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And as that Latino god began to move, his hips rolling, she suddenly understood why they didn’t play that song at high-school dances. Why her parents hated that song. As she sat there on the couch, her friends screaming around her and that gorgeous specimen of a man’s dark eyes locked on her, only her, he grinned at her, as if knowing she was completely aroused by him. He rolled his hips and peeled his shirt off, revealing a tattoo on a muscle-hardened chest, and she realized what she’d been missing. Why she’d been uptight. When was the last time she’d been with someone?
It had been a long time.
Kiri’s leg began to tap in a nervous twitch she’d had since she was a kid, when she’d been the chubby geek that no one had paid attention to.
He moved toward her and laid a strong hand against her leg, settling the incessant tapping. His touch burned and set her blood on fire, her body reacting to the pure magnetism and sex he was exuding.
And for some reason he was focused on her.
He’s being paid to do this. This is what Sandy wanted.
And that’s what she was telling herself as he moved closer to her, pushing her back against the pillows, dancing just for her. He placed her hands on his narrow hips as he moved above her.
“Um...” slipped past her lips and she was mesmerized. Even though she knew it was all an act, this man held her in complete rapture. His deep, dark eyes were locked on hers and there was something about him that completely sucked her in.
Then he turned his back to her as the song ended and Kiri still sat there stunned. The Bellini she had been holding was no longer slushy but melted as she’d been gripping the glass so tightly before he’d taken it from her, deposited it on a table and placed her cool hands on his warm-skinned hips. Her heart was racing and it felt like she was on fire.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so turned on, so enthralled by a man. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d had sex. It had been during her residency and with Chad, the man who had broken her heart, but for the life of her all those moments with Chad were obliterated. All she saw was this gorgeous man in front of her. All she could think about was having him. That much she knew.
The last several years she’d been so focused on becoming a pediatric surgeon she’d thrown every last piece of herself into becoming the best darned surgeon in the program. So much so she’d forgotten how much she missed connecting with another person.
Just wanting a simple touch.
A kiss.
And more.
I have to get out of here.
The exotic dancers were now focused on Sandy, which was good. She left her glass of sludgy, melted Bellini on the side table and slipped out of the villa, putting some distance between her and the bachelorette party as fast as her little legs could carry her before she did something she’d completely regret.
* * *
“That was a good show tonight. Don’t you think, Alejandro?”
“What?” Alejandro asked. He hadn’t been really listening to Fernando, one of the dancers in his troupe, as they sat in the lounge of the hotel after entertaining that group of women at the bachelorette party. His thoughts were strictly on the beautiful woman he’d given the private dance to at the beginning. The one who had slipped out of the party when his back had been turned.
The one who was now sitting alone at the bar, nursing a glass of wine. Alejandro couldn’t take his eyes off her. She had curves in all the right places and though she was short, her legs looked long and were crossed in a ladylike way and she was swirling her one foot around.
Maybe it was the tight black dress or the stilettos that accentuated her beauty; either way, he couldn’t tear his eyes from her gorgeous legs.
“Yo, Alejandro? Snap out of it.” Fernando waved a hand in front of his face.
“What?” Alejandro said again.
“I asked you if you thought it went well tonight. I was a bit surprised when Ricky decided to fly us in from Miami to Las Vegas, but now, with this cut from that bachelorette party and being put up at this swanky hotel until tomorrow night, I’m never going to question a thing he says again.”
“Yeah, yeah, for sure.” Alejandro got up from the table where he’d been sitting with his fellow dancers. “I think I’m going to stick around here tonight, rather than go out.”
“You sure, bro?” another of them asked.
Alejandro nodded. “Yeah. I’m tired.”
And he really didn’t want to spend the large cut he’d just received on gambling and drinking tonight. Not when this was the last bit of the money he needed to pay off his student loans. This was finally his freedom from exotic dancing.
His freedom from Ricky.
