Noemi was confused. “Finn’s the cardio attending and honestly, I’m happy where I am. The clinic is my new baby.” She felt her face burn as she mentioned it, thinking of Rafa, but pushed the thought away. “I can treat patients and do research.”
“I could make you a Research Attending.”
Noemi chewed her lip. “It’s not that it’s not tempting, Laz, but I won’t feel as if I’ve earned it. What with being out of action for a year, then going abroad… I’d be stepping on some toes. Dieter wouldn’t like it.”
“Pah, who cares what Dieter thinks?”
“He thinks I’m not ready, and for once, I agree.”
Lazlo sat back, sighing. “If you have one fault, Noe, it’s your staggering and unwarranted lack of self-confidence. That is the only thing holding you back. You don’t have the killer instinct, that arrogance that means the difference between you being the best surgeon I’ve even nurtured… and, well…you.”
Noemi blinked, Lazlo’s observations coming out of nowhere. “I’m getting there, Laz.”
He nodded. “But not as quickly as you should. Want a nickel’s worth of free advice?”
“Always.”
“Break the rules. Professionally and privately. Push the boundaries, upset a few people, and then don’t apologize for it. I want to see you soar, Noemi Castor. Remember that.”
Noemi was still thinking about what Lazlo had told her as she sat in the cafeteria at lunchtime. Ally was moaning to Dieter about his behavior in surgery.
Dieter was shrugging. “Got the result we wanted though, didn’t I?”
“You can do it without being a total douche bag, though.”
Dieter grinned at her, leaning his chin on her shoulder. Ally pushed him away and Dieter laughed.
He nudged a toe at Noemi’s leg. “Hey, Spacecakes. You with us?”
Noemi shook herself. “Sorry. Just thinking about stuff.”
“Holy damnation and all that is glorious…” Ally suddenly sat up straight, staring over Noemi’s shoulder. “I have died and gone to heaven.”
Noemi looked around to see who Ally was lusting after. An extremely tall, surfer-blonde God was stalking towards them, a huge grin on his face. Noemi gave a cry of happiness and leapt up. The God grabbed her and swung her around in a bear hug.
“Noemi-bloody-Castor!”
“Kit, you big lug! Put me down!” She was giggling furiously. Kit beamed at the table, winking at Ally. “Everyone, this is Kit Vaughan, General Surgery God, despot, man whore, slut! Ow, ow!” Noemi giggled as Kit tickled her. He stuck his hand out and shook Ally’s hand.
“How you doing? … and you are?” His Australian accent boomed out over the cafeteria, attracting the attention of the other hospital staff, Noemi saw.
“Ally... short for Available,” Ally said, and Noemi snorted with laughter.
“Kit, you might have met your match with Ally. This is Dieter.”
Dieter and Kit shook hands, sizing each other up. Noemi was relieved when Dieter didn’t start a pissing contest; he just nodded to them and moved away.
Ally left them alone—reluctantly—and Noemi showed Kit around the hospital.
“It’s my job to persuade you to join us,” she grinned at her friend. “And believe me, I’m going to go all out.”
“I would expect nothing less after seeing what you did in Syria.”
“How is everyone?” It was the question she was dreading asking and yet the one she needed to know. Kit met her gaze.
“Everyone’s... alive. But sometimes, alive doesn’t mean everything is rosy, you know?”
“It’s bad?”
Kit nodded. “I think you got out when you should have. Some of the guys, Rick, Flynn, Sarah… they’re shattered, Noe. But we have to keep fighting to help people.”
“I know. It’s been on my mind to go back, but before I do, I need to build a life for myself here.”
Kit smiled. “How’s it been? I hear you got yourself a sugar daddy.”
Noemi winced, and Kit put his hand on her shoulder. “Hey, I’m kidding. I meant the clinic. Lazlo wouldn’t shut up about it.”
Noemi chuckled. “Let me show you around. Believe me, I’ll be needing some of your skills if I’m going to make a success of it.”
They walked to the Thomasina Ballentine Clinic, and Kit stopped outside the front door, looking up at the signage. “You know, I used to know her stepbrother, Drew. He’s something in the church… I don’t know.”
