The Doctor’s Promise Read online

  Table of Contents

  The Doctor’s Promise

  Free Gift

  Copyright

  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

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Let It Be Me Extended Epilogue

  About the Author

  The Doctor’s Promise

  A Single Daddy Romance

  (Noemi)

  It was my fault that his fiancée died…

  That’s what I keep telling myself. Yes, the car accident wasn’t my fault, but…

  Now Rafael Genova is back in my life, and I can’t stop thinking about him.

  His eyes.

  His dark, brooding gorgeous looks.

  …his body.

  Every single cell of me reacts when he’s near.

  My nipples harden, and the pulse between my legs beats so hard I feel I could cum there and then…

  And his lips…

  I want him so badly I can taste it, and the way he looks at me…

  I think he wants me too.

  I hope he wants me as badly as I need him inside me…

  (Rafael)

  I never thought I’d love again.

  After I lost my fiancée, my entire focus has been on my son.

  Except…

  Noemi Castor is haunting my dreams.

  Her sweet face, her soft hair…

  Her curvy lush body…

  I get hard just thinking about her in my arms, in my bed, my cock buried deep inside her, the way her face glows when she cums…

  I need her so badly it hurts.

  But she won’t stop blaming herself for this tragedy in our past.

  I’m falling in love with her—this beautiful, funny, sexy girl.

  I just have to convince her that I’m crazy about her…

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  She had it coming to her. Everyone knew it, too…

  A little princess at work, she was anything but that when I got her home.

  She was required to strip down to her underwear as soon as we entered our apartment.

  At work, she was my intern. At home, she was my slave.

  And a very good slave at that.

  But it was time things changed. Would she be able to conform to what I now wanted her to be?

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  ©Copyright 2018 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.

  Chapter One

  No matter how many times Doctor Noemi Castor scrubbed in for a surgery, she never lost the thrill of the unknown, the challenge. She looked over at her colleague—her ex-boyfriend—Dieter Flynn and wondered if he felt the same way.

  Of course, Dieter had a God Complex, a trait Noemi had always disliked. For her, the challenge was helping the person before them on the operating table, not acquiring surgical bragging rights, but she knew she was the exception, not the rule, in the world of surgery.

  “You ready to rock, Noe?” Ally Roberts, her favorite scrub nurse and her best friend, grinned at her, and Noemi nodded.

  “Stephen all set? I hope he’s not too nervous.” Noemi peered in through the viewing window. Their patient, a fifty-five-year-old man, had been waiting for a heart and lung transplant for three years, but had a crippling fear of surgery. Noemi had carefully reassured him that she would do everything to make sure he came though safely.

  She heard Dieter make a disgusted noise. “Who cares? Dude will be out for the count anyway.” He pushed his way into the theater while Noemi shared an eyeroll with Ally.

  “Remind me again why I ever ever dated that guy?”

  Ally snorted. “A psychotic break, I’d say. Come on, Super Doc, your patient awaits.”

  Later, Noemi sat with Stephen in recovery, and when he awoke, she smiled at him. “Hey, slugger. You did good.”

  “It went well?” Stephen whispered, soft and raspy.

  “Perfectly. Now, your job is to make sure those organs don’t reject you, to wine and dine them with the best food this hospital can provide—which isn’t saying much, I know—and to sweet talk them with your meds. Can you do that for me?”

  Stephen, who she knew harbored a crush on her, grinned at her. “Sure thing, doc. And thank you… I mean it.”

  She squeezed his hand. “When your vitals are more stable, I’ll allow visitors. Muriel is in the waiting room. She won’t say it, but I know she’s relieved.” Muriel was Stephen’s fearsome wife, who would never confess she was worried, but had spent the past few hours knitting furiously. When Noemi stepped out to update her that Stephen was okay, her relief was palpable, and she’d even hugged Noemi—which was very out of character.

  Noemi went to the changing room and stripped out of her scrubs. It was late, almost ten, and she was ravenously hungry, but before she left the hospital, she stopped in on another patient.

  Thomasina Ballentine was awake and reading, and she greeted Noemi happily. “Hey, kiddo, how are you doing?”

  She was only five years older than Noemi’s twenty-eight, but because of her society position and her effortless grace and poise, Noemi always regarded Thomasina like a much older sister. The tall, willowy, delicately beautiful blonde had been admitted when she got too sick to be at home—her heart, damaged by a seemingly innocent bout of what turned out to be pneumonia, was failing, the result of an undiagnosed condition she’d had from birth.

  Thomasina, the daughter of one of Seattle’s most prominent society families, was entirely the opposite of who Noemi had expected her to be. Rather than taking advantage of her family’s position and vast wealth, Thomasina—Tomi—worked tirelessly for underprivileged kids in Seattle’s poorer neighborhoods. Noemi and she had bonded immediately, both sharing a goofy sense of humor. Thomasina had been fascinated by Noemi’s story: a mixed-race kid adopted by a middle-class white family who had repaid their love and kindness by being a straight-A student and paying her own way through college and med school.

