The Naughty One

by Michelle Love

  The Naughty One

  A Doctor’s Christmas Romance

  Michelle Love

  Contents

  Copyright and Disclaimer

  Free Gift

  The Naughty One

  The Naughty One: Extended Epilogue

  Her and Him: A Holiday Romance Story

  The Star Series: A Christmas Romance Series

  Billionaire Games

  Dirty Money

  About the author

  Copyright and Disclaimer

  Copyright and Disclaimer

  ©Copyright 2017 by Michelle Love - All rights

  Reserved

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights are reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

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  The Naughty One

  A Doctor’s Christmas Romance

  Young surgical resident Romy Sasse returns home to Washington State for the holidays to find her free-spirited mother has become engaged to the last person Romy would expect—multi-billionaire, Stuart Eames. As both of the families gather for Thanksgiving, Romy meets Stuart’s son, financier Gaius, and immediately takes a dislike to him. Her world is turned upside down, however, when she discovers Stuart’s other illegitimate son is none other than her new boss, surgical god, Blue Allende.

  Inspired by Blue’s expertise in the operating theater, Romy is grateful when he decides to mentor her though her last year as a surgical resident, and soon it becomes clear that their chemistry extends further than the hospital. At first, Romy resists temptation; she doesn’t want to be seen as the doctor who slept her way to the top. But soon, the attraction between them becomes undeniable.

  Marring her happiness, Romy finds that divisions with Blue’s family go deep. Gaius is psychotically jealous of his younger, illegitimate half-brother and will stop at nothing to ruin his career and his life. Having already made unreciprocated advances towards Romy, Gaius is outraged when Blue and Romy fall in love. As Christmas approaches and a severe ice storm hits Seattle, Gaius, with the help of anther malevolent force from Romy’s past, unleashes a campaign of terror which will not only test their skills in the operating theater, but risk their lives and their love as well …

  Part One

  Chapter 1

  Seattle

  Romy shoved her chestnut brown hair up into a ponytail as she jogged quickly along the hospital corridors. Damn Seattle traffic. She had been so organized right up until she’d hit the traffic accident on the Alaskan Way viaduct. Now she’d missed the first few minutes of rounds, and on the worst possible day. So not a good first impression to make. Still cursing herself, she hurried to catch up with her colleagues in the general surgery department.

  Rounding the corner at a fast clip, she heard his voice before she saw him, a deep, mellifluous tone which she knew made woman weak. She might never have met the man, but his voice was as legendary as his surgical skills. Oh yeah. And his body. People talked about that in the same breath as his medical accomplishments.

  He spoke again and she thrilled at the husky hint of an accent—Italian, maybe?—in it.

  “If the infection worsens we’ll consider a shunt, but in all likelihood, it will resolve rapidly since it was caught at the outset.”

  Romy blinked in surprise at the words. Blue Allende, he of the oh-so-sexy voice, was a superstar surgeon. Not even forty years old, he was at the top of his game, and also at the top of most hospital’s wish-lists. With the reputed looks of a movie star and the serious, brooding intelligence of someone a lot older, Blue Allende’s reputation preceded him. So why was he standing around with a motley crew of doctors, nurses, and interns, discussing something as mundane as a shunt?

  It gave her pause and jumpstarted her liking for the man who, apparently, wasn’t your average arrogant genius surgeon. But Romy was still late, and no doctor appreciated tardiness, particularly not one with such a packed schedule …

  Goddamn it.

  Stopping outside the door she saw a bunch of other residents and slipped in among them, hoping she wouldn’t be noticed and knowing she didn’t stand a prayer.

  Her friend Mac, an affable African American with a sweet face and a wicked sense of humor, grinned and nudged her. “Late for the rockstar, Sasse,” he hissed, “genius move.”

  Romy poked him with her elbow, rolling her eyes. “What did I miss?”

  Suddenly the crowd of doctors parted and she saw him where he’d been leaning over a sedated patient. Her breath caught in her throat as Blue Allende turned bright green eyes on her.

  All the usual hospital noises faded into the background as she was caught in that fiercely intelligent gaze.

  Jesus, Romy thought, this man doesn’t belong in an operating theater; he belongs on a cat walk or on the cover of Vogue.

  He was gorgeous. The bright green eyes were surrounded by thick, black eyelashes on a face carved from Italian marble. A shock of dark curls fell messily about his head … then she noticed his wide, sensual mouth set in a thin line.

  Ah, shit. She’d like to have seen that mouth in something other than a scowl.

  “Dr. Sasse, welcome.”

  That voice from up close. Wowwowwow. And … he knew her name? Romy prayed not to stutter. “Apologies for my tardiness, Dr. Allende; it won’t happen again.”

