Medical Romance June 2016 Books 1-6

“Or maybe I just wanted an excuse to touch you.”

The gaze that met hers was twinkling, but hot, too, and Gabby sank her teeth into her lower lip to make sure nothing came out that shouldn’t. Something along the lines of You don’t need an excuse, which I’m pretty sure you know.

Acutely aware of that wide hand on her back, she had to wonder when she’d gone from being an efficient workaholic uninterested in dating to a woman with sex on her mind in the middle of a hospital. Though she knew the answer, and it was standing right next to her in all its six-foot-plus gorgeous glory.

When they went into the patient’s room, Gabby was in for yet another unexpected sight. The place looked more like a plush hotel room than a hospital room. Even more so than The Hollywood Hills Clinic rooms—and, since she’d always thought they seemed right out of a five-star hotel, that was saying something. This had to be one of those situations Rafael mentioned where they’d brought in furniture for their stay. A portable wall between two rooms had been removed, creating a huge space, and comfortable furniture filled the area. The bed was still a hospital bed, but it had beautiful linens, and the bedspread looked like something from a high-end furnishings magazine.

An exotic-looking woman lay in the bed, which surprised Gabby a little. Since she wasn’t connected to any monitors or IV at this point, Gabby would have expected her to be sitting in one of the deep, upholstered armchairs, but maybe she felt more comfortable lying down. Or maybe, since Rafael had said her husband was worried, everyone thought she should stay in the bed to be safe.

Rafael made introductions, then focused his attention on speaking with the Sheikh, which also surprised Gabby. Normally, getting information and history directly from the patient was important, but since Rafael knew that, it must be part of the typical protocol in this very atypical situation. Maybe this was exactly why he’d wanted her to come, so she could speak directly to the patient without going through her husband first. If she spoke English, that was.

Of course, she couldn’t deny that she hoped Rafael had wanted her along for another reason, too. Then scolded herself for having that sex subject dive back into her mind when she had work to do.

“Hello, Amala, I’m Gabby Cain, a nurse midwife from The Hollywood Hills Clinic. I understand you’re having some pain, and are worried about the baby?”

“Yes.” Thankfully, Amala spoke excellent English, and Gabby smiled in relief. “I keep having pains. Contractions, I think.”

“Have you timed them at all? To see how far apart they are?”

“No. But they happen often.”

“Okay. I’m going to take your pulse and blood pressure to check those—is that all right?” She pressed her fingers to the woman’s delicate wrist. “Tell me about the pain. Where is it, exactly?”

“My belly. Low. And down...there as well.”

The woman seemed uncomfortable even using a euphemism, and Gabby smiled wider to hopefully relax her. “The good news is that your pulse and blood pressure are normal. So, are you feeling any pain in your back? Up high in your belly?”

“No. Not my back. I am not sure about how high. But they go away sometimes if I lie down.”

Sounded like Rafael might be right about this being false labor, but it was too soon to say for sure. She glanced up to see him finishing his conversation with the Sheikh, then he came to join her on the other side of the patient’s bed.

“I’m Dr. Rafael Moreno. It’s my privilege to come see you today. I understand you’re thirty-four weeks pregnant. Can you tell me about your symptoms?”

Amala repeated what she’d told Gabby, and more as he asked additional questions. Finally, he nodded. “Let’s take a look at what baby is doing inside you, using ultrasound. You have it ready, Gabriella?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” He reached to lift the patient’s shirt over her belly, but she stopped him.

“I’d like Gabriella to do it. Please.”

The surprise on his face was gone in a blink, replaced by a calm smile. “Of course. Gabriella is excellent with ultrasound, and I can read them later as well, if you want. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

His gaze lifted from their patient and his eyes met Gabby’s. She absolutely could not control the gleeful little smile quivering on her lips that the tide had turned, and this time the patient trusted her to do the job instead of him.

Gabby slowly ran the wand through the warm jelly she’d squeezed on Amala’s abdomen, and carefully studied the pictures on the monitor. Seeing that everything looked one hundred percent normal, and that baby seemed healthy in every way, Gabby’s knees got a little jelly-like, too, as relief for the woman swept through her. “Baby looks absolutely perfect in there, all snug and happy. I’m going to go over my findings with Dr. Moreno, but I’m confident that the pain you’ve been experiencing is false labor, which can be very hard to distinguish from true labor.”

“Oh, I hope so. I want my baby to be born at home, so this is good news. Thank you so much.”

