Noemi leaned in, obviously relieved, and kissed him. “This is a dream, I swear it is.”
He drew her close, her soft, pillowy breasts against his chest, her fresh, clean scent in his nostrils and the taste of her skin on his lips. “Then let’s keep dreaming. At least for tonight.”
“You don’t have to get back for Bepi?”
“He’s with Tomi’s parents for a few days.”
Right on cue, Mouse gave a plaintiff whine. She had been shut out of the bedroom long enough. Noemi and Rafa laughed. “Hold that thought, gorgeous man.”
Mouse leaped onto the bed as soon as Noemi opened the door and curved her furry body into Rafa’s. Noemi made a face at her dog. “Such a slut, Mousie.”
Rafa grinned at her and patted his other side. “I’m greedy, I want two beautiful girls next to me.”
Because of Mouse’s presence, they didn’t make love again, but chatted until Noemi fell asleep.
Rafa lay awake, gazing at her perfect face. He wondered whether he was doing the right thing; she was so young, so vulnerable, and yet it seemed impossible that they couldn’t be together. Making love to her had been sublime, exhilarating—just being inside her, he was in heaven.
But he could tell the young woman in his arms was damaged, and knowing he was as damaged… was this responsible?
Maybe he should concentrate on getting Noemi’s head right before he looked at himself. Or was that overstepping?
“Hell, I don’t know,” he whispered. Before Tomi, he’d always been terrible at figuring out relationships.
He tightened his arms around Noemi. They’d figure it out. He couldn’t imagine his life without her now.
The man outside the woman’s apartment waited but Rafael Genova did not emerge. So, he was sleeping with the pretty girl—he wondered who she was.
It didn’t matter. If she got in the way, then she’d suffer the same fate as Genova.
Time’s up, beautiful people, he thought, and got back into his car, driving away into the Seattle night.
Chapter Nine
Noemi woke and for a long moment, she just reveled in the feeling of Rafa’s arms wrapped around her. She pretended that it wasn’t complicated at all—that this was just how things were supposed to be. That they had no other responsibilities other than to hold each other.
She opened her eyes and looked up at her sleeping companion. Rafa’s long, thick, dark eyelashes rested on his cheeks as he slept, and at rest, he looked younger than his forty years and less… troubled.
God, he was beautiful. She traced the shape of his lips with her finger and he smiled. The way he looked at her when he opened his eyes made her entire body flush with warmth.
“Good morning.” Noemi whispered.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
She kissed him. “If we both have morning breath, does it count?”
“Nope.” He chuckled and kissed her again. “You okay?”
Noemi nodded. “I am.” She smiled a little sheepishly. “Sorry for freaking out on you last night. It was just so unexpected, you know?” She placed her hand on his bare chest. “I’m still not quite believing it.”
“Well, it happened.” He took her face in his hands. “And I would like it to happen again and again… but I know you have reservations. Look, however you want to handle this is fine by me. Keep it between us? Cool. You need some time? No problem. Just don’t push me away.” He pressed his lips to hers tenderly. “I turned away from you once. I’ll always regret it.”
They made love again slowly and then luxuriously showered together. Afterward, Noemi made them both eggs. “I’m not much of a cook.”
Rafa put a forkful into his mouth, and Noemi giggled as she saw him try to arrange his face into something other than revulsion. “Told you.” She took his plate away. “I can do toast.”
“Or we could go out for breakfast. No?”
Noemi gave a nervous smile. “I live close to the hospital…”
“Gotcha. Then toast is fine, baby. Listen, do you have to be at work today?”
She shook her head and Rafa smiled. “Good. Want to spend the day together? We can stay in or go out of the city.”
“I’d like that.”
Rafa drove them out of the city, down towards Mount Rainier, and they hiked along a light mountain trail with Mouse. Noemi usually loved exploring, but today her attention was wholly absorbed by this man. She realized that even with all the time spent with him and Thomasina, she barely knew him.