  Was that a hint of amusement that flashed in those devastatingly beautiful eyes, and maybe a slight hitching up of the mouth? No sooner had Romy thought she’d seen it than it was gone. He turned back to his patient and Romy was grateful he hadn’t shamed her in front of everyone else. One more point in his favor, bigtime.

  “Got away with it,” Mac muttered in her ear, and Romy sighed with relief.

  As they moved through rounds, she was impressed by Allende’s in-depth knowledge of his cases and the way he coaxed the residents to find answers to his questions, rather than merely lecturing. Even when they got a fact wrong, he didn’t sneer or bark at them. Furthermore, he treated patients like friends, addressing them with as much candor as compassion, taking his time rather than rushing right along.

  More than slightly blown away by the whole picture, Romy watched him carefully and was confused when she spotted him in an unguarded moment when the group was discussing a situation and he apparently thought no one was paying attention to him. Also not typical. Grandstanding surgeons believed the spotlight was always on them. In that brief second though, she saw something in his eyes that she recognized all too well.

  Pain. Sorrow.

  Romy was so
distracted by the revelation that she didn’t realize the focus had shifted and everyone was staring at her. Suddenly feeling the heat of their stares, she swallowed hard, flushing. “I’m sorry, Dr. Allende, could you repeat the question?”

  The amused look was back, displacing sorrow. “I was asking if you could give me the ways we can use to diagnose ankylosing spondylitis?”

  Romy cleared her throat. “Of course.” She ran through the options and then concluded, “Of course, the disease is notoriously hard to diagnose, and once identified, it usually is a case of pain management. Opioids have little effect pain-wise, but we could try medical marijuana as a last resort.”

  “Hail Mary,” said the patient, a young man in his twenties, and they all laughed.

  “As a last resort, Billy.” Blue smiled and Romy’s entire body reacted to it. It lit up his handsome face and Romy could feel a beat pulsing between her legs. Stop it, she told herself, do not get a crush on your boss.

  After rounds, Blue asked to see her in his office. He motioned to the chair opposite his desk and Romy sat down, trembling with nervousness. Was she about to be bawled out for being late?

  “Don’t look so scared,” he said mildly, his tone neutral but somehow still warm. “It’s just an introduction. I didn’t get to meet you like the other residents.”

  From someone else that would have sounded passive aggressive. From him, it came across as oddly sincere.

  “I’m sorry for being late, Dr. Allende,” she apologized.

  “Happens to us all.”

  Before she could blink at that, he picked up a file and opened it.

  “Dr. Romy Sasse, age twenty-nine, graduated top of your class at Stamford, did your internship and part of your residency at Johns Hopkins … why transfer here for your last year? Johns Hopkins was very reluctant to let you go; we had to fight for you.”

  Old memories made her cold inside. “I had to come home to Seattle. Personal reasons. Also, my mother is getting married, rather unexpectedly.”

  “And she needs you to be here?”

  Romy hesitated. “No, it’s not that, but …”

  “But what?”

  Romy sighed. It was none of his business, but she owed him this much after being late. “My sisters, Juno and Artemis, asked me to come. I’m the middle sister, the peacemaker. They have some concerns about Mom’s fiancé.”

  “Really?” Blue looked interested, even though Romy couldn’t for the life of her figure out why. Or why she just kept talking.

  “It’s not that he’s a bad person, though I still haven’t officially met him yet. But he’s so entirely not what we thought Mom would go for …” Abruptly, she halted, catching herself in mid-ramble. “I’m sorry, you really don’t need to know this.”

  “No, please go on.”

  Romy frowned. “Well, then, you should know, my mom is a free spirit, a rainbow child, a hippie. Look at our names.”

  Blue smiled. “Okay, so Juno and Artemis, I get, but Romy?”

  “Short for Romulus. Yes, I know it’s technically a boy’s name but, you see, I was a twin. Fraternal. My brother, Remy—Remus—died when we were five years old.” God, the pain of it still haunted Romy. “Mom thought I was a boy too when she was pregnant, hence the name.”

  “So your name is actually Romulus?”

  She was grateful he didn’t press her for more details about Remy. “No, she managed to change it at the last moment on the birth certificate. Romy is my legal name.”

  “And you don’t like your future stepfather?”

  “I don’t know him.”

  Suddenly Blue grinned. “I think your mom and Stuart Eames will be just fine.”

  Romy gaped at him in astonishment. “How the hell …?”

  He laughed, and his face looked even more desperately handsome than ever. “Believe it or not, I wasn’t interrogating you without an actual purpose. You see, Romy Sasse, Stuart Eames is my father. So, technically, we’re about to be siblings. Welcome to the family, Romy.”

  Chapter 2

  Romy was still shell-shocked when she went to her mother’s house that evening. Part of it was admittedly from the additional time she’d spent giddily talking in Blue’s office—he’d insisted she call him that—and the rest was entirely due to his revelation.

  “Why didn’t you tell me Stuart was Blue Allende’s father?”