“So glad to be here to help you.” And she was. Glad, in a strange kind of way, that she knew exactly how this pregnant woman had felt, which made her a better caregiver. A better nurse and midwife. She cleaned off the gel and got the patient’s top back in place. “Let me see what Dr. Moreno thinks, okay?”

She found him sitting at a round table, playing the board game with the kids there, all of them laughing. Struck by how boyish he looked, too, so unlike the arrogant prince or the dashing date, she slowed her steps and just looked at him, her heart feeling all warm and squishy and starstruck.

He glanced up and grinned at her. Unfolding himself from the chair, he came over to her. “False labor?”

“Yes.” She cleared her throat and went over the results with him, and for the first time in her professional life a tiny corner of her mind was on something other than her patient and her work. It was on him, and the scent of him, and how close his head was tipped to hers. Afraid everyone in the room could see how she was feeling and what she was thinking, she again went for a joke to cover it all.

“So, Dr. Prince Rafael Moreno, how does it feel to have your patient doubt your skills and send you out of the room, leaving someone else to do the tests?”

“First, she did not doubt my skills. I’m sure she just knew her husband might be jealous because I am so handsome.”

The gold flecks sparkling in his green eyes showed he was teasing, and didn’t believe that for a minute. Probably it had been more about modesty, but Gabby was going to rib him about it anyway.

“Uh-huh. All I can say is it made me pretty happy for you to get a taste of it, considering how mean you were the first day we met.”

“Mean?” All humor left his face as he looked at her searchingly. “You thought I was mean? I’m sorry if that’s how I came across.”

“Okay, mean isn’t the right word.” A man as empathetic as he was didn’t have a mean bone in his body. “Dismissive. Disrespectful.”

“And for that I apologize too. Only a fool would disrespect or dismiss someone like you, and sometimes the fool in me comes out when it shouldn’t.”

“Never mind.” Lord, she’d meant it really as a joke, and now he looked so contrite, ashamed, even, she was sorry she’d even mentioned it. Who would have thought the man was even capable of feeling that way? “I’m teasing you, really. Like you do me sometimes.”

“I know exactly how to make it up to you in about...” he glanced at his watch “...half an hour. Let’s talk to the Sheikh and his wife, hmm?”

Walking beside him, she couldn’t help but glance up at him more than once, wondering what he’d meant about making it up to her, and her toes and a lot of other things started to tingle as she imagined what it could be.

You’re at work, Gabby! she scolded herself. And work was not the place where her mind could be wandering to bad thoughts.

She stood on the opposite side of the patient’s bed as Rafael recommended they stay one more day. He told Amala to write down when she had contractions and how long they lasted, and to be ready for Gabby to do one more ultrasound tomorrow. Gabby tried to listen, but since she knew everything he was going to say, watching his lips move seemed far more fascinating. As did wondering what in the world he had in mind to “make it up” to her.

Those darned thoughts of sex came right to the forefront of her brain again. When in the world was that going to stop?

Probably only after Rafael Moreno was long gone back to the Mediterranean or wherever he was headed next. Her life could get back to normal. The life she’d chosen where she worked a lot and stayed relationship-free. Since it was apparent that she couldn’t seem to help but be dangerously distracted by him, she knew that day couldn’t come soon enough.

Yet she also had a bad feeling it would also come far, far too soon.

CHAPTER TEN

ADVENTURES IN THE sky were nothing new to Rafael. He’d enjoyed hang gliding, glider planes, and skydiving many times all over the world. At the time, he’d thought every one of those adventures was enjoyable, but nothing came close to the evening he’d just spent with Gabriella.

Holding her close as they’d stood in the basket of a hot-air balloon, able to see for miles across the awesome expanse of the Rocky Mountains, they’d floated through a quiet so deep he’d felt it all the way to his soul. Filled with a tranquil contentment he couldn’t remember ever feeling in his life.

Listening to her cries of delight as she’d pointed at beautiful blue-green lakes below, at the snow still covering the jagged peaks, at mountain goats picking their way across vertical rocks in a feat that seemed nearly impossible, he’d smiled and laughed and held her closer.

Her hair had blown across her face, and he’d tucked it behind her ears more than once, both to feel its softness within his fingers and so he could better see the joy on her face and in her eyes.

Joy he’d wanted to see there from the moment he’d observed them shadowed with sadness when she’d sat next to Skye’s incubator. Joy he’d known was a big part of who she was, or had been until something had chipped away at it. Minimized it. Maybe even crushed it.