“I never met him. I met her fiancée, of course. They have the cutest little boy.”
“Feeling broody, kid?” Kit grinned at her as always, flirting. Noemi laughed.
“If the next line out of your mouth is about having my eggs fertilized…”
“Gah, as if I’d be that unoriginal.” He hooked an arm around her shoulders. “But now that you mention it…”
She pushed him away, laughing. “Dude, this isn’t Grey’s Anatomy.”
Kit made a face. “What, no shagging in the on-call room?”
“None.” She made a disapproving face. “So unhygienic.”
“Says the girl who watches Dr. Mike’s YouTube channel religiously, but never with anyone else present.”
Noemi giggled. “You have a filthy mind, Vaughan. Now, act doctorly, and come with me.”
Kit’s arrival seemed to give everyone a boost. He signed a three-year contract with a delighted Lazlo, and Noemi helped him find an apartment in the city. He also made friends with Mouse, and Noemi would take Mouse over to his neighborhood to walk before her shifts.
Within a couple of weeks, Kit had made himself at home. Despite his flirtatious manner, he was an exemplary surgeon, and Noemi loved to watch him operate.
Dieter’s nose was only slightly out of joint. Even he could see Kit’s presence had lifted the morale of the staff. Still, he renewed his advances to Noemi, who very gently let him down. “Is it because of the blonde Australian?” Dieter asked her when she’d turned down his third invitation to dinner.
No, it’s because of the dark Italian…
Noemi couldn’t get Rafael out of her head. They hadn’t seen each other since that night, but every time she looked at Mouse, she remembered her dog’s head resting so peacefully on Rafa’s knee, how natural it seemed for them to be sitting together on his rug, spending time together. God, she dreamed about his lips on hers…
“For the love of God, stop it.” She cussed softly as she sat in the ladies’ restroom, then jumped when she heard Ally’s voice.
“You talking to yourself again, hon?”
Noemi exited the stall and washed her hands as she heard the other toilet flush. Ally grinned at her as she joined her at the sink. “You okay?”
Noemi hesitated, then checked they were alone. “Hypothetical.”
“Okay.”
“There’s someone I’ve been… He’s… a friend. Sort of.”
“Before you go on, if you’ve fucked Kit Vaughan…” Ally said warningly.
“Not Kit, he’s all yours,” Noemi laughed. “No, this is someone… not at the hospital. Kind of. He’s a friend of a patient, let’s say. We’re sort of friends. But, I can’t stop thinking about him.”
“Then fuck him, if that’s what you want.” Ally shrugged, and Noemi wishes she too could be twenty-five and as confident as Ally.
“But it would ruin our friendship.”
“Are you really that good friends with him?”
Again, Noemi hesitated, and Ally made a face. “See? Jeez, Noe, when was the last time you got laid?”
“Three…”
“Months? Fuck, get on it.”
“… years,” Noemi finished. “Not since before the accident.” Not since before Thomasina died.
Ally was flabbergasted. “Years? Three years, Noe? How is that possible?” She grabbed Noemi’s arm and made her look in the mirror. “Look at you. You look like a freaking supermodel, you have curves to die for, I want your boobs, and every man in this place would
kill to fuck you. Jesus, Noe, after everything you’ve been through, live.”
Ally seemed to realize she sounded angry and smiled ruefully. “Sorry, but you’ve been on a deathwatch for years now. You’re thirty years old and gorgeous. Go for him, whoever he is. Leap.”
She patted Noemi’s shoulder and left her alone. Noemi stared at her reflection. Ally was right. Work was her passion, but she needed something else too.
When Ally invited her to the bar with Kit, Dieter, and some other people that night, Noemi agreed. “I have to go home first to walk Mouse, but I promise, I’ll join you later.”
When she got home, Mouse greeted her with wild abandon, and Noemi hugged her dog to her. “Gonna get a life, baby,” she murmured. She walked the dog for an hour, then went home to shower.
Deciding what to wear, she chose a simple spaghetti-strapped mini dress, showing off her long legs for once, light makeup, and a simple gold chain which hung between her breasts. She left her dark hair down, clouding around her.
