Alejandro’s story without Amalie, Tina and Annie. You ladies are the best to build a world with.

  Annie—Mad Ron’s wouldn’t exist without you!

  Also, I want to thank Amalie and my editor, Laura, for taking on the monumental task of whipping this quartet into shape.

  Praise for Amy Ruttan

  “I recommend Perfect Rivals... as a place to start for those who haven’t thought of trying the Medical line before, because this will be an absolute treat... I give it five stars because of the characters, the plot, and the fact I couldn’t put it down... Please read this book—stat!”

  —Goodreads

  Contents

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  EPILOGUE

  EXCERPT FROM THE DOCTOR'S DIAMOND PROPOSAL BY ANNIE CLAYDON

  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. An
d 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.”

  And he really didn’t want to spend the large cut he’d just received on gambling and drinking tonight. Not when this was the last bit of the money he needed to pay off his student loans. This was finally his freedom from exotic dancing.

  His freedom from Ricky.

  He’d made it all through medical school without his older brothers finding out about what he did. They’d offered to help him pay for medical school, but they had sacrificed enough for him so he’d told them he worked down at the docks, gutting fish, and had been adamant he’d pay his own way through medical school. They didn’t need to know he’d started as a dance host in a seedy samba bar before being discovered by Ricky and moving into this. Next week he was starting a residency in transplant surg
ery in Miami in the pediatric department of Buena Vista Hospital and he wouldn’t have to dance again.

  This had been his last dance and he’d never had a client walk out on him before. It was bothering him a bit.

  As his friends left the bar to seek other pleasures for the rest of the night, Alejandro drummed up enough courage to go over and talk to her. He hoped he wouldn’t offend her. That was the last thing he wanted to do.

  He’d been a little unnerved when he’d been sent out to retrieve her from the villa courtyard. When he’d seen her, he’d been stunned by her beauty. She was curvy, but he liked a woman who was curvy. Her long black hair had shimmered in the moonlight and those large, dark eyes made him melt just a bit.

  There were a lot of beautiful women he’d been drawn to over his years of dancing, but nothing like this. It was like a bolt of pure, electric attraction. He wanted to run his hands over her body, taste her lips, touch her silky hair. He was asking for trouble just approaching her, because clients were against his rules, but he had to know why she’d been so disgusted with him.

  Walk away, Alejandro.

  “I’ll have a mineral water and a twist of lemon,” he said to the bartender as he took the empty seat beside her, his heart hammering against his rib cage. He’d never felt so nervous around a woman before.

  What was it about her?

  “Sure thing.” The bartender moved away and the woman glanced over at him, her dark eyes widening in shock. A blush tinged her caramel cheeks and Alejandro knew that she recognized him but didn’t want to admit it.

  “You slipped out,” he said, not looking at her, keeping his gaze fixed on the rows of bottles behind the bar.

  “Pardon?” she said, her voice quivering a bit.

  He turned to her. “You slipped out of the show at your friend’s villa.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She fidgeted with the stem of her wine glass. He leaned over and caught the scent of coconut in her dark hair and he drank it in.

  “Ah, but you do, mi tesoro,” he whispered in her ear.