Romancing the M.D.

by Maureen Smith

  Victor took the jar from her hand and set it down on the counter, then took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and tipped her face up, forcing her to meet his probing gaze. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “She said she met your parents, and they adored her.” Tamara searched his eyes. “Is that true?”

  Victor hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. “They were happy because Natalia’s from Colombia. But that was last year, and I only slept with her a few times. She didn’t mean anything to me.”

  Tamara frowned. “She must have meant something if you took her home to meet your parents.”

  “That’s not how it happened. I didn’t take her home. She was over here one day when they dropped by for a surprise visit.”

  “Oh.” A wave of relief swept through Tamara. “I thought—”

  “No,” Victor said softly, holding her gaze. “You’re the first woman I’ve ever wanted to introduce to my parents.”

  She smiled ruefully. “And look how well that turned out.”

  His expression clouded.

  Although he’d told her that he was moving on, she knew his mother’s rejection hurt him just as much as it hurt Tamara. It had been nearly a week since the disastrous dinner with his parents, and Marcela was still giving them the silent treatment. If she was even half as stubborn as her son, there was no telling how long the stalemate would last. And no matter how often Tamara reminded herself that Marcela was solely at fault, she couldn’t help feeling guilty for being the cause of so much dissension.

  Watching the play of emotions across her face, Victor pulled her gently into his arms and kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry, cariño,” he murmured. “Everything’s gonna be just fine.”

  Tamara snuggled against his solid warmth, closed her eyes and silently prayed that he was right.

  Chapter 16

  “Are you ready?”

  Tamara nodded quickly. “I’m ready.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She sighed with impatience, tempted to pluck Victor’s hand off her closed eyelids. “I’m ready. And I still don’t understand why I have to be blindfolded. It’s not as if I’m seeing the condo for the first—” She broke off with a startled squeak as he suddenly swept her off her feet and into his arms, then carried her through the front door.

  He removed his hand from her face. “Okay, you can look now.”

  Tamara opened her eyes, then let out a shocked gasp. “Oh, my God!”

  “Surprise!” Victor exclaimed.

  Tamara’s stunned gaze swept around the apart ment, taking in the chocolate and cream suede sofa and love seat, elegant leather ottoman, and large plasma television.

  Her incredulous gaze swung back to Victor. “Where did this new furniture come from? Did you enter us into that HGTV show My First Place?”

  “No,” Victor said, laughing as he carried her into the living room and sat down on the sofa, keeping her on his lap. Reaching toward an exotic floral arrangement that had been left on the ottoman, he plucked out a small envelope nestled among the fragrant flowers and passed it to Tamara.

  She eyed him inquisitively. “What’s this?”

  “Just read it,” he told her.

  With mounting curiosity, Tamara opened the envelope and removed the card. As soon as she saw her mother’s sleek, distinctive handwriting, her throat tightened.

  My precious Tamara,

  When you were growing up, I wasn’t able to give you all the nice things you may have wanted. But you never once complained. You were, and are, the most extraordinary daughter any parent could ever wish for. I’m so proud of you and the wonderful things you have already accomplished. I’m also proud of the wise choices you’ve made. Being with Victor is one of them. He’s an amazing young man, and I know the two of you will make each other happy. Congratulations on taking the next step in your relationship. Here’s some new furniture to help you and Victor celebrate your new beginnings.

  Love always,

  Mom

  By the time Tamara finished reading the note, her vision was blurred with tears. Closing her eyes, she placed the card over her heart and whispered, “Thank you, Ma.”

  Victor tenderly kissed her shoulder. “Now you know why I was being so secretive. Your mom really wanted to surprise both of us, but one of us had to be available to have the furniture delivered to the apartment today.”

  Tamara gave him a watery smile. “It was a wonderful surprise. You and Ma got me so good.”

  Victor grinned. “It wasn’t easy to pull off. You ask too many damn questions, woman.”