Kit whistled, and Ally beamed at her as she made her way into the bar. “Damn, girl.”
Noemi flushed pink and distracted them from all the compliments by asking what they were drinking. An hour later, a beer down, and she started to relax, enjoying the company of her friends. She and Ally chatted, then watched in amusement as Dieter tried to play power games with Kit at the pool table. Good-naturedly, Kit conceded every point to Dieter, and Noemi watched as Dieter gave up his games, and instead began enjoying the company of the other man.
“So, you never really did that?” Ally nodded at Kit, and Noemi chuckled.
“I really never did. I wasn’t exactly in the right headspace when I got over there, and believe me, sex was the last thing on everybody’s minds.”
“Understandable. But what about now?”
Noemi smiled at her friend. “I told you. You want to go for it, do it. Kit and I are firmly in the Friend Zone. Almost like siblings now.”
“Eww, sexy sibs. Like Angelina and James Haven.”
Noemi looked blank, and Ally rolled her eyes. “God, watch Bravo now and again. Or read The Enquirer. One or the other.”
Noemi was amused. “Any other tips for this old lady?”
“Yeah. You look a million dollars. Try to find someone in here to hook up with, would you?”
“Baby steps, Al. Now, look. Kit’s on his own. Why don’t you go work your magic?”
Dieter was at the bar, chatting to a pretty blonde woman, and Noemi took some time to check out the rest of the bar. Too many hospital folks here for any random under-the-wire hookups, and Noemi felt out of practice. When Dieter came back to the table, she excused herself and went to the restrooms. She splashed water on her face, feeling the effects of the beer. She was such a lightweight when it came to alcohol. She shook her head, smiling.
Going back out, she walked along the dark corridor that led back to the bar. The men’s restroom door opened towards her and she froze.
Rafael Genova stopped, blinked. They stared at each other for a long moment…
… and then his lips were on hers.
Chapter Eight
Noemi barely had time to take a breath before they kissed, but she didn’t care. It was everything she had dreamed of: soft, then rough as they both moaned with pent-up desire. Rafael picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he pushed out of the side-door and into the back alley of the bar.
Noemi’s fingers were tangled in his hair, and she had no idea where he was taking her, but she didn’t care. She could not get enough of his mouth on hers, his fresh, clean cologne flooding her senses.
Then, in a flash, they were in his Mercedes and driving through Seattle’s streets. Neither of them said a word, but their fingers linked. Rafa drove to Noemi’s apartment and, hand-in-hand, they walked up the stairs together.
He followed her in, slipping his hand onto her waist. “Are you sure?” He said at last and she nodded.
His lips were against hers again then, and she sunk into the kiss. With his broad build and height, she felt tiny in his embrace, and when he swept her up into his arms, Noemi found she couldn’t look away from his gaze. Oh, how I want you…
She nodded along the hallway to her bedroom and Rafa walked quickly. In the bedroom, he set her down on her feet, and they embraced again, tenderly this time. Noemi’s fingers, trembling, moved to the buttons of his shirt. She pressed her lips against the skin of his chest, then laid her head against it. She could feel the quick, hammering beat of his heart and she sighed. Her own heart was banging hard against her chest.
Rafa tilted her chin up with a finger and kissed her. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this,” he murmured, and a thrill ran through her.
“Rafa…”
“Shh…” He kissed her again and then he was sliding the spaghetti straps of her dress down her shoulders, and the dress fell to the floor.
Rafa sucked in a deep breath. “Christ, you’re exquisite.”
He swept her onto the bed, quickly stripping down to his underwear and covering her body with his. Noemi kissed him hungrily, not wanting to miss a moment of this. She reached down to cup his cock through his underwear, feeling the hot length of it stiffen as she stroked it. Rafa groaned and buried his face in her neck, his lips against her throat. “Noemi…”
She hooked her legs around him, sliding her hands into his dark curls. She made him look up at her. “I want you so much, Rafa. Fuck me, please, just… fuck me.”
