Her Little Spanish Secret

Laura Iding

Her Little

Spanish Secret

Laura Iding

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

Dear Reader

Like many of you I’ve spent years as an armchair traveller, learning about other countries and other cultures by reading rather than visiting.

Last year I had the tremendous opportunity to visit Seville (pronounced Sevilla), in Spain. My family and I had a great time, and when I returned home I had this story whirling around in my head about how an American woman falls in love with a Spanish surgeon.

Miguel and Kat originally meet in the US, when Miguel is an exchange student, but when they meet again Kat is visiting Miguel’s home city of Seville. Sparks flash and the passion that they shared once before returns in force. But can they create a life together coming from such different cultures? Will true love conquer all?

I hope you enjoy reading Miguel and Kat’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Don’t hesitate to visit my website or find me on Facebook—I love to hear from my readers.

Sincerely

Laura Iding

www.lauraiding.com

Recent titles by Laura Iding:

DATING DR DELICIOUS

A KNIGHT FOR NURSE HART

THE NURSE’S BROODING BOSS

THE SURGEON’S NEW YEAR WEDDING WISH

EXPECTING A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE

These books are also available in eBook format from www.millsandboon.co.uk

This book is dedicated to the Milwaukee WisRWA group. Thanks to all of you for your ongoing support.

PROLOGUE

Four and a half years earlier …

KAT had never seen so much blood—it pooled on the floor and stained the walls of the O.R. suite. Dr. Miguel Vasquez, along with two other trauma surgeons, had worked as hard as they could to stop the bleeding but to no avail. Their young, pregnant patient and her unborn baby had died.

After the poor woman’s body had been sent to the morgue, Kat was left alone to finish putting the supplies and equipment away while the housekeepers cleaned up the blood. Only once they were finished did she head over to the staff locker room. Thankfully, her shift was over, she was exhausted. Yet as tired as she was physically, she was emotionally keyed up, and couldn’t get the horrific scene from the O.R. out of her mind. They hadn’t had a case like that in a long time.

After she changed out of her scrubs into a pair of well-worn jeans and a short-sleeved sweater, she found Dr. Vasquez sitting in the staff lounge, holding his head in his hands. He looked so upset and dejected that she stopped—unable to simply walk away.

“Please don’t torture yourself over this,” she urged softly, as she sank down beside him on the sofa close enough that their shoulders brushed. “Her death wasn’t your fault.”

Miguel slowly lifted and turned his head to look at her, his eyes full of agony. “I should have called the rest of the team in earlier.”

“You called them as soon as you discovered her abdomen was full of blood and they came as soon as they could,” she corrected. “No one knew she was pregnant, it was too early to tell.”

“I should have examined her more closely down in the trauma bay,” he muttered, more to himself than to her. “Then we would have known.”

“Do you really think that would have made a difference?” she asked softly. “Even if the other two surgeons had been notified earlier, they wouldn’t have been able to come right away. Dr. Baccus said they were resuscitating a patient in the I.C.U. All of us in the O.R. suite did the best we could.”

He stared at her for a long moment, and then sighed. “I can’t help thinking about what I should have done differently. I know we can’t save every patient, but she was just so young. And pregnant. I can’t help feeling I failed her.”

She put her hand on his arm, trying to offer some reassurance. “If three of the best trauma surgeons in the whole hospital couldn’t save her or her baby, then it wasn’t meant to be.”

A ghost of a smile played along the edges of his mouth, and she was glad she’d been able to make him feel a little better. Because what she’d said was true. Everyone talked about Miguel’s skill in the O.R. He could have stayed he