  Now, having reached the position of surgical resident in cardiology, her favorite specialty, Noemi’s career was just taking off. Of course, her personal life was another matter. What personal life? she would often say to herself. She had dated Dieter briefly when she had first joined Sacred Heart Seattle, but she soon learned the cardiology resident was arrogant and only interested in her because she had been the shining star of her class at Stanford.

  Her real joy here
was her mentor; Lazlo Merchant, Chief of Surgery and a cardio God, had taken Noemi under his wing, and he was like a surrogate father to her. He was certainly her champion, pushing her farther than the rest of the residents. Lazlo was also the sweetest man, and Noemi adored him.

  Now, she checked Thomasina’s charts. “I’m supposed to be asking you how you are doing, Tomi.” She looked around. “Rafa not here?”

  “He went to take Bepi to my mom’s. Bepi’s being fussy, wanting his dad to read to him if I can’t be there.” Bepi was Thomasina’s two-year-old son, an adorable curly-headed young boy. Bepi’s father, Thomasina’s fiancée, was object of a crush for every female in the hospital. Tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome, Rafael Genova was a quiet, thoughtful man who adored his fiancée and their son. Though a CEO of an international shipping company, the Italian billionaire was strangely shy. With Thomasina being the life and soul of any party, Noemi supposed, Rafa didn’t need to do anything but let her take the lead.

  Becoming close to Thomasina, however, didn’t preclude Noemi from finding Rafa sinfully attractive. He was gorgeous—all dark curls and bright green eyes. His smile, though rarely seen, lit up any room. Noemi could tell he was desperately worried about Thomasina, even if Tomi herself laughed off her condition, joking around that she’d have to find Rafa a new fiancée before she ‘kicked the bucket.’

  “Not going to happen,” Noemi would reassure them both with a mock-glare at Tomi. “Not on my watch.”

  There were a few occasions when Tomi was sleeping with Rafa sitting by her side, that Noemi would see his pain and seek to comfort him, reassure him—but it wasn’t her place to do it.

  Thomasina watched Noemi as she checked her vitals. “Noe, tell me, honestly. What are the chances of me getting a heart? Really?”

  “As good as anyone’s. You’re at the top of the list now.”

  “Which means I’m hovering on the verge of croaking.”

  Noemi shook her head. “It just means you’re meeting the criteria UNOS set out.”

  “And that means I’m really sick. I need you to be honest, doc.”

  Noemi sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. “Tomi… Yes. You’re really sick, or we wouldn’t be here. I can’t say definitively that you’ll get a heart, but by God, I’m praying you do. It’s an odd thing to say because it means someone else dying, and that offends all my good intentions. I can’t be biased, but I promise you this: the second we get that call from UNOS, I’ll harvest the organ myself, and I won’t let it out of my sight until it’s pumping in your chest.”

  Thomasina smiled at her. “I could get quite the crush on you, Dr. Castor.”

  “Ha, right back at you, sister. Now, get some sleep. Doc’s orders.”

  Noemi shrugged into her denim jacket as she walked out of the hospital. A fine mist of rain was falling, and the November night was bitterly cold. Noemi shivered as the breeze whipped around her. She walked briskly to her car, an ancient Volkswagen with intermittent heating and a rattle that Noemi ignored. She got in and tried to start the ignition. It faltered twice then died. “Oh, no, not now…” She tried again, but the car was dead. “Fuck, fuck, fuckety fuck,” she muttered, then jumped violently as someone rapped on her window.

  Rafa Genova smiled at her as she rolled the window down. Yes, her car was old enough to have manual windows. “Hey, Noemi… trouble?”

  “I’m good with hearts, Rafa, but not with cars.”

  He laughed softly. “Let me have a look. Pop the hood, would you?”

  Noemi watched him as he checked out the engine, seemingly oblivious to the rain. His dark curls stuck to his face as his hair got soaked through, and a small curl of desire warmed Noemi’s stomach.

  Stop it. He’s Tomi’s man, and you love Tomi. Stop it.

  Noemi looked away as Rafa stood back at up. “It’s completely dead, I’m afraid. I could try to jump-start you, but I’m not sure you’d make it all the way home.”

  “Oh, darn it. Well, I guess it’s the bus for me then. Thanks anyway, Rafa. I do appreciate it.”

  “Nonsense, I’ll drive you home. We can arrange for your car to be picked up too.”

  Noemi shook her head. “No, honestly, you’ve been kind enough.”

  But he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He called his assistant as they walked back to his Mercedes and arranged for her car to be towed to an auto shop.

  Rafa drove her home. Luckily, she didn’t live very far from the hospital, so she didn’t feel too badly for taking him away from Tomi. He asked her how Thomasina was doing.