As the balloon had sunk back to earth, they’d watched the sun set in a blaze of glorious red and gold behind the mountains. Colors so vivid they’d almost rivaled the strands highlighting Gabriella’s beautiful hair.

He’d wanted to have her to himself for a little while longer, away from L.A. and whatever was there that might be the reason she carried that sadness around. Again, he knew that was damned selfish of him, but he’d been having a tough time battling it. And since fate had seemed to give him exactly what he’d wanted, did he really have to fight it?

All he knew was that he didn’t seem to have a lot of fight left in him when it came to keeping away from Gabriella.

He opened the door of the hotel restaurant, sliding his hand around hers before they meandered out onto the huge stone patio, warmed by several fire pits surrounded by cushioned chairs. And, lucky for him, it was nearly deserted.

“Would you like to sit out here? Or are you too full to sit after you ate a steak big enough for two people?” he couldn’t help but tease.

“Haven’t we already discussed how not at all suave it is to talk about how much I eat?” Her eyes gleamed up at him. “All women need iron in their diets. The occasional steak is good for me. But I’m not sure what your excuse is, because you ate even more than I did.”

“Fresh out of excuses.” That was true for pretty much anything he did around Gabriella, and he didn’t care anymore. “Where would you like to sit?”

“By the fire. It’s getting chilly, don’t you think?”

“We can go inside if you like.”

“No. It’s so beautiful, I want to stay out here.” He followed her gaze over to the timeless mountains, silhouetted by the darkened sky that was still slightly lit with pale pink streaks. Across the creek covered with small chunks of ice and snow, slowly melting in the springtime temperatures. “I can’t believe there’s no one around to enjoy this.”

“May is off season for Vail. Too late to ski and too cold for most other sports.”

“Except hot-air ballooning. Bundling up in a ski coat, gloves and hat were part of the fun.” Her eyes smiled at him through the darkness. “And since I don’t even own a coat, it’s a good thing the hotel keeps winter stuff guests have left behind for people like me to borrow.”

“I’m sure you’re not the only Southern Californian to come here unprepared.”

“Unprepared?” He nearly laughed at her indignant expression. “I was a Girl Scout. Believe me, I know how to be prepared.”

“If you say so. How about we sit here?” He tugged her down to a thickly pillowed settee, and he could feel the warmth of the fire reaching out to him. Much like Gabriella’s warmth did, touching him in ways he couldn’t remember being touched before. “I’m glad you liked it.”

“I loved it. It was the most special thing I’ve ever done. Thank you.”

“The most special thing I’ve done too. So thank you.” And the reason it had been so special was because he’d done it with her. How he felt about her was something he couldn’t quite figure out, but he suspected that feeling might not happen again for a long time. Or maybe ever.

“I know that can’t be true, but it’s sweet of you to say so.” She laughed softly. “You’ve been all over the world, but I haven’t left L.A. in two years.”

“You haven’t?” He couldn’t wrap his brain around not getting out of town even once in all that time. “That’s got to be a record. I haven’t stayed in one place more than two months since I graduated from medical school.”

“Yours is more likely to be a record than mine.”

He saw her shiver a little in the crisp mountain air, despite the orange flames licking upward, ending in gray smoke that disappeared into the starlit sky. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her close to his side, and the way she snuggled against him felt damn good. “Cold?”

“A little. My Washington State blood, used to damp, chilly weather, must have thinned after living in California.”

“I’ve been wanting to ask you something.” If she was feeling even a little of the closeness, the intimacy he was feeling right now, sitting next to her in this beautiful place, maybe now was the right time to learn what secrets she might be keeping to herself. Secrets she might need to unload.

“What?”

“I’ve noticed that sometimes when you look at newborns, or after you’ve helped bring a baby into the world, that there’s a sadness in your eyes. Why?”

“Sadness?” She made a sound that was probably supposed to be a laugh but didn’t get there. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s nothing more joyful than a successful delivery and healthy baby, and you know it.”

“But sometimes a pregnancy doesn’t end successfully. Or with a healthy baby,” he said quietly, his gut telling him there was some kind of history for her that was tied to that reality.

“True.”

She stared fixedly at the fire, her relaxed expression more tense now. He hesitated, wondering if asking her more questions would ruin her evening. And his too. But he’d wanted to provide an ear in case she wanted to unload on him, so he’d try just once more. “Why did you leave Seattle to come to L.A.?”

