by Amy Ruttan
What happened in Vegas...
Has life-changing consequences!
An impulsive Las Vegas encounter that left practical Dr. Emily West married to world-renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Ryan Gary should have simply been a lesson learned—except now she’s pregnant with his baby! When Ryan arrives at Emily’s Seattle hospital to assist on a case, they’re reunited and their powerful spark reignites. But can working side by side with Emily convince lone-wolf Ryan he’ll be the perfect dad, now and always?
Ryan brushed his hand across her cheek. Her skin was so soft. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I’m sorry you were alone for so long.”
Emily laid her head against his shoulder and he drank in her scent.
She deserved so much better than him, but she was giving him a chance to have everything he’d ever wanted, but was too afraid to reach out and take.
“I’m happy, Em.” He placed his hand on her belly. “Truly.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I like it when you hold me like this.”
“And I like it, too.” The baby pushed back. A strong kick against his palm and he couldn’t help but smile at that little life reaching out to him. “He or she is getting stronger.”
“I know. They keep me up at night. He or she is troublesome. Like you,” she teased.
Ryan chuckled and tilted her chin. Those blue eyes and those soft pink lips... He was so in love with her, though he didn’t deserve it. He leaned in and kissed her. He wanted her again, but he knew one more stolen moment with her would never be enough.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for picking up a copy of Emily and Ryan’s story.
This was one of the hardest books I’ve written. There’s a lot of me and my son in Emily and she’s a really special heroine to me.
And I happen to love the setting. I haven’t been to Seattle, but it’s on my bucket list to visit one day.
Ryan doesn’t feel like he can settle down, but after a hot night in Vegas he’s shocked to find out the family he never thought he wanted is waiting for him in Seattle.
Emily likes control and having things go as planned, but one night she overcomes a lot of her fear and self-doubt and lets loose. She never planned on getting pregnant, but she’s determined to be all the family her baby needs, until the last man she ever expected to see again shows up in Seattle.
I hope you enjoy Ryan and Emily’s story.
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
Carrying the Surgeon’s Baby
Amy Ruttan
Books by Amy Ruttan
Harlequin Medical Romance
Hot Greek Docs
A Date with Dr. Moustakas
Christmas in Manhattan
Navy Doc on Her Christmas List
Royal Spring Babies
His Pregnant Royal Bride
Hot Latin Docs
Alejandro’s Sexy Secret
Tempting Nashville’s Celebrity Doc
Unwrapped by the Duke
Convenient Marriage, Surprise Twins
The Surgeon King’s Secret Baby
A Mommy for His Daughter
NY Doc Under the Northern Lights
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This book is dedicated to my son Aidan and to all who see the world in a different way that the rest of us aren’t privileged to see.
Praise for Amy Ruttan
“From start to finish, this book was entertaining.... The instant chemistry these two have from the moment they’re introduced together into the story sets the fast pace of the book.”
—Harlequin Junkie on His Pregnant Royal Bride
“Beautiful, captivating prose and engaging dialogue. The storytelling in Alejandro’s Sexy Secret is vibrant and unique.”
—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
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
EPILOGUE
EXCERPT FROM ISLAND DOCTOR TO ROYAL BRIDE? BY SCARLET WILSON
PROLOGUE
Las Vegas, Nevada
SHE WASN’T COMPLETELY sure how she’d got here.
“And do you, Dr. Emily West, take Dr. Ryan Gary as your lawfully wedded husband?”
“Yep!” she said brightly, and she narrowed her eyes to get a better look at the Elvis impersonator standing in front of her. She couldn’t figure out why he was slightly sideways.
This is the most irrational thing I’ve ever done.
At least that’s what she thought, but Emily wasn’t completely clear right now. She glanced over at the man standing next to her and a silly grin spread across her face.
She didn’t know how she’d ended up in this wedding chapel with the most eligible, sexiest, charming neurosurgeon in the world, but right now she wasn’t feeling any pain. Which was good. Usually, she struggled with anxiety in any kind of social situation. It had been hard to attend his lecture on conjoined twins and then to talk to Dr. Ryan West after the lecture to tell him how much she admired his work.
After her relationship with Robert, another surgeon, had crashed and burned because of professional jealousy, the last thing she had expected was Ryan asking her for a drink. She’d told herself she shouldn’t, but had then thought one drink with a colleague couldn’t hurt.
It had been the other five that had hurt, but the more they’d talked about surgery and the conference, the more she’d felt comfortable around him.
She certainly hadn’t expected a marriage proposal either. At least, that’s what she thought had happened. It had been dinner, dancing, drinks and then making out in the back of his hired car. Now they were here, in a chapel off the strip.
And he was sort of leaning to one side too.
