by Amy Ruttan
A date with her former flame...
Brings the past flooding back!
In this Hot Greek Docs story, doctor Naomi thought her ex didn’t want kids. So she’s shocked to find Dr. Christos Moustakas at her new workplace—and he’s now a single dad! Chris has dropped his playboy ways, but he still has a hold on Naomi’s heart. And if she can now reveal their secret loss, it might finally give them another chance...
Hot Greek Docs
They’re supersexy and they’re single—but not for much longer!
Theo, Deakin, Ares and Christos have vowed never to surrender their freedom by putting a ring on it—but who’d have thought it would literally take an earthquake to change their minds?
While these gorgeous Greeks are busy saving the islanders of Mythelios after the quake, they can’t avoid the four equally dedicated women who are right by their sides...day and night!
Find out what happens in:
One Night with Dr. Nikolaides by Annie O’Neil
Tempted by Dr. Patera by Tina Beckett
Back in Dr. Xenakis’ Arms by Amalie Berlin
A Date with Dr. Moustakas by Amy Ruttan
All available now!
Dear Reader,
When I had the chance to write another quad with Tina Beckett, Annie O’Neil and Amalie Berlin I couldn’t pass it up.
I am a huge sucker for reunion romances. Something goes wrong and the two people who were meant to be together are parted. I always hated that when I read or watched romances. I wanted them to have a second chance, which is why I like writing them so much.
Chris never believed in love. His own childhood was fraught with bitterness and loneliness. So when he learns that Naomi is willing to give up on her dream to be with him, he can’t let her. He leaves her for a new job in New York, but he’s never, ever forgotten her and how he hurt her.
Naomi had her heart broken once before. She’s not going to let it happen again. When she goes to Greece to help with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake, the last person she’s expecting to see is Chris!
I hope you enjoy Chris and Naomi’s second chance at love.
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
A DATE WITH DR. MOUSTAKAS
Amy Ruttan
Books by Amy Ruttan
Harlequin Medical Romance
Christmas in Manhattan
Navy Doc on Her Christmas List
Royal Spring Babies
His Pregnant Royal Bride
Hot Latin Docs
Alejandro’s Sexy Secret
The Hollywood Hills Clinic
Perfect Rivals...
Sealed by a Valentine’s Kiss
His Shock Valentine’s Proposal
Craving Her Ex-Army Doc
Tempting Nashville’s Celebrity Doc
Unwrapped by the Duke
Convenient Marriage, Surprise Twins
The Surgeon King’s Secret Baby
A Mommy for His Daughter
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
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This book is dedicated to my Medical Romance girls, Tina, Annie and Amalie.
You three are an amazing inspiration to me.
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
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
EPILOGUE
EXCERPT FROM FROM DOCTOR TO PRINCESS? BY ANNIE CLAYDON
PROLOGUE
Nashville, Tennessee
HE HATED HIMSELF for what he was about to do.
Don’t do it, then.
Dr. Christos Moustakas stared down at the contract on his desk—the one he’d just signed for a job that would take him away from Nashville and away from Naomi.
He was angry at himself for getting involved with her. When he’d first seen her—when they’d been placed on the same surgical resident rotation last year—he’d known that he shouldn’t even pursue her. Naomi was the type of woman who wanted far more than he could give.
He never wanted to get married. He never wanted to settle down. He had told her that in the beginning, but now...despite his warnings...he knew that she wanted more from him and he just couldn’t give it to her.
Why not?
Chris cursed under his breath and walked away from the contract. He looked about his apartment, which was full of memories of him and Naomi together. She was in his blood...she was all he ever thought about.
And he couldn’t have that.
Work was more important.
He had to end it now.
There was a knock at the door and his heart skipped a beat. His jaw clenched and his stomach churned, because he knew that he was going to break her heart.
But it was for the best.
He didn’t want to marry her and lock her into an unhappy marriage—just like what had happened to his parents.
He never wanted that.
Naomi beamed at him when he opened the door, and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek as she came into his apartment.
“There you are! What’s up? You’ve been a bit distant recently...” She trailed off as she saw the boxes in the apartment. “Oh.”
Chris shut the door. “Yeah, sorry I haven’t been returning your calls, but something came up.”
“I see that,” she said quietly, and then turned around. “Where are you going?”
“New York City. I’ve been offered a fellowship with Dr. Heffernan in neurosurgery, and then I’ll take over his practice when he retires later next year. I’ll be the head of neurosurgery.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. Congratulations... When do you leave?”