More staring into the fire, and just when he was regretting ruining the intimate comfort they’d been feeling by digging into her life, instead of keeping it light and superficial like he usually did, she sighed and started to talk.

“I was engaged to be married. Thought I had it all—a job I adored, a family who supported me, a man who loved me. But it turned out he didn’t love me, at least not enough. Something...bad happened, and he left me. I decided to start fresh in L.A., and that’s it in a nutshell.”

He wanted to say that any man who had her in his life, planning on forever, then left was a fool and an idiot. But he knew that was just the way relationships turned out most of the time. Unfortunate for people who believed in that kind of love, but it was reality. Either someone left, or a couple stuck together long past the time they should have gone their separate ways.

Her boyfriend’s abandonment, causing her pain, was just more proof that relationships weren’t meant to last for the long haul, and that planning to get married was just a road leading to unhappiness.

“I’m sorry. That must have been hard for you.”

“It was. But I’m over it now.”

Somehow he didn’t believe that. But he knew her well enough to know she was done talking about it, even though he was sure it couldn’t be the whole story. He slipped his fingers beneath her chin, tipping her face up to his, and all he could think of to do for her was kiss away the sadness on her face, replacing it with the desire he’d seen there on and off all day. Desire that he’d battled with a whole lot of effort, because he didn’t want to hurt her. A battle he had to win now that he knew her ex had already caused her pain. But just as he was about to draw back and start some unimportant chitchat, she wrapped her cold hand around his nape, brought his face close, and pressed her mouth to his.

He could see her eyes closing just before his own did, and the way she sighed and sank into him knocked every good intention out of his head and had him gathering her close. He cupped her soft cheek in his hand, angling her mouth to his, and when she sighed again it felt like a siren song, driving him a little crazy. He couldn’t help but deepen the kiss. The wet slide of her warm tongue against his felt as erotic as full sex with any other woman, and it was only through some miracle that he managed to remember that, deserted or not, they were in a public place and pulling off her clothes right then and there wasn’t an option.

Or a good idea. He absolutely was not going to be the next man to hurt her.

“Gabriella.” He sucked in some much-needed air. “It’s too cold out here to be comfortable. Let’s go inside and talk in the lounge.”

“I’m very comfortable.”

Well, damn. What was he supposed to say to that? She pressed her chest to his, and while he couldn’t really feel her breasts against him, knowing what softness lay under all the layers of clothes they wore nearly made him moan. Her cold hands cupped his cheeks and she brought his face to hers again for another mind-blowing kiss that had him thinking about risking arrest and getting naked with her right there after all. Thank God the murmur of other voices on the patio cut through his fog and helped him get his libido at least marginally in check.

Which then helped him remember the paparazzi and how he needed to keep Gabriella safe from the media. While he hoped they hadn’t gotten wind of them coming to Vail, he’d learned not to count on that.

He dragged his lips from hers and sucked in a deep breath of chilly mountain air that barely cooled the heat pouring through his veins. “Bad idea to do this out here. Cameras, you know?”

The brown eyes that met his looked a little dazed, but she nodded. “Cameras. I remember. How about we go to the room?”

Knowing she wanted that, too, made what he had to say nearly impossible. But he forced himself. “Gabriella, it’s better if—”

“Stop.” She pressed her fingertips to his lips. “You asked me things. There are things I want to ask you too.”

He braced himself, not being in the mood for true confessions. Mostly because he hated to see her shock and disappointment and disapproval. But she probably had a right to know.

“Ask away.”

“Why are you hiding out in L.A.?”

“What makes you think I’m hiding? I’m visiting.”

“I don’t live under a rock, Rafael. I know there was a scandal with some woman.”

The way she smiled and cupped his cheek in her hand relaxed him a little. At least she knew that much, and was still there with him. He turned his face to press his mouth to her palm for a moment, deciding what he wanted to say.

“Then you know I dated a woman who some people thought was not the kind of person a prince should be dating. It wasn’t as though we had anything more than a casual relationship, but the media hounds ran with it, as they love to do. Since my face had been plastered on television and tabloids quite a lot the past couple years, there was more uproar than usual back home.”

“Do you care about it? And if you do, why do you do things you know the media will have a field day with?”

At first, he thought she was judging him, and the pain of that stabbed his chest. But when he looked into her eyes, really looked, he could clearly see that she was just asking, not judging. Her hand still softly caressed his cheek, and the touch weakened him. Or made him stronger, he wasn’t sure which. Either way, he realized he actually wanted to talk to her about it, which surprised the hell out of him.