  Magda Sasse looked up from the cutting board and grinned at her middle daughter’s abrupt greeting. “Hello to you, too. Because, dear one, Blue said he didn’t want you to know right away. He wanted you to be on his service and thought you might not want to if you knew. Your reputation as a first-class doctor precedes you, honey, and I’m very proud.”

  Romy smiled and hugged her mother. “Thank you, Momma Bear. Anyway, Blue told me he will be with us for Thanksgiving?” Upon hearing that, she’d been hard-pressed to keep it together in the surgeon’s office. Blue in her home, having dinner with her family … why was that weirdly hot?

  “Will it be awkward?” her mother asked in concern.

  Romy hoisted herself up onto the kitchen counter and stole a piece of bell pepper Magda was slicing for salad. “I don’t think so. Well, at least I hope not. He’s a pretty even-tempered guy.”

  Magda smiled. “You like him?”

  God, yes. He’s the sexiest man I’ve ever met.

  “Yeah, he’s nice.”

  Nice was an understatement.

  “He’s an incredible surgeon. Watching him is like watching a maestro at work.”

  “Speaking of maestros.” Magda often changed the direction of conversations on a whim, so Romy wasn’t fazed. “Your sister has a new job. She’s going to work for Livia’s foundation as a lecturer.”

  Romy’s eyebrows shot up. “She is? Juno’s moving out?”

  Her youngest sister, Juno, was the sister who most resembled their free-spirited mother. Tall and willowy, with a shock of messy blonde hair, and a confirmed tomboy, Juno Sasse had made music her first love and passion from a young age. She was the cherished baby of the family and Romy had half-suspected she’d never leave.

  “She is,” Magda confirmed, a touch of melancholy in her voice. Eternally supportive of her daughters though she was, Romy knew her mother would struggle with empty nest syndrome. “Although I’m trying desperately not to think about that day. She’s starting in the New Year, so at least we’ll have Christmas as a family.”

  “With Stuart’s family too?”

  Magda shot her a nervous look. “Well, yes. If that’s okay with you and Arti.”

  “Why wouldn’t it be?” Romy asked.

  Magda sighed. “There is some, how can I put it, some unpleasantness with Stuart’s wife. Hopefully soon to be ex-wife, if she ever signs the damn papers. She keeps harassing Stuart, usually through her son.”

  Romy raised an eyebrow, not liking the sound of that. “What’s the son’s name again?”

  “Gaius. I’ve only met him once, but he seems friendly enough. Hasn’t Blue ever mentioned him?”

  “We’re careful to keep family stuff away from work, and I don’t actually socialize with Blue Allende, remember? We’d never even met until today. He might be my brother soon, but he’s still in a league of his own.” Romy grinned as Magda rolled her eyes.

  “You mean you don’t socialize at all. Romy, you’re beautiful, you’re young … don’t let what happened in New York stop you from living your life.”

  Romy grimaced, feeling the familiar cold feeling at the memories. “Mom … Dacre doesn’t know I’m back home, and if he finds out, he’ll come here and … God, I don’t want to imagine.”

  Her mother looked down at her hands as they continued to move swiftly, her knife skills in the kitchen as good as any surgeon’s were in an operating theater. “I hate that you were with him. You’re too young to have gone through a divorce or anything else he did to you.”

  Romy marshalled her emotions, reminding herself that those days were long past. She was safe now, ho
wever much Dacre Mortimer was an animal. Her leg still hurt from where he’d stamped on it and broken it the previous year at the same time that he’d almost beaten her to death.

  “Look, at least I learned a lesson,” Romy said to her mother now. “Don’t go on first impressions. Dacre was Mr. Charm until he wasn’t.”

  “Was that a dig at me?” Magda didn’t sound upset, just sad. “Because I know Stuart and I haven’t known each other that long.”

  Romy hopped down to kiss her mother’s cheek and gave her a warm hug.

  “Mom, no, it wasn’t a dig at you, more one at myself.”

  Magda smiled in relief. “Romy, I have never felt like this. Not even with your father,” she added apologetically.

  “I figured, with Dad.” Romy nodded, unsurprised.

  Romy’s father, a professor of Magda’s back in the day, had never been present much in his daughters’ lives. He supported them financially, but soon after Juno had been born, he and Magda had quietly and amicably divorced and James Sasse had remarried and moved to London. Being a single mother didn’t faze Magda and she’d somehow kept her girls clothed and fed as they grew, bringing them all up to be independent young people who never depended on someone else.

  The loss of Remy, Romy’s brother, had shattered them all, but the four women were as close now as they had ever been. Artemis, Magda’s eldest, had followed her father into the teaching profession and now taught physics at the University of Washington. Romy had headed for medical school as soon as she graduated from Harvard, and Juno was a musical prodigy. The one thing James had provided was money for their education, and Magda was grateful for that, she often told Romy.