  “No, I don’t.” She hesitated, biting her lip. “But just out of curiosity, where’s our furniture?”

  “See what I mean.” Victor laughed, shaking his head at her. “Our living room furniture has been donated to the Salvation Army. Is that okay with you?”

  “Absolutely,” she said, sweeping an appreciative glance around. The contemporary furnishings, combined with the large picture windows, made the place look like something out of an interior design magazine.

  A soft smile touched her lips. “Thank you, Ma,” she whispered again.

  “Definitely,” Victor agreed. “Your mom’s an amazing woman.”

  “She says the same thing about you.” Tamara passed the card to him, watching his expression soften as he read Vonda’s sentimental note.

  “I really appreciate her support,” he said quietly, and Tamara knew he was thinking of his own mother, who remained adamantly opposed to their relationship.

  Refusing to allow Marcela Aguilar’s rejection to put a damper on their first night in their new place, Tamara pressed a tender kiss to Victor’s forehead and smiled into his eyes. “Thank you for asking me to move in with you.”

  “Thank you for accepting.” His lips twitched. “Eventually.”

  “Better late than never.” She grinned. “And just to give you a heads-up, Jaclyn, Isabelle and Ravi have already invited themselves over for our housewarming party.”

  Victor chuckled. “Figures.”

  “I told them to give us a chance to get settled in first.”

  “Good,” Victor said, his eyes glittering wickedly. “We need to christen every nook and cranny of this place.”

  Tamara gave him an amused look. “Somehow I don’t think they’d want to know that.”

  “Hmm, probably not.”

  As Victor settled back against the sofa cushions, Tamara shifted until she was straddling his lap, her arms looped around his neck. “Before we left work, I ordered dinner from the gourmet delivery service,” she told him. “Our meals should be here in twenty minutes. I ordered a lot of food, so I hope you’re starving.”

  “Oh, I’m starving all right,” Victor murmured, leaning forward to nibble her lips. “But not for food.”

  “That’s too bad,” Tamara purred against his mouth, “because food is all you’re getting until later.”

  “Why wait until later,” he drawled, running his hands under her skirt, “when we’re both here now?”

  “Because we shouldn’t start something—” she shivered as his big, warm hands slipped beneath her silk panties and cupped her butt “—when we know we’re going to be interrupted.”

  “I beg to differ,” Victor countered, gently kneading her bottom. “See, the beauty of having our own place now is that we can always go back to what we were doing before we were interrupted.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Tamara eyed him suspiciously. “You know what I’m starting to think? I think—” Her breath caught sharply as he slipped a finger inside her.

  “Yes?” His innocently inquisitive tone was belied by the gleam of wicked satisfaction in his eyes. “What do you think?”

  “I think—” She closed her eyes, trembling as his finger reached deeper inside her while his thumb stroked the slick nub of her clitoris. She had to bite her lip hard to keep from moaning with pleasure.

  “Poor baby,” Victor sai
d sympathetically. “You seem to be having trouble keeping your train of thought.”

  Opening her eyes, Tamara tried to glare at him, but failed miserably.

  He grinned. “Say what’s on your mind, sweetheart.”

  “I think you only asked me to move in with you—” she watched as he removed his finger from her body and slowly slid it into his mouth “—so you could have sex with me whenever you want.”

  “Mmm.” He sucked his finger, his eyes closed in an expression of unadulterated ecstasy. Staring at him, Tamara’s nipples hardened and her belly quivered with arousal.

  Slowly his lashes lifted, his smoky blue eyes locking onto hers. “Damn, you taste good. Now what were you saying?”

  Tamara nearly swallowed her tongue. “Forget it.”

  “Are you sure?” he prodded silkily, unzipping his jeans. “Because it seemed awfully important a few moments ago.”

  Tamara shook her head distractedly, her mouth watering as she stared at his thick, engorged shaft. “It wasn’t important.”