Rafael Genova had always seemed quiet, tranquil, and even a little aloof. This Rafa, however, was fun, goofy—and God, she adored him. He held her hand as they walked, his thumb stroking the back of her hand. His smile lit up his face. He teased her about her walking prowess. “Come on, young ‘un,” he said in his best Grandpa voice when she moaned about being tired.
“You exhausted me last night,” she giggled and yelped as he tickled her.
“Baby, if you think that was exhausting, just wait… that was nothing.”
Noemi caught her breath as he took her tightly in his arms, and he kissed her so passionately, her head whirled. “You better keep that promise, Mr. Genova.”
“Oh, believe me, I will,” he murmured, and pleasure flooded her body. His green eyes were fixed intensely upon hers. “There isn’t anything I won’t do to you if you let me, beautiful girl.”
After that, she couldn’t wait to get home. In the car on the way back to Seattle, she slid her hand onto his groin and stroked him through his pants. Rafa smiled at her. “Tease.”
“Punish me later,” she quipped gently, but the thought of him dominating her made her sex flood with wetness, and she licked her lips slowly.
When they were back at her apartment, she pressed her body against his. “Rafa… do whatever you want to me. I want you in every way.”
Rafa crushed his lips against hers, pressing her against the wall. His hands went to the zipper of her pants and tugged it open. Noemi tore at his clothes.
They never made it to the bedroom. Rafa fucked her hard on the hallway floor, making her scream as she came, then she straddled him and rode him, completely uninhibited.
She urged him to blindfold her or tie her up, whatever he wanted, just so that she could feel like she was his in every way. Every mental wall she had ever built came tumbling down as they spent the next two days making love and talking and laughing.
Loving.
At the end of their time together, those few days that they had been able to devote to each other, reality inevitably set in. There was Bepi to consider, plus their families and their work. Rafa kissed her before he left to pick his son up. “I guess this is where we start to figure out the future.”
“I guess so.”
“Can I call you later?”
Noemi grinned. “Do you even have to ask?”
The apartment felt empty without Rafa in it. Even Mouse sniffed around the rooms looking for him. “I know how you feel, boo,” Noemi told her dog, and then she grabbed the dog’s leash. “Come on! Let’s go walk it off… grab your ball, Mousie.”
She walked the dog for what seemed like hours, then as she returned to her street, she saw two of her neighbors outside on the sidewalk. She greeted them, and they turned to her.
“Noemi… we’ve called the police.”
“What’s up?”
“Sweetheart, we think someone broke into your home. We heard a commotion, and of course, we went to investigate. Joseph went in and someone hit him.”
Noemi was horrified. “Oh my God! Is he okay?”
Phyllis, the elder of the two women, nodded. “He’s okay—just a little shocked. Ruby is taking care of him. Anyway, whoever was in your apartment got away…”
Noemi felt sick. “Are you sure Joe’s alright?”
“Oh yes, dear. But Noe, I wouldn’t go into your apartment until the police get here,” Phyllis put her hand on Noemi’s arm as Noemi moved towards the building. “We don’t know if anyone else
is in there, dear.”
The police took their time in her apartment and eventually, the lead officer came out and asked her to accompany them inside. “I’m afraid there has been some vandalism, Doc. We need you to tell us if anything is missing, and I must warn you, someone wanted to leave a message. You might find it a little distressing.”
Noemi had no idea what that could be until she saw the word scrawled in paint across her wall and her heart sank.
Whore.
Chapter Ten
Ally’s eyes were huge. “Oh, God, Noe, that’s awful. Do the police have any clues?”
“None—and nothing was taken. They’re working on the presumption that it was a junkie who must have known I was a doctor and who tried to find any drugs I might have stashed.” Noemi rolled her eyes.
“But still… I’m glad you have Mouse now. God.” Ally looked sick, and Noemi hugged her.
“I’m fine, Al, don’t worry.” She let her friend go and changed into her scrubs. Noemi had decided not to tell anyone about the ‘Whore’ message that had been scrawled on her wall, but inside, her nerves were frayed. It could well have been a disgruntled junkie, disappointed that she wasn’t some clinician who stole from her workplace and therefore couldn’t provide him with the fix he needed.
