Saved by The Boss

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Seattle

Romy shoved her chestnut brown hair up into a ponytail as she jogged quickly along the hospital corridors. Damn Seattle traffic. She had been so organized right up until she’d hit the traffic accident on the Alaskan Way viaduct. Now she’d missed the first few minutes of rounds, and on the worst possible day. So not a good first impression to make. Still cursing herself, she hurried to catch up with her colleagues in the general surgery department.

Rounding the corner at a fast clip, she heard his voice before she saw him, a deep, mellifluous tone which she knew made woman weak. She might never have met the man, but his voice was as legendary as his surgical skills. Oh yeah. And his body. People talked about that in the same breath as his medical accomplishments.

He spoke again and she thrilled at the husky hint of an accent—Italian, maybe?—in it.

“If the infection worsens we’ll consider a shunt, but in all likelihood, it will resolve rapidly since it was caught at the outset.”

Romy blinked in surprise at the words. Blue Allende, he of the oh-so-sexy voice, was a superstar surgeon. Not even forty years old, he was at the top of his game, and also at the top of most hospital’s wish-lists. With the reputed looks of a movie star and the serious, brooding intelligence of someone a lot older, Blue Allende’s reputation preceded him. So why was he standing around with a motley crew of doctors, nurses, and interns, discussing something as mundane as a shunt?

It gave her pause and jumpstarted her liking for the man who, apparently, wasn’t your average arrogant genius surgeon. But Romy was still late, and no doctor appreciated tardiness, particularly not one with such a packed schedule …

Goddamn it.

Stopping outside the door she saw a bunch of other residents and slipped in among them, hoping she wouldn’t be noticed and knowing she didn’t stand a prayer.

Her friend Mac, an affable African American with a sweet face and a wicked sense of humor, grinned and nudged her. “Late for the rockstar, Sasse,” he hissed, “genius move.”

Romy poked him with her elbow, rolling her eyes. “What did I miss?”

Suddenly the crowd of doctors parted and she saw him where he’d been leaning over a sedated patient. Her breath caught in her throat as Blue Allende turned bright green eyes on her.

All the usual hospital noises faded into the background as she was caught in that fiercely intelligent gaze.

Jesus, Romy thought, this man doesn’t belong in an operating theater; he belongs on a cat walk or on the cover of Vogue.

He was gorgeous. The bright green eyes were surrounded by thick, black eyelashes on a face carved from Italian marble. A shock of dark curls fell messily about his head … then she noticed his wide, sensual mouth set in a thin line.

Ah, s**t. She’d like to have seen that mouth in something other than a scowl.

“Dr. Sasse, welcome.”

That voice from up close. Wowwowwow. And … he knew her name? Romy prayed not to stutter. “Apologies for my tardiness, Dr. Allende; it won’t happen again.”

Was that a hint of amusement that flashed in those devastatingly beautiful eyes, and maybe a slight hitching up of the mouth? No sooner had Romy thought she’d seen it than it was gone. He turned back to his patient and Romy was grateful he hadn’t shamed her in front of everyone else. One more point in his favor, bigtime.

“Got away with it,” Mac muttered in her ear, and Romy sighed with relief.

As they moved through rounds, she was impressed by Allende’s in-depth knowledge of his cases and the way he coaxed the residents to find answers to his questions, rather than merely lecturing. Even when they got a fact wrong, he didn’t sneer or bark at them. Furthermore, he treated patients like friends, addressing them with as much candor as compassion, taking his time rather than rushing right along.

More than slightly blown away by the whole picture, Romy watched him carefully and was confused when she spotted him in an unguarded moment when the group was discussing a situation and he apparently thought no one was paying attention to him. Also not typical. Grandstanding surgeons believed the spotlight was always on them. In that brief second though, she saw something in his eyes that she recognized all too well.

Pain. Sorrow.

Romy was so distracted by the revelation that she didn’t realize the focus had shifted and everyone was staring at her. Suddenly feeling the heat of their stares, she swallowed hard, flushing. “I’m sorry, Dr. Allende, could you repeat the question?”

The amused look was back, displacing sorrow. “I was asking if you could give me the ways we can use to diagnose ankylosing spondylitis?”

Romy cleared her throat. “Of course.” She ran through the options and then concluded, “Of course, the disease is notoriously hard to diagnose, and once identified, it usually is a case of pain management. Opioids have little effect pain-wise, but we could try medical m*******a as a last resort.”

“Hail Mary,” said the patient, a young man in his twenties, and they all laughed.

“As a last resort, Billy.” Blue smiled and Romy’s entire body reacted to it. It lit up his handsome face and Romy could feel a beat pulsing between her legs. Stop it, she told herself, do not get a crush on your boss.

After rounds, Blue asked to see her in his office. He motioned to the chair opposite his desk and Romy sat down, trembling with nervousness. Was she about to be bawled out for being late?

“Don’t look so scared,” he said mildly, his tone neutral but somehow still warm. “It’s just an introduction. I didn’t get to meet you like the other residents.”

From someone else that would have sounded passive aggressive. From him, it came across as oddly sincere.

“I’m sorry for being late, Dr. Allende,” she apologized.

“Happens to us all.”

Before she could blink at that, he picked up a file and opened it.

“Dr. Romy Sasse, age twenty-nine, graduated top of your class at Stamford, did your internship and part of your residency at Johns Hopkins … why transfer here for your last year? Johns Hopkins was very reluctant to let you go; we had to fight for you.”

Old memories made her cold inside. “I had to come home to Seattle. Personal reasons. Also, my mother is getting married, rather unexpectedly.”

“And she needs you to be here?”

Romy hesitated. “No, it’s not that, but …”

“But what?”

Romy sighed. It was none of his business, but she owed him this much after being late. “My sisters, Juno and Artemis, asked me to come. I’m the middle sister, the peacemaker. They have some concerns about Mom’s fiancé.”

“Really?” Blue looked interested, even though Romy couldn’t for the life of her figure out why. Or why she just kept talking.

“It’s not that he’s a bad person, though I still haven’t officially met him yet. But he’s so entirely not what we thought Mom would go for …” Abruptly, she halted, catching herself in mid-ramble. “I’m sorry, you really don’t need to know this.”

“No, please go on.”

Romy frowned. “Well, then, you should know, my mom is a free spirit, a rainbow child, a hippie. Look at our names.”

Blue smiled. “Okay, so Juno and Artemis, I get, but Romy?”

“Short for Romulus. Yes, I know it’s technically a boy’s name but, you see, I was a twin. Fraternal. My brother, Remy—Remus—died when we were five years old.” God, the pain of it still haunted Romy. “Mom thought I was a boy too when she was pregnant, hence the name.”

“So your name is actually Romulus?”

She was grateful he didn’t press her for more details about Remy. “No, she managed to change it at the last moment on the birth certificate. Romy is my legal name.”

“And you don’t like your future stepfather?”

“I don’t know him.”

Suddenly Blue grinned. “I think your mom and Stuart Eames will be just fine.”

Romy gaped at him in astonishment. “How the hell …?”

He laughed, and his face looked even more desperately handsome than ever. “Believe it or not, I wasn’t interrogating you without an actual purpose. You see, Romy Sasse, Stuart Eames is my father. So, technically, we’re about to be siblings. Welcome to the family, Romy.”