The footage cuts back to Desiree. “Ms. Diaz and her son found themselves in the right place at the right time today, and little Mateo is resting comfortably tonight after surgery to remove the tumor. Dr. Northrup told Ms. Diaz that with follow-up treatment, her son has a good chance of recovering from his ordeal. No doubt that chance was made better by Dr. Northrup, a nationally recognized expert in this particular pediatric brain tumor, which makes the citizens of Miami lucky to have him in our community. This is Desiree Rivera reporting from Miami-Dade General Hospital for NBC 6 News.”
“What an incredible story, Desiree. Thank you for bringing that to us.”
“Holy crap.” I look at Jason, who seems as stunned as I feel. “She never even mentioned New York! This is best-case scenario, Jason.” I whip out my phone. “I’ve got to get that story linked to the Instagram account.” It takes a few minutes of clicking around on my phone to locate the video on the NBC 6 website and get it loaded on Jason’s Insta account. I make liberal use of hashtags, including Miami, newdoc, pediatricneurosurgeon and lifesaver.
“How did Desiree know we’d transported him?”
I can’t tell if he’s happy she knew or pissed. “Um, I might’ve texted her to let her know you identified an emergency at the clinic and were taking him to Miami-Dade. I hope that’s okay.”
“Yeah, of course. The mother signed the release, so it’s fine. And it was good thinking. That story was just . . .”
“It was just what we needed.”
He puts his arm around me and brings me into his warm embrace. “I’ll never be able to thank you for what you’ve done. You’ve brought about a miracle in a few days’ time.”
“You brought about your own miracle with what you did for that child today.”
“It’s all you. Without you, I’d be sitting in a hotel room spinning in my own misery while people I’ve never met debate whether my career should continue. But you . . . Look what you’ve done, Carmen.”
I bask in the glow of his praise. That someone as accomplished as he is should think so much of me professionally is a heady moment. “We’ve done it together.”
He squeezes my shoulder. “Yes, we have, and we’re going to do it again together.”
I give him my best sexy coy look. “Are we still talking about redeeming your reputation?”
He runs his hand up and down my arm in a gentle caress I feel everywhere. “Among other things.”
I’m crazy about him. I’ve lost all perspective where he’s concerned. What took years to happen with Tony has occurred in a matter of days with Jason. Granted, I’m fifteen years older than I was when I met Tony. I was still a child then. Our relationship came from a place of friendship first and grew into much more as we got older and became more aware of all the things it could be.
This, with Jason, is far more immediate and urgent. The more time I spend with him, the more time I want with him. I rest my head against his chest as the TV weatherman drones on about another South Florida scorcher on tap for tomorrow.
“I should go and let you get some rest,” he says after a long period of quiet.
I don’t want him to go, but I can’t seem to get the words out at first. “You . . . You don’t have to. Go, I mean. If you don’t want to.” I cringe at how silly I must sound to him.
“I don’t want to be anywhere but with you, but only if that’s what you want, too.”
I raise my head off his chest to look him in the eyes. “It’s what I want. Stay.”
He smiles and leans in to kiss me. “Can I borrow your toothbrush?”
“I can do you one better. I’ve got a brand new one with your name on it.”
“See? It’s meant to be.”
I’m beginning to think he might be right about that.
JASON
Being in bed with Carmen is surreal and exciting, so exciting that sleep is the last thing on my mind while she’s warm and cozy in my arms. I breathe in the fresh, clean scent of her hair and nuzzle her satiny soft skin. Her skin is to die for. My hand slides under her T-shirt to cup a breast that fills my palm to overflowing. I’ve had her twice, and I want more. I’m addicted to her. Carmen has blotted out Ginger, like a total eclipse of the sun, or in this case, a total eclipse of the mess I left behind in New York.
When I pinch her nipple lightly between my fingers, she squirms in my arms and presses her ass against my hard cock. I should be exhausted after the day I put in. I usually crash and burn after a long, intense surgery like the one I performed earlier, but I’m wide awake, keyed up and incredibly turned on.
I couldn’t believe that news story she orchestrated or how perfectly it worked out to put the emphasis on my skills rather than the scandal. I’ll send the link to my mom tomorrow. She’ll love it and will be relieved to see things moving in the right direction. It’s all thanks to Carmen. I suppose I need to tell Mom about her, too.
“Jason!”
“Sí, bebé?”
She goes still in my arms.
“I’ve been practicing my Spanish.”
“When have you been practicing your Spanish? You haven’t had time to breathe.”
“In between things. Mostly I’m looking for a special name for you. How do you feel about bebé?”
“What’re my other options?”
I continue to toy with her nipple while I recall the list of words I committed to memory while I waited for Mateo to stabilize to the point where I felt comfortable leaving him in the capable hands of the surgical nurses. They know to call me if his condition changes.
“There’s corazón.” Sweetheart. “Bonita.” Beautiful. “Hermosa.” Gorgeous. “Cariño.” Honey.
She inhales sharply. “Not that.”
That must be what Tony called her. Cross that off the list. “Querida.” Darling. “And my personal favorite, Rizo.”
She cracks up laughing as I hoped she would. Rizo means curly.
I twirl a wild curl around my index finger. “I think that might be our winner.” For now, anyway, because it’s probably too soon for mi amor. My love. But I already suspect I could love this extraordinary, courageous, smart, inventive, resilient woman.
She’s an intriguing mix of innocence and worldly experience. I’ve never met anyone quite like her. I’ve certainly never met anyone I admire as much as I do her. What she survived at such a young age would’ve ruined a lesser person. But not mi tesoro, my treasure. She picked herself up from the ashes of her husband’s tragic, senseless death, finished college and graduate school and has made such a huge difference in my life since we met with her skill and passion for the task at hand.
I want to do something to show her how thankful I am. No matter what happens with Miami-Dade, the first chance we get, I’ll whisk her away to the Bahamas for a long weekend or something else that will tell her how much her efforts mean to me.
One minute I’m caressing her breast and thinking about the Bahamas, and the next minute, or so it seems, the alarm on Carmen’s phone is going off. I can’t recall the last time I slept as soundly as I did with her in my arms, steeped in the bewitching scent of her hair. Her hand is entwined with mine, and the sweet intimacy of that touches me profoundly.