But coming so soon after her wonderful few days with Rafael Genova, it seemed too coincidental. After the police had given her the all clear, she had spent the previous evening scrubbing the message off her wall and repainting the whole thing.
She hadn’t told Rafa either. He had called at ten that night, Bepi having been read to and tucked in, and they had talked for a while.
“I wish you were here with me,” he said gently.
“Me too, but we have all the time in the world. We have to do this right for all our sakes, Rafa.”
“I know.”
So, Noemi had decided to not say anything to anyone, not even Ally. For now, her tryst with Rafa would stay her secret. But he dominated her thoughts every moment when she wasn’t concentrating on her work and her patients.
At lunch, she sat at their table, thinking of Rafa’s lips on hers when Kit nudged her. “Hey you.”
“Hey, KitKat.”
Kit grinned. They had fallen very quickly back into the pattern of teasing they had enjoyed in Syria, and Noemi was glad to have her friend around. Not as glad as Ally, Noemi grinned to herself, knowing Ally and Kit were hooking up and loving it. She was glad for them both.
“Listen,” Kit said, dragging a chair next to hers. “I’ve got someone who wants to meet you. Drew Ballentine? Thomasina Ballentine’s stepbrother. I think I told you I knew him?”
“You did. I’m actually surprised I never met him; I met most of the family.”
“Pretty sure there was some family stuff going on. Dang, I don’t know, family politics? Anyhoo, I ran into him the other day, and he said he’d love to meet you. To thank you for taking care of Thomasina.”
Noemi looked away from Kit’s gaze. “He doesn’t need to do that.”
“Noe.” Kit glared at her. “Stop that.”
Noemi half-laughed. Kit knew her so well. “Sorry. Bring him by for coffee when it’s convenient.”
“Good,” Kit stole a French fry from her plate. “Because he’ll be here this afternoon.”
“This afternoon?”
“Come on now, no time like the present and all of that.” Kit grinned at her, then seeing her expression, his smile faded. “Noe, it’s no big deal. He just wants to say hi.”
“Fine.”
Kit nudged her. “Hate me?”
“With the fury of a thousand suns.” But she couldn’t stop grinning as he poked her side. “Bully.”
“Wimp.”
Drew Ballentine was nothing like Noemi expected. Dressed expensively in a dark grey suit, he was shorter than she expected—but then he was with the gigantic Kit when she first saw him. Ballentine was still taller than her and had a friendly smile on his face as Kit introduced them. He shook Noemi’s hand with both of his.
“I cannot begin to tell you how grateful we all were to you, Dr. Castor. You went above and beyond for our Thomasina. I hope you are completely recovered from your injuries?”
“I am, thank you.”
He was so different from Tomi’s no-nonsense down-to-earth personality. She soon discovered he was a minister of a small congregation outside of Modesto, California, and she guessed his smooth, practiced routine was part of that persona.
Noemi couldn’t make out whether he was genuine or not. She barely remembered Thomasina mentioning her stepbrother and didn’t feel comfortable asking Drew questions about his relationship with his stepsister.
He was handsome in a bland way and obviously, he thought he was charming enough. Noemi felt bad about judging him—and realized she was doing so because she couldn’t work out why she hadn’t met him before.
He appeared genuine and was interested in the clinic which bore his stepsister’s name.
Noemi couldn’t resist. “I’m surprised you haven’t visited before?” Kit shot her a look, but Noemi smoothed her expression out with a friendly smile. No agenda here, buddy.
Drew smiled. “I can see you have questions, Dr. Castor. To be frank… there is a rift in our family, one that I have been working to heal for the past few years. I will always regret not working harder before our dear Thomasina died.”
Ah. So that was it. Noemi politely showed him around the clinic, and he made all the right noises of approval.
“My almost-brother-in-law has certainly been generous, not that I’d expect anything else.” Drew murmured.