He’d made it all through medical school without his older brothers finding out about what he did. They’d offered to help him pay for medical school, but they had sacrificed enough for him so he’d told them he worked down at the docks, gutting fish, and had been adamant he’d pay his own way through medical school. They didn’t need to know he’d started as a dance host in a seedy samba bar before being discovered by Ricky and moving into this. Next week he was starting a residency in transplant surgery in Miami in the pediatric department of Buena Vista Hospital and he wouldn’t have to dance again.
This had been his last dance and he’d never had a client walk out on him before. It was bothering him a bit.
As his friends left the bar to seek other pleasures for the rest of the night, Alejandro drummed up enough courage to go over and talk to her. He hoped he wouldn’t offend her. That was the last thing he wanted to do.
He’d been a little unnerved when he’d been sent out to retrieve her from the villa courtyard. When he’d seen her, he’d been stunned by her beauty. She was curvy, but he liked a woman who was curvy. Her long black hair had shimmered in the moonlight and those large, dark eyes made him melt just a bit.
There were a lot of beautiful women he’d been drawn to over his years of dancing, but nothing like this. It was like a bolt of pure, electric attraction. He wanted to run his hands over her body, taste her lips, touch her silky hair. He was asking for trouble just approaching her, because clients were against his rules, but he had to know why she’d been so disgusted with him.
Walk away, Alejandro.
“I’ll have a mineral water and a twist of lemon,” he said to the bartender as he took the empty seat beside her, his heart hammering against his rib cage. He’d never felt so nervous around a woman before.
What was it about her?
“Sure thing.” The bartender moved away and the woman glanced over at him, her dark eyes widening in shock. A blush tinged her caramel cheeks and Alejandro knew that she recognized him but didn’t want to admit it.
“You slipped out,” he said, not looking at her, keeping his gaze fixed on the rows of bottles behind the bar.
“Pardon?” she said, her voice quivering a bit.
He turned to her. “You slipped out of the show at your friend’s villa.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She fidgeted with the stem of her wine glass. He leaned over and caught the scent of coconut in her dark hair and he drank it in.
“Ah, but you do, mi tesoro,” he whispered in her ear.
The bartender brought him the mineral water and Alejandro paid him. He picked up the highball glass and took a sip, watching her as she fidgeted, obviously uncomfortable in his presence.
“Well, perhaps I was mistaken. Have a good night.” He turned to walk away.
“Why would it matter?” she asked.
He turned. “Why would what matter?”
“You noticing me leaving.”
“Yes, I did.”
“I’m sure women leave you...” She cleared her throat. “I’m sure they leave your shows all the time.”
Alejandro sat back down. “Not my shows.”
She snorted and he was enchanted. “You’re awfully arrogant.”
“I have every right to be. I’m good at what I do.” He winked at her and she smiled. He was getting through the walls she’d built up. Not that he knew why she’d built such impenetrable walls, but he knew when he’d been dancing for her that she’d been keeping a part of herself locked away and that was very intriguing to him.
Why would she hide herself away?
“So you’re telling me that in a nightclub you notice if people come and go?”
“No, I’m not saying that.”
“You just did!” Then she imitated him. “‘Not my shows.’”
He chuckled. It was sexy the way she tried to get her high voice to deepen. Her brow furrowed and her lips pursed a bit when she did it. “That’s a very good impression.”
She blushed again. “So are you denying you said that?”
“No, I’m not, just that I don’t dance in nightclubs, which is a polite way of saying strip clubs.”
She pushed back an errant strand of her inky-black hair. “Strip clubs, then.”
“I don’t dance in strip clubs. I used to dance in samba bars, but the clothes stayed on. Now my services are primarily hired for private sessions like tonight. I’m that good. Women are willing to pay my agent whatever I desire.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re laying it on thick. No one is that good.”
“I am. I take pride in my work. Don’t you take pride in your work?”
“I do. In fact, I’m one of the best there is.”
He cocked an eyebrow, even more intrigued, and he couldn’t help but wonder what else she was good at. “Really?”
“Yes. Which is why I left the party early. Work is that important to me. I had things to look over.”
