Page 75 of Dr. Stone
I reached a front reception desk marked simply.
Cardiovascular Associates:
Dr. Jacob Mitchell – Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Dr. Jace Stone –Cardiothoracic & Vascular Innovation
There were morenames beneath theirs, all in the same precise script. These were the best of the best, and Jace wasn’t just part of it; he was one of the top names on the glass. The young receptionist glanced up with her professional smile in place. “May I help you?”
“Yeah, I’m here to see if Dr. Stone is out to lunch yet?”
“Sure,” she smiled, her eyes studying mine for a moment, then continued. “Let me page him. He just finished a consult and may have already left.”
I inwardly smiled, wondering how many random women had shown up at Jace’s office, hoping to have more with him. The receptionist’s reaction made me think I wasn’t the first to pop in without notice and badger the playboy doctor.
I watched as she tapped something on her touchscreen and gestured toward a set of sliding doors. “You can head through the garden. His office is on the west side of the atrium.”
“The garden?” I said with confusion.
“Yes, right through there,” she smiled and pointed as if all hospitals were like this.
Instead of asking questions or telling the receptionist how blown away I was by this place, I followed her directions, walked through the glass doors that opened with a whoosh, and was met by a soft, floral breeze.
This place was breathtaking, plain and simple. Ash needed to update the gallery to match whatever architectural magic her brother-in-law had conjured for this place.
A lush courtyard stretched between the hospital wings, layered with sculpted stone fountains, exotic flowering trees, and winding mosaic-tiled paths that glittered in the sunlight. Birds flitted