“You know Rafa… Mr. Genova well?”
“Not as well as I would like,” Drew inclined his head with a rueful smile. “And I would love to get to know my nephew. I’ve tried to reach out, but I think, perhaps for him, the wound is still too raw. He loved Thomasina with all his heart, don’t you think, Dr. Castor?”
“Yes, he did.” Noemi’s throat closed. Was there an insinuation in his words?
No, don’t be paranoid. He couldn’t possibly know about you and Rafa…
“Thomasina was an easy person to love,” Noemi said firmly. “An inspiration. The world is a worse place for her not being in it.”
Drew Ballantine’s face softened, and for the first time, she could see real emotion in his eyes. “Thank you for saying that, Dr. Castor. Bless you.”
She smiled tentatively at him. “Will you be in Seattle for long, sir?”
“It’s Drew, and yes, I hope for a little while anyway. I hope to see Bepi before I leave, at the very least. Perhaps I can persuade you to join me for coffee one day?”
“Perhaps,” Noemi answered noncommittally. “I hate to rush off, but I do have surgeries to get to. It was good to meet you, Mr. Ballentine.”
“Drew.”
“Drew,” she replied, shaking his hand. She smiled at both him and Kit before making her escape.
Ally was waiting for her in the scrub room, having seen her earlier with Kit and Ballentine. “Do you just attract the handsome ones by magic or what?”
“You mean Tomi’s brother? You think he’s handsome?”
Ally considered. “He’s not my type—”
“—nor mine.”
“—but he is a good-looking man. Tomi’s brother?”
Noemi nodded. “Stepbrother. He’s okay, but there’s something… I don’t know. Missing.”
“Like what?”
Noemi pondered while she scrubbed in. “I don’t know,” she told Ally. “I can’t figure it out.”
Kit Vaughan smiled at his acquaintance. “So, what do you think?”
“She’s lovely, Kit, just as you said.” Drew Ballantine nodded at him.
Kit sat forward. “Look, normally I would never interfere in a friend’s life. Ever. But I just feel that Noe needs… I don’t know… guidance, absolution, something. She had her confidence shattered, and I hate seeing it. I can’t figure it out, and so that’s
why I came to you. Think you can help her?”
Drew smiled at him, and picking up his coffee, sipped the hot liquid. “Oh, yes,” he said softly, “I really do think I can help her.”
Chapter Eleven
Noemi didn’t tell Rafael about the break-in, but she did tell him she met Drew Ballantine.
“And what did you think of him?” Rafa’s voice was even and measured, but she detected a hint of tension. She put down the saucepan of pasta she was about to strain and looked at him.
“I didn’t really form much of an opinion except that he appeared very different from Tomi.”
Rafa nodded and took the pan, draining it and dumping the pasta into a dish. They were cooking together in his city apartment, a luxurious penthouse in one of Seattle’s most exclusive buildings. The view over Elliott Bay was breathtaking, but Noemi knew he hadn’t brought her here to impress her. He just wanted her to feel at home.
Mouse, for whom Rafa had bought a new dog bed, was fast asleep in the living room as they took their supper in, balancing plates on their knees and sitting on the couch to eat and talk. “I don’t know him that well myself; I just know the situation with the family. Ballentine’s father was only married to Tomi’s mom for a few years.”
“He didn’t come to see Tomi when she was sick.”
“No.” Rafa’s expression told Noemi what he was feeling. She touched his arm.
“Hey look, he may have had a good reason. Did Tomi say anything about him?”
Rafa sighed and put his plate down on the coffee table. “Not really. I know there was some friction because her mom adores Drew, him being a God-fearing preacher and Tomi being the rebel. But Tomi never resented Drew; they were just two wildly different people.”
Noemi studied him. “But you’re not a fan?”
Rafa shrugged. “Look… I’m no angel, and I’m biased because I think that regardless of temperament, he should have been there for Tomi. But, as I say, I might be a little unfair to the man. I only met him a couple of times.”
The Doctor’s Promise Page 5