What is happening here? When did you lose control?
Emily smiled to herself. It was kind of fun to let loose. She never did have any fun. She hadn’t dated after her relationship with Robert had ended. She’d had no interest in other men and really didn’t understand the social nuances of dating, so she didn’t bother.
But then Ryan had seemed just as keen about her work as she was about his. And his smile, his confidence just made her completely weak in the knees.
Being around Ryan made her lose control.
“And do you, Dr. Ryan Gary, take Dr. Emily West as your lawfully wedded wife?”
“What?” he asked, leaning in a bit closer and squinting those bright blue eyes that had twinkled at her when they were having dinner.
Maybe it wasn’t her spinning, but Ryan who was doing the spinning. She closed her eyes for a moment but could still feel the room spinning. Maybe it was both of them.
The Elvis looked concerned.
“Of course! Of course I do.” Ryan grinned at her and she felt her knees go weak. Again, that could be from the mojitos. At least
she’d thought it was a mojito.
“Then by the power vested in me by the State of Nevada, I now pronounce you man and wife.”
Emily threw her bouquet at the Elvis and Ryan scooped her up in his arms.
“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever done,” he said breathlessly as he carried her down the aisle.
“I think you’re supposed to carry me over the threshold and not down the aisle.”
“You’re light as a feather,” he whispered against her ear. A zing of electricity raced down her spine. Then he teetered slightly to the right and set her down. “Perhaps I should wait until the hotel room to carry you over the threshold. Those mojitos were strong.”
Emily laughed because he had said the word mojito again.
“What’s so funny?” he asked as he slipped his arm around her and they walked over to the hired car.
“Mojito is a funny word.”
“What?”
“You know when you say a word a lot it’s funny?”
“Mojito,” he said again, emphasizing the mo in the mojito.
Emily giggled.
The driver cocked an eyebrow as he opened the back door of the town car and they climbed in. Ryan was still chuckling.
“Man, those drinks were strong! I have a flight tomorrow...or is that today?” He glanced at his wrist.
“Today. I think it’s after midnight.”
He grinned lazily at her, making her heart skip a beat. “Does that mean you’re going to turn into a pumpkin?”
“Nope. Are you?”
He touched her cheek and kissed her. It was hot, heavy and in that kiss it all made sense. And suddenly she wasn’t questioning her decision to marry Ryan when he’d asked.
It felt so right and she hadn’t felt right with a man in a long, long time.
And Robert had never, ever had made her want someone this bad before.
He touched her cheek again. “I’m glad I asked you out to dinner and I’m glad we got married.”
Emily giggled again. “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?”
“Right!”
The car pulled up in front of the hotel. Ryan slipped out first after the driver opened the door for them.
“You sure you’re okay, Dr. West and Dr. Gary?” the driver asked.
“Couldn’t be better,” Ryan said.
Emily nodded. “This is awesome!”
And she wasn’t particularly sure if she’d used the word awesome before, but she liked the way that sounded, just as much as she liked the way mojito sounded. It rolled off the tongue.
The driver raised his eyebrows and then nodded.
Ryan slipped his arm around her and they walked into the hotel. They took the elevator up to his suite and Emily helped him open the door, as he was fumbling a bit with the card. When the door was open, he bent down and scooped her up in his arms.
Her pulse was racing. Anticipation coursing through her. This felt right. She wanted this. Maybe doing this would help her to move on.
“You’re sure?” Ryan asked, his blue eyes twinkling as he held her close.
“So sure.” She kissed him, running her hands through the hair at the nape of his neck. “I want this, Ryan. If I didn’t want this I wouldn’t be here.”
He smiled at her. “Then let me carry you over the threshold, wife.”
Emily felt giddy.
It was just one night. What harm could one night cause?
CHAPTER ONE
Seattle, six months later
“WOW.” EMILY LOOKED again at the ultrasound scan that her colleague Dr. Ruchi had sent her from her hospital, which was in a small town that was sandwiched between Portland and Seattle. She leaned back in her chair and stared at the ultrasound again.
“Yeah, the conjoined twins have two separate spines, they share a lot of nerves at the base of the spine. They also share a liver, part of their colon and there are three kidneys between the two babies.”
“I’m glad to see they have four fully formed limbs and separate genitalia.”
Dissecting a liver and separation was easier when the separation gave each twin the chance of being able to survive on their own. The twins didn’t share a heart or a brain, and shared organs that could easily be split. It was promising, risky but promising.
It was whether or not all limbs would be fully functional or whether the twins survived their birth. That was the scary part, surviving.
“Yes, that is a positive,” Dr. Ruchi said.
“And the parents have consented to being moved up to Seattle and me preforming the surgery?” Emily asked as she zoomed in on the most recent scan of the babies in utero.