He gathered her to him as each explored the other’s body, skin against skin, their gazes locked. Rafa slid her panties down her thighs, moving down her body, his lips trailing down her belly until they found her sex.
Noemi shivered with pleasure as his tongue lashed around her clit. He expertly teased her until it became so unbearably sensitive that the merest flick of his tongue sent powerful waves of ecstasy through her body. Her skin felt like it was on fire, and she begged him to be inside her.
Rafa snagged a condom from his jeans. “Help me with this, would you, my darling?”
My darling… Noemi felt giddy like a teenager, and her fingers were trembling as she rolled the rubber down his huge, thick cock. Rafa smiled down at her as he pushed inside her, and Noemi moaned at the sweet sensation of him filling her.
They moved together, finding their rhythm easily. Rafa’s lips were rough against hers, his need for her seemingly animal and feral. He murmured her name over and over as they made love, and when Noemi felt her climax explode through her body, she gasped, giving a long moan of release. “Oh, Rafa… Rafa…”
His body shuddered with his own orgasm, his green eyes intense as he came, and then as they recovered all-entangled, he smiled down at her. “Hey, beautiful.”
Noemi, much to her eternal embarrassment, burst into tears.
Rafa held her as she sobbed, his lips pressed against her temple. He wasn’t fazed by her tears—it was just as emotional for him. He hadn’t slept with anyone since Thomasina and now, with this beautiful woman in his arms, he knew he had been right to wait. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Noemi since that day by Thomasina’s grave. Noemi, so injured, her lovely face etched with guilt and grief… he’d wanted to comfort her, but at Tomi’s grave, and with the wound so raw, he had turned away from her.
Now, he waited until she had cried herself out. “Okay?”
She nodded. “Sorry, I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”
“It’s okay, baby. This has been… intense.”
She gave a choked laugh. “You can say that again.” She looked up at him, her dark eyes huge. “I’m still not sure it actually happened.”
Rafa laughed. “Trust me… it did.”
She stroked his face. “I can’t stop thinking about you. I wish I could; it just doesn’t seem right. Thomasina…”
“… is gone. There’s nothing for us to feel guilty about. She adored you, Noe. I adore you.” He kissed her. “Look, I loved Tomi wit
h all my heart. Nothing will ever change that. But who says you only get one chance of love in a lifetime?” He sat up, running a hand through his hair. “For a long time, I tried to deny that what I felt for you was anything but a crush. I’m forty years old but when I’m near you, I feel like a teenage boy.”
Noemi curled her body against his, and he wrapped his arms around her. “Rafa… my head is a mess. I just don’t know if I’m good enough for you.”
“Don’t ever say that.”
“I mean it. My head is a nightmare. The accident. Tomi. What I saw in Syria. We have to think about Bepi, what’s good for him. And—” She sat up now. “I’m not sure I can handle the… gossip.”
He looked vaguely confused. “What?”
“If I’m seen to be fraternizing with the man who donated a billion dollars to our hospital…”
Rafa looked at her askance. “Okay, now you’re not making sense. What does that have to do with anything?”
“People could make the link between Thomasina’s death, the donation, the accident, you and I…”
“Listen to me. This is crazy talk. Tomi died two years ago, and it had nothing, nothing to do with your accident. Christ, you nearly died! I saw you when they brought you in, Noe—”
“—you saw me?”
Rafa nodded, his eyes on hers. “They let me sit with you for a while until your family could get to you.”
Noemi stared at him. “I never knew that.”
Rafa smiled sheepishly. “I don’t think your sister approved of me. She thought it was a conflict of interest. Also, I think she thought… no. I don’t know what she thought.”
“Leo?” Noemi shook her head. “Leo can be, let’s say, judgmental. And protective. But she could have mentioned it.”
Rafa cupped her face with his palm. “So…?”
“So, for now… this stays between you and me.”
He nodded. The kid was obviously mixed up and who could blame her? He hadn’t meant to seduce her—guiltily, he’d recalled that he had been at that bar to meet someone on a blind date a friend had set up.
But his dreams had been haunted by Noemi Castor for so long. “If that’s what you want, Noe. You and me. For now.”
The Doctor’s Promise Page 4