“Then how do you unwind?”
“Unwind? What is this mythical thing you’re talking about?” she teased.
Alejandro couldn’t help but laugh. His older brothers often teased him about working too hard, never relaxing. Only he didn’t really feel like he had the right to unwind. He had to work hard. He had too much to live up to.
“Perhaps you’re right. For those of us dedicated to what we do, there is no down time. Also, there is no perfection until all parties are satisfied, and I don’t think you were satisfied with my performance.”
And the blush tinged her cheeks again. “I’m sorry for walking out.”
“Then allow me to show you what you missed.”
What’re you doing?
“What?” she said, her voice hitching. “I don’t have that... I don’t even know your name. I can’t go off with a stranger.”
Alejandro reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his business card.
“My name is Alejandro. There is all my business information. I’m fully bonded. I take my work seriously and wouldn’t jeopardize that. I dance. That’s all. I’m not a gigolo and nothing untoward would happen. It’s hands-off.”
She took the card. “Why do you want me to go with you?”
“Like I said, I don’t like leaving a customer unsatisfied.” He held out his hand. “Your friend paid me to put on a good show for her bridal party. Please let me finish it.”
Never had he ever approached a customer, but it bothered him that she’d walked out of his performance. Or maybe it was the fact he thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen someone so beautiful.
Either way, he waited with bated breath for her answer, expecting her to say no.
She drank down the rest of her wine. “I’m probably crazy, but this is Vegas and what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?”
His pulse thundered between his ears as he held her soft, delicate hand in his. “Absolutely.”
CHAPTER ONE (#u993cb895-11b7-5b39-aed1-e5ec97af8612)
Five years later. Miami, spring
“YOU KNOW YOU MARRIED the ugly brother, right?” Alejandro was teasing his new sister-in-law Saoirse Murphy on her marriage to his brother. His ugly brother.
Saoirse, a fiery Irish beauty, had recently married Santiago, who was rolling his eyes as Alejandro and the twins, Rafe and Dante, joined in the good-natured ribbing. They were all the “ugly brothers,” but right now Santi was taking the heat because he’d been the first of the Valentino brothers to take the plunge and marry.
“It’s your fault,” Santi shouted, pointing at Dante and Rafe. “You two are the elders. You should be married already, then I wouldn’t be getting this teasing from the baby.”
Alejandro chuckled and moved out of the line of fire. He knew Dante and Rafe didn’t like to be referred to as the elders, but Santi and he had always done that behind their backs.
The elders were surrogate fathers to him. As Santi had been, before he’d run off and joined the Marines. All because of a robbery in the family bodega. A robbery that had almost cost Alejandro his life, as well. He’d been caught in the cross fire, taking a bullet in the chest at the age of ten.
He’d be dead if it hadn’t been for his father’s heart saving his life, and because of his father’s death he carried a piece of his father with him. It was a huge responsibility he carried proudly. Which was why he was now one of the best pediatric transplant surgeons at Buena Vista Hospital.
Speaking of which...
“I’m sorry, I have to get to the hospital. The new head of pediatric surgery starts today. Apparently she’s a bit of a culo duro.”
“Culo duro?” Saoirse asked Santi.
“Hard ass,” Santi said to his new bride, and then he turned to Alejandro. “Don’t judge the new head just yet, baby brother. She might not be as bad as the rumors make her out to be.”
Alejandro ground his teeth at Santi calling him “baby brother.” He hated that, just as much as Rafe and Dante hated being called the elders, but, then, it was all in good fun and he deserved it a bit for calling Santi the ugly one.
Instead of sniping back, Alejandro took Saoirse’s hand in his and kissed her knuckles. “Sorry for not sticking around too long, so let me say felicitaciones les deseamos a ambos toda la felicidad del mundo.”
Saoirse’s brow furrowed. “Congratulations...wishing both of you...”
“All the happiness in the world.” Alejandro kissed her hand again.
“Suficiente idiota!” Santi said, slapping Alejandro upside the head.