“Yes. The mother was informed that her twins were conjoined and she was given all the details about the risks of separating them postdelivery, but chose to proceed with the birth.”
Emily felt a faint kick and looked down at her belly. At six months pregnant there was no longer any hiding her baby bump. And it hit her hard when Dr. Ruchi said that the patient had chosen to proceed with the birth. What a hard decision for a mother to make. She was glad that she didn’t have to be put in that position to make a choice. Her baby was, so far, healthy.
“When are you planning to deliver them?”
“Well, I’m not. I would rather send the parents up to Seattle and have her in your care. My hope is that the mother remains on bed rest with yourselves pending a delivery by C-section in a few weeks, once the babies are more developed. It’s important that the twins are delivered there so they can benefit from your immediate expertise. You’re one of the best pediatric surgeons in the country and have done successful separations before.”
“Sure, of course. I would be happy to, but my concern is about the bundle of nerves that the twins share. That worries me. I can work with them on separating the liver and kidneys, even the colon, but for the nerves I would need a world-class neurosurgeon who was familiar with this kind of work to assist me with that part of the operation.”
“I have a neurosurgeon for you.”
As soon as Dr. Ruchi said the words, Emily’s stomach did a flip, a flop and then nose-dived to the bottom of her shoes and she found herself trying not to let her breakfast make a second appearance.
“You...what?” Emily asked, relieved that Dr. Ruchi could not see her expression over the phone, because she knew exactly who Dr. Ruchi was referring to.
“Dr. Ryan Gary. He’s agreed to fly to Seattle from San Diego and help with the case. This is my patient, I delivered her first child and I really want you and Dr. Gary to handle the separation.”
Dr. Ruchi was right about Ryan. He was the best. He’d done separations before. She just didn’t know if working with a man she had just sent divorce papers to would be a touch too awkward.
Her previous relationship had ended badly. So badly it had crushed her. Which was why Emily had been wary of getting into any kind of personal relationship with another surgeon.
Not just wary...determined she was never going to again. So her one-night stand with Dr. Ryan Gary had been a huge mistake. It had been an amazing night, but it had been bad for her afterwards. She was pregnant and alone. She regretted it.
No, you don’t.
She wasn’t going to disappoint Dr. Ruchi by telling her that she couldn’t work with Dr. Ryan Gary because he’d been the one to knock her up after a drunken night in Las Vegas. That night in Vegas had been the biggest mistake of her life.
And when she’d reached out to Ryan to tell him about the baby, she’d found he’d left for a tour of duty providing medical aid abroad in war-torn countries. He’d never responded to her, even when she’d sent him divorce papers.
Which was fine. She’d get the divorce finalized one way or another.
Emily hadn’t planned to have a family now, or raise a baby alone, but waiting
around for Ryan to respond to her wasn’t going to stop her from doing just that.
“Emily, are you okay?” Dr. Ruchi asked, interrupting her train of thoughts.
“What?” she asked. “Yes, sorry. Dr. Gary, you say?”
“Yes. Is there a problem?” Dr. Ruchi asked. Emily could hear the concern in her friend’s voice. It had taken Emily years to pick up on social cues like this. She didn’t always get them, but since Robert had left her five years ago, and now, on the verge of becoming a single mother, she could tell when someone was concerned about her. She saw it enough in the way people spoke to her, like they felt sorry for her.
“Nope. I might have to clear it with the chief of surgery first. I mean, we do have pretty top-notch neurosurgeons at SMFPC.”
Liar.
Yeah, she did have a problem with his arrival. When he hadn’t responded to her emails about being pregnant she’d assumed he’d wanted out.
Emily had been hurt again by a man, but she could raise this baby on her own. She didn’t need help. She didn’t want Ryan back in her life, but it would be best for the patients. He was an excellent surgeon.
“I’ve already cleared it with your chief,” Dr. Ruchi said gently. “I wanted to make sure that I had you on this case. I didn’t want him to pass off my patient to another pediatric surgeon!”
Emily chuckled. “Ana, you know that I’m Head of Pediatrics.”
Ana sighed and then laughed. “Okay, so I wanted to make sure that he’d allow Dr. Gary to practice there too.”
“And it’s okay, I take it?” Emily teased.
“It is. Thank you for doing this, Emily. There’s no one else I trust. Both you and Ryan have done separations and done them successfully, with both twins surviving. I know that you can do this.”
“I know that I can too,” Emily admitted. What she didn’t say was that she wasn’t sure that she could do this with Ryan.
Although he was one of the best at separation surgeries. It was just that part of her wanted to throttle him for not responding to her. She wasn’t sure that was conducive to a good working environment.