He drew in a fortifying breath before he spoke. “First, half the stuff said about me isn’t true. Or is greatly exaggerated. Second, if I read that stuff and worried about it, I’d spend all day doing it and I have more important things to think about.”

“So why hide out at all?”

Good question, and one he wasn’t sure how to answer. “My parents get upset about it. And this time the hubbub was so loud they demanded I lie low and keep my face out of the press. And since I’m a grown man and can do as I please, my only explanation of why I did so is that I care about their opinion of me. Because their opinion’s been pretty low for a long time, and I guess that’s always bothered me.”

His words rang in his ears, and it was like being given a good whack on the side of the head. Apparently there was some part of him deep inside that was still that boy who was the second prince. The spare heir. The one who didn’t always follow rules and had embarrassed his parents when he’d left the kingdom to become a doctor. The one who refused to ever marry, despite having very good reasons for that.

The son they were always disappointed in, whether he lived up or down to his reputation in the media. Pathetic that it hurt that they felt that way, but there it was. The truth.

“What do you mean, their opinion of you is low? That’s ridiculous.”

“Not ridiculous.” He pressed his lips to her forehead and let them stay there, because the simple connection felt good. “I told you before that they wanted me to stay in the family business, so to speak. They never understood or approved of my wanting to be a doctor, and were more than disappointed when I did it anyway.”

“Rafael.” She grasped his face in her hands, and he felt a little like he was drowning in the sweet sincerity of the brown eyes staring into his. “I don’t know your parents. But I have to believe you’re wrong about a lot of this. Maybe they wanted you to do more traditional duties at home, but surely they’re proud of the hard work you put in to be a doctor. Of the lives you save and the good you do. When you go home, promise me you’ll talk to them. Share how you’ve felt, and clear the air. I bet you’ll be surprised at how they respond.”

Gabriella knew a lot about human nature—hadn’t he seen it first hand in so many ways? That didn’t mean she knew a thing about his family situation, but he realized he didn’t have anything to lose by talking things over with his parents. Who knew, maybe they could come up with a relationship less full of stress and more full of the kind of closeness he’d seen in other families. Including royal ones like those of the Sheikh they’d met today, who obviously cared deeply about his extended family.

“I don’t expect anything would change, but for you I’ll think about it.”

“Not for me, for you. Because after another week or so we won’t see each other again.”

A good thing for her. Not so much for him. She was the most special woman he’d ever known, and he wished they could spend more time together. But he was a man who generally disappointed the people in his life, and she was a woman who’d already been badly disappointed by someone else. She deserved someone who believed in love and happy-ever-after. He definitely didn’t, but maybe she’d somehow find that one day.

The thought made his chest feel oddly tight and he stood to end the torture of being with her when he shouldn’t be. “We have an early morning. The Sheikh wants to get going as soon as we check once more that his wife’s not in labor.”

Her gaze stayed on his as she slowly pushed to her feet. Searching. Questioning. Not a surprise, since moments ago he’d been kissing her like a man on a mission to get horizontal with her as soon as possible.

Much as he still wanted that more than his next breath, she deserved better.

They walked in silence to their rooms, which were connected by an interior door, and Rafael knew he wouldn’t get much sleep, thinking about her warm, soft body curled into a bed so close to his. The same way he’d been unable to sleep the night he’d tucked her into the guest room of his house, and he hadn’t even known her then.

Now that he did, now that he knew the attraction was mutual, staying away from her would require Herculean strength, but for her sake he could do it.

Stopping at the door to her room, he somehow managed to kiss only her cheek, though he knew his lips lingered there too long. “Good night, Gabriella.”

“This is totally unfair, you know.”

“What is totally unfair?”

“Getting James to include me on this trip, then making me sit close to you, look at you, feel the touch of your hand while we drove, and it was all so distracting I barely noticed the gorgeous scenery. Then you took me on a romantic balloon ride with your arms around me, which was the most incredible thing I’ve ever done. More romance and kissing and touching by a fire under the stars. And now you dump me like a hot rock in front of my door?”

The flash of fire in her eyes, the annoyance in her voice and her words were so surprising and adorable he couldn’t help but laugh, even though having to leave her now wasn’t in the least amusing. “Dumping is a strong word. I’m simply dropping you off after a wonderful day together.”