  “If you’re sure…” His hands gripped her butt, lifting and positioning her over his jutting erection. As she took him into her body, they both groaned with mutual pleasure. Once she was settled fully astride him, they began moving together, their eyes locked onto each other’s.

  “You know you don’t play fair,” Tamara whispered.

  His eyes glinted devilishly. “When did I ever say I would?”

  “Hmm. Good point.” She fell back in the support of his arms, moaning softly as his mouth latched on to the pulsing nerve at the hollow of her throat. He suckled her as she rocked up and down his granite-hard length, his hips arching to meet hers, stroke for powerful stroke.

  They came together in a hot rush, shuddering and whispering each other’s names. Tamara dropped her head weakly onto Victor’s shoulder and buried her face against the side of his neck. He held her close, lazily running his hands up and down her back.

  Seconds later the doorbell rang.

  Tamara lifted her head from Victor’s shoulder and stared at him.

  A slow, irreverent grin curved his mouth. “Now that’s what I call perfect timing.”

  Later that night, lying on his side with his head propped in his hand, Victor gazed down at Tamara’s sleeping face. She lay snuggled against him, soft firelight dancing across her features, her dark, chestnut hair spilled across the thick blanket they’d spread over the floor hours earlier. A drowsy fire crackled in the hearth nearby, the hiss of flames and falling embers whispering through the air.

  After enjoying a sumptuous gourmet meal, he and Tamara had carried their wineglasses into the living room and cuddled underneath a blanket to watch their brand-new plasma television. But after just a few minutes they’d ended up talking, picking up right where they’d left off over dinner. Victor marveled at the realization that Tamara was the first and only woman he’d ever met that he enjoyed conversing with as much as he enjoyed making love to. He and Tamara had so much in common, and they never seemed to run out of things to say to each other. Once they got into one of their deep conversations, it wasn’t uncommon for them to look up and realize that three hours had passed.

  Victor shared some of his favorite childhood memories from Colombia, describing traditions and pastimes he and his family had enjoyed before gang violence besieged their hometown. Tamara opened up to him about growing up without her father, telling him about the financial struggles she and her mother had faced, the storms they had weathered together. As Victor listened to her stories, he gained a deeper level of respect and admiration for mother and daughter, who were two of the strongest, most remarkable women he’d ever met.

  Victor simply couldn’t get enough of Tamara, whether they were baring their souls or taking each other to the heights of ecstasy. He was consumed with all things Tamara. Which was why, for the past half hour, he’d been suppressing the need to take a leak. He couldn’t pull himself away from the lush warmth of Tamara’s body, didn’t want to take his eyes off her serenely beautiful face even for a moment.

  Dios Mio, he thought with grim amusement. You’ve got it bad, Aguilar.

  And that was putting it mildly.

  Knowing he could no longer ignore the call of nature, Victor carefully rolled away from Tamara and got to his feet. After tugging on his pajama bottoms, he crept down the hall to the bathroom.

  When he returned to the living room, he saw that Tamara had not stirred. Smiling softly, he turned and padded silently to the kitchen. Without turning on the light, he made his way to the refrigerator and opened the door, scanning the contents before grabbing a bottle of water.

  As he drank, he ran through a mental checklist of things he had to do at the hospital, patients he needed to follow up on. Dr. Balmer had generously given him and Tamara the evening off to enjoy their first night at the condo. In flagrant disregard for the hospital’s nonfraternization policy, she openly supported their relationship, telling them humorously, “As long as you don’t endanger patients’ lives because you’re too busy daydreaming about each other, what you do in private is your business.”

  Chuckling softly at the memory, Victor took another deep swallow of water.

  When the soft overhead light suddenly clicked on, he glanced toward the doorway. His pulse quickened at the sight of Tamara standing there, her hair tousled about her face and shoulders, the blanket wrapped around her nude body like a toga.

  “Hey,” Victor murmured. “Did I wake you?”

  “Sort of.” She hesitated, looking sheepish. “I missed your body heat.”