  “She’s in good spirits, Rafa, and she finally ate an entire meal. That’s a really good sign. It means she’s getting stronger. Any little step like that means she’s more likely to survive a transplant.”

  Rafael nodded. “I know you can’t answer this, but…”

  “The chances of getting a heart are what they are, Rafa.”

  “I know,” he said softly, and her heart ached for him.

  “Is Bepi okay?”

  “He’s asking a lot of questions about his mom. I keep saying she’s going to be okay, but it’s getting to the point where I can’t lie to him.”

  “You’re not lying to him, Rafa. He’s two.”

  For a long time Rafa was silent before he looked over at her. “What if we lose her, Noemi? Then what do I tell my son?”

  Her throat closed, and she shook her head. “I can’t answer that for you, Rafa. I have never lost anyone that close.”

  “I’m glad.”

  “I wish I could advise you… Look, let’s not dwell on that—positive thoughts and all that.”

  Rafa smiled, and her stomach flipped. She looked away. “You mean,” he said, “that you doctors believe in karma? That old cliché?”

  “Hell, yes! We’ll take anything like that!” she retorted, and they both laughed.

  At her apartment building, she thanked him. “You’re a lifesaver.”

  “Least I could do. Goodnight, Noe.”

  “Goodnight, Rafa.”

  In the morning, she found a set of keys pushed through her door mail slot with a note: A loaner for as long as you need it. R.

  Outside, a brand-new silver Lexus was parked next to the curb.

  Chapter Two

  “Obviously I can’t accept it.” Even as Noemi talked to her sister Leonora on the phone, she was sliding into the driver’s seat. She groaned. “Oh, God, Leo… so comfy.”

  Her sister—adopted sister—laughed. “Yeah, you’re a goner. How does it feel to be driving a real car?”

  “I’ll have you know Penelope has been a loyal friend to me.”

  “You named your piece of junk Volkswagen Penelope?”

  Noemi grinned. “And I would name this little beauty… um… Agamemnon.”

  Leonora laughed. “You are quite insane, sis. Listen, I know you’ve answered this before, but you did remember to take some vacation the weekend of Dad’s birthday, right? No sudden emergency surgeries? He’s only seventy-five once.”

  Her sister’s voice carried a warning: Cancel and incur my wrath. Noemi smiled. “All vacation is approved,” she said in a robotic voice. “Orders have been followed.”

  She heard Leonora’s half-amused, half-exasperated sigh. “Good. Then I won’t have to kill you.”

  “Talking of people to kill, I have to get to work, so I’ll speak to you later.”

  Noemi steered the car through the early morning Seattle traffic. Outside, dark clouds packed the sky and the wind was freezing cold and unrelenting. She would call Rafael and thank him when she got to work, but there was no way she could accept this gift, even if it was only a loaner. What a sweet guy. Noemi was still smiling to herself when her phone buzzed again. She pulled the car over when she saw it was a 911.

  Dieter was on the phone. “Noe, where are you?”

  She told him.

  “Good. You need to get over to Tacoma right now. UNOS called. They have a heart for Thomasina Ballentine.”

  �
��You’re kidding?” Her own heart leaped. “Really?”

  “Really… and the helicopter is out of service because of the storm. You’re nearest.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Oh, thank God, thank God. Rafael, this is the karma you made fun of last night… Smiling, Noemi turned the car around and sped out of the city towards Tacoma.

  Two hours later and she was stepping back into the car, her precious cargo strapped into the seat beside her. The hospital had been surprised when she turned up in her own car, not in an official vehicle, but luckily, Noemi not only had her medical credentials with her, but the cardio attending had given her privileges, all while trying to persuade Noemi to transfer to his program.

  “Aw, come on, Noe,” Finn Wilder said as she operated, “What’s keeping you in Seattle? We need you.”

  Noemi had laughed his request off, but she knew he meant it. She was one of the rising stars of cardio on the West Coast—and she’d worked damned hard to get there.

  “Finn… one day, maybe.”

  Finn had been a few years ahead of her, but they’d always had a flirtatious relationship, even in med school. Finn was a cute, dark-blonde boy from Texas with an ‘Aww Dad’ charm about him. Sexy, too, but Noemi was aware that he was a player and had put him squarely in the Friend Zone, although she did occasionally wonder what a fling with Finn would be like. Fun, hot—and uncomplicated, she guessed.

  He gave her his cell number as she left the hospital. “Just in case you feel like some fun,” he grinned, utterly confident in his charm. Noemi laughed.

  “I’ll think about it, Wilder.”

  She was still laughing as she pulled out onto the Interstate. She had to admit, it felt good to be flirted with. It had been a couple of years since she last dated anyone—even longer since she’d actually slept with anyone.

  Noemi went through a mental inventory of what she would have to do when she got to the hospital. She knew Thomasina would have been informed and was probably already in theater, ready for Noemi to arrive. Thank God, Tomi…