“Tonight.”
Her face fell and he knew that it had hit her. “You were going to leave without telling me?”
“No, that’s why I asked you over.”
You’re a monster. You’re just awful.
“I thought...” She shook her head. “I don’t know what I thought.”
“Tell me.” He could take it, and he deserved her wrath. He deserved it all.
For one brief moment he wished he was a different person—but he wasn’t, and he couldn’t see how to change. He knew what it was like to grow up with an absent mother who hated and loathed your very existence and a father who couldn’t look at you because you were a disappointment.
Families were complicated and messy.
He wanted none of it.
“I thought we would talk about our offers together,” she said. “I mean, I turned down Mayo because I thought you wanted to be with me.”
Her eyes were full of tears and he fought the urge to take her in his arms and comfort her.
“Why didn’t you take the job at Mayo?” he asked.
“I should’ve, apparently.”
“Yes, you should’ve, Naomi. This is your career. It’s important.”
“I didn’t want to leave you. I wanted to give us a chance!”
He closed his eyes, pain washing over him, but he hardened his heart. He shouldn’t have gotten involved with her to begin with. He should’ve walked away after that first stolen kiss that had electrified his world.
Naomi Hudson was dangerous, and he’d known that all along—but he’d still pursued her.
“You should’ve taken the job, Naomi. There is no long-term future for us. I told you this at the start.”
A tear slipped down her cheek. “I remember, but I thought—”
“You thought what?” he interrupted. “That I would change my mind? My goal has always been to make it to head of neurosurgery. You knew this.”
“And you knew, deep down, that I wanted more from our relationship and yet you kept me dangling. You kept pursuing me. You didn’t let me go either!” she shouted.
“I’m letting you go now,” he said stonily, his heart breaking because he didn’t want to let her go, but it was for the best.
“I thought I meant more to you,” she said, her voice shaking.
“Look, we both knew this had to end sometime.”
“I didn’t know that. Or I guess I just didn’t want to believe it.”
“Well, then, that’s your problem.”
And he hated himself for saying those words, but they needed to be said. He had to put an end to it. She’d given up a job for him, but he’d never asked her to do that. She had to move on from him.
The sting of her slap on his cheek didn’t catch him off guard. He was expecting it.
“Enjoy New York, you bastard! I hope to God I never see you again!”
She pushed past him, and he didn’t turn around as the door opened and then slammed shut behind her.
Instead he sighed, felt a tear almost slipping from his eye. He wandered to the window, watching her get into her car and drive away.
When had he become such a coldhearted monster like his father?
He was selfish, greedy. He’d wanted her so badly, and for a year it had been bliss. Then she’d started to creep her way in through his carefully constructed walls. She’d started to plan for a future that he had never wanted.
It was time to let her go—even if his heart really didn’t want to.
She would find someone better than him. Someone who deserved her. He was not the man for her.
He didn’t deserve her, but he would never forget her. There would never be a woman like her for him again—he’d make sure of it—and he was also sure that he would never love another woman the way he’d loved her.
There would only ever be one Dr. Naomi Hudson in his life, and he’d just thrown her away. She’d be happier without him, and he’d be miserable without her, but it served him right.
He picked up the contract for the job in Manhattan again. This was what his life was all about—saving lives. In some ways, at least, if he excelled at his job, it might make up for the hurt he’d caused her.
At least he could do something good with his time...even though his life and his heart were beyond saving and always would be.
CHAPTER ONE
Three years later, Mythelios, Greek Islands
ANOTHER SLEEPLESS NIGHT.
The heat wasn’t helping. Even though he’d been back in Greece since the middle of July—two months after the earthquake—Chris still wasn’t quite used to the temperature. His body was firmly set to Manhattan mode and Manhattan temperatures. It also didn’t help that the island of Mythelios was still recovering from that earthquake.
His late grandmother’s home didn’t have air-conditioning either. And, since the island still remained in repair mode, renovations that weren’t crucial to the infrastructure and safety of the citizens had been put on hold.
Air-conditioning would have to wait.
He yawned as he opened the doors to the small terrace of his grandmother’s beautiful villa. He leaned over the balcony, watching the sun rise over the Aegean Sea.
It had been a long time since he’d watched the sun rise bright and beautiful over the turquoise sea of his youth. It had been years since he’d picked olives in his grandmother’s garden or swum in the sea. The garden was overgrown now, but up on the top level of the house he had an unobstructed view of the horizon.