  He smiled. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It’s not your fault I’ve already gotten so used to sleeping with you that I notice when you’re gone.”

  His chest swelled. She had no idea how happy she’d just made him with that statement.

  He watched as she came toward him, moving slowly so she wouldn’t trip over the blanket. When she reached him, she snagged the bottled water from his hand and took a long, healthy swig.

  Victor smiled indulgently. “You do know there’s more in the fridge.”

  “Yup.” Her dark eyes twinkled as she passed back the water. “But I like drinking your backwash.”

  “And I like drinking yours,” Victor said, winking at her as he sipped from the bottle.

  Tamara smiled, leaning back against the center island. “What were you just chuckling to yourself about?”

  “I was thinking about what Dr. Balmer told us yesterday.”

  “About not endangering patients’ lives while we’re daydreaming about each other?”

  “Yeah.”

  Tamara grinned. “That was pretty amusing. Not that there’d be anything remotely funny about overdosing our patients,” she quickly clarified.

  Victor grinned, leaning back against the counter and setting down the empty water bottle. “I know what you mean.”

  “Good.” She chuckled ruefully, tucking her hair behind one ear. “I’ve never been a daydreamer.”

  “Neither have I.”

  “I’m too analytical—”

  “—too grounded in reality. Task-oriented.”

  “Exactly,” Tamara agreed, nodding emphatically. “And I’ve always been hyperaware of my surroundings—”

  “Me, too. I’ve even been told that I have eyes in the back of my head.”

  Tamara laughed. “Me, too. So the idea of just tuning out everything and letting my mind wander into la-la land—”

  “—seems crazy.”

  “Exactly.” Tamara smiled. “So, yeah, I’ve never been a daydreamer.”

  “Me, neither.”

  Until I met you.

  They stared at each other, the words hanging between them as clearly as if they’d been spoken.

  After several moments, Tamara shook her head wonderingly at him. “We’re really going to do this, aren’t we?”

  “Do what?”

  “Live together. Have a relationship.”

  “Yeah,” Victor said
huskily, “we are.”

  She held his gaze another moment, then gave her head another shake. “It seems so surreal,” she marveled, “when you consider how much we hated each other.”

  “‘Hate’ is such a strong word.”

  Tamara laughed. “Oh, I hated you. Trust me.”

  Smothering a grin, Victor said with sham innocence, “I don’t know what I ever did to make you feel that way about me.”

  Tamara snorted. “Yeah, right! Need I remind you of the first day of our internship? Everyone was so nervous and jittery. Before the morning rounds, Dr. De Winter gathered us together to go over some logistical things. I asked him a question—I can’t even remember what it was—but no sooner had the words left my mouth than I heard this…this kissing noise. Like someone was trying to imply that I was sucking up to Dr. De Winter. I looked over my shoulder and there you were, wearing the most infuriatingly cocky grin I’d ever seen. Everyone started laughing. I was so embarrassed, I wanted to reach back and punch you right in the face. Just thinking about it burns my boots. Grrr.”

  Victor threw back his head and roared with laughter.

  “It’s not funny,” Tamara muttered darkly. “I really wanted to kick your ass, Victor.”

  “I know,” he said, wiping tears of mirth from the corners of his eyes, “and that’s what makes it so funny. Because truth be told, I actually thought you were pretty hot the moment I saw you.”

  Tamara looked surprised. “Really?”

  “Hell, yeah. I remember walking into the locker room that day, and you were rushing to fix your ponytail. You flipped your hair forward, then back, and I was like, ‘Dayuum.’” He grinned, shaking his head at the memory. “Maybe what I did to you that morning was my juvenile way of getting your attention.”

  “Oh, you got it all right. After that day, you were at the top of my hit list. Every time I saw you, I felt homicidal.” A small, playful grin tugged at her lips. “But maybe you can be forgiven if you were only trying to get my attention.”

  “Um…”

  Her eyes narrowed. “So you really were trying to embarrass me?”