The Doctor's Forbidden Temptation. Tina Beckett

husband Marcos, Natália and Sebastian all worked at the same hospital, in fact. And now Maggie was pregnant. Very pregnant.

      “You kissed who?”

      Natália shook her head, suddenly remembering that she hadn’t seen Maggie in the two days since she’d had Adam over to her apartment and locked lips with him. Thank God her car had been delivered the morning after, so she hadn’t needed to call him and ask him for anything else. It was all too humiliating. Not only having to confess that she didn’t have a date but kissing the man like a hungry piranha finding its first good meal after the rains came.

      Women loved Adam and the man knew it. He had to. She saw the looks they gave him in the hospital corridors.

      “Adam Cordeiro.”

      “The orthopedic surgeon?”

      Maggie was an American who’d come over to Brazil on a special exchange program and who’d ended up staying after she married Marcos. Although she was fluent in the language, she still had a charming accent and periodically stumbled over an unfamiliar word or phrase.

      “Yes.”

      “Aren’t he and Sebastian good friends?”

      Natália crinkled her nose. “Yes. We all kind of grew up together.”

      “I bet that was awkward.”

      “It was horrible.”

      Maggie’s eyes widened as she sat on the table, waiting for her obstetrician to get there. “The kiss? I always thought Dr. Cordeiro was kind of cute.”

      “Says the woman who is pregnant with another hottie’s baby.”

      Her friend’s hands smoothed over her round belly. “Oh, believe me, I am not looking to swap partners.”

      “Adam is not my partner.”

      “I would hope not, if he’s a terrible kisser.”

      Natália’s eyes closed for a second before she looked at her friend again in exasperation. “That’s the problem. It wasn’t a horrible kiss. It was a good kiss.”

      “I thought you just said it was bad.”

      This time she laughed. “No. Not the kiss. That was phenomenal. The horrible part was that it was Adam and not someone else.”

      “You don’t like him?”

      She dropped into the chair across from the table. “He’s like a brother. Well, more like he sees me as an annoying little sister. He only kissed me because the fortune cookie told him to.”

      “What? Okay, Nata. You have got to slow this train down a little bit. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

      “Well, I certainly hope not because that would mean everyone else at the hospital knows what happened.”

      “Including your brother?”

      Natália groaned and leaned forward in her chair, rubbing the scar hidden beneath her white lab coat. Images of her teenage years and the way everyone had coddled and protected her came to mind. Including Adam.

      “Don’t even talk about Sebastian. Adam was more worried about him finding out than anything else.” She quickly gave her friend a summary of what had happened between her and Adam, zeroing in on how she had kissed him on the cheek, only to have him suddenly swoop down and cover her mouth with his. It had been...magical. And horrible. And...confusing.

      Maggie slid off the table and came to sit on the chair next to hers, making sure her hospital gown was firmly covering her thighs, Natália noticed. Her friend had scars of her own from where she’d self-harmed many years ago. “So, did you want it to be different than it was?”

      Did she? Natália had no idea really. Did she want Adam to be attracted to her?

      Hadn’t he said that any man in his right mind would be? Yes. Which meant he was just giving her a logical excuse for that kiss. Logical, though, meant that he didn’t see his reaction to her any differently than his reaction to any woman he found attractive.

      So how many women besides his ex-wife had he kissed the same way he had her?

      Was she kidding? This was Adam she was talking about.

      So that number was way more than she cared to imagine.

      “It would be far too complicated between us. He is as irritating and bossy as Sebastian. He doesn’t see me as an adult.”

      Maggie covered her hand with hers. “I don’t think that’s quite true. If that kiss was anything like you say it was, he definitely sees you as an adult. Even if he doesn’t want to admit it.”

      “You think so?” The question was rhetorical, she didn’t really want an answer. Or did she?

      “I do.” Maggie stood and wiggled her way back onto the exam table. “And if this baby keeps putting off making an appearance, his little brother is going to be all grown up with children of his own.”

      Natália tensed for a moment before forcing herself to relax again. This was one of her best friends. And if anyone deserved to have a healthy, happy baby, it was her.

      “You still have six weeks before your due date.”

      Her friend groaned. “Do not remind me. I am ready to pop.”

      With that, the conversation thankfully returned to Maggie’s pregnancy and how far behind her friend was in decorating the nursery and making room for the pile of baby clothes she expected to amass at the baby shower Natália was throwing for her. “You can’t have the baby before the shower.”

      “How about as soon as it’s over?”

      Natália laughed. “Yes. As soon as it’s over I will personally drive you to the hospital.”

      She could only hope that the party and all the preparations leading up to it would help take her mind off of a certain handsome orthopedic surgeon.

      Or else she was in big trouble.