His grandmother’s home was the oldest and the highest of the old homes that had been built into the cliffs of Mythelios. It had thankfully fared pretty well during the earthquake, only suffering slight damage, while newer homes had suffered and crumbled.
It was funny how it had managed to stay intact through the powerful quake.
It was funny how nothing really seemed to have changed here since he was a young man.
He’d been in America for so long, pursuing women and his career, that he’d forgotten to stop and smell the roses—or in this case the orange blossoms that wafted up from his late grandmother’s garden.
His life for the last three years in New York City had been endless parties, women and work. Work had been his priority. He’d let nothing get in the way of becoming the top neurosurgeon on the eastern seaboard.
Well, that wasn’t quite accurate. One thing had gotten in the way—and that was the reason for his sleepless nights and why he’d returned to Greece.
An ill-fated one-night stand in a long string of the one-night stands he’d had in order to get over losing the woman he truly loved had led to him having a baby dropped off on his doorstep. Well, not so much on his doorstep. He’d paid a lot of money to the mother so he could keep his son.
Baby Evangelos was his world now, and even though Chris could afford a nanny, and had one for his infant son, she was entitled to take a night off—as she had last night. He was on feeding and diapering duty whenever that happened.
Chris scrubbed a hand over his face.
Why had he let his life go completely sideways like this?
When had it gotten to be so hard?
Right—he knew exactly when that had happened: when he’d walked away from Naomi and put his career before love. That was when it had all gone to heck. He’d left behind the only woman who had ever broken down the careful walls he’d created to keep people out. She’d started to come even before his work, and that had annoyed him.
He’d sworn he would never settle down—not after watching his parents’ disastrous marriage crash and burn.
So he’d left her. Frozen her out and left her behind in Nashville while he pursued his high-flying career in New York City. And even worse, she’d loved him and he’d held her back. He hadn’t been able to give her what she’d wanted, and yet she’d turned down an excellent job for him. That guilt still ate away at him.
He hadn’t been able to forget about her. So he’d tried moving on by bedding a series of different women. And that was how he’d ended up with Evangelos.
And there was no question that he loved his son. He loved being a father—something he’d never thought that he’d ever want—but this was not how he had pictured his return to his home village.
“Nice abs!”
Chris frowned and then looked down to see Ares walking through the square in the tiny village. His long curls were hidden under a baseball cap—one that Chris had sent him when he first went to America.
Ares had been one of his best friends since he was a child. He was one of the four fo
unders of the Mythelios Free Clinic and he worked in emergency medicine. All his friends were back on Mythelios now, since the earthquake, when one of their number—Theo—had put out a call for their help.
Ares had boyish good looks, and the silly hat that Chris had sent him as a joke looked so out of place on him, but it made Chris smile nonetheless. He was glad to be back with Theo, Deakin and Ares, even though they were working in the clinic and he wasn’t.
Of course none of them had a baby yet.
“Put a shirt on!” Ares teased again, laughing.
“Where are you off to?” Chris called down, ignoring the teasing.
“The clinic. Actually, I was going to come see you. There’s a case I’d like your opinion on.”
“I’m not here to practice medicine. I came back just to lend a hand and deal with my grandmother’s death.”
“Come on,” Ares begged. “I need your expert opinion. Besides, it’s high time you got your hands dirty at the clinic you helped found.”
Ares had a point—and he did miss working. He missed neurosurgery.
Chris nodded. “Okay. I’ll come by when Lisa comes back.”
Ares raised his eyebrows. “Who’s Lisa?”
“Evan’s nanny.”
“Ah, and here I thought the infamous Greek Valentino of Manhattan was up to his old tricks.”
Chris snorted. “And since when do I have time for that?”
“Well, you must’ve had some time,” Ares teased. “You’re the only one with a kid.”
Not for long, since Cailey Nikolaides was four and a half months pregnant now. Cailey was a nurse at the clinic, and Theo’s wife.
“Look, either come into the house or get to work. You’re going to wake the neighbors with your incessant shouting in the streets!” Chris called.
Ares winked. “See you in a couple hours.”
Chris watched him jog away through the narrow alleyways of the old part of the island, where other villas like his grandmother’s clung to the side of a cliff by the sea. The homes were brightly colored and connected by narrow cobblestone streets that eventually wound their way down to a large square dominated by a church, and then there was a small path to the docks and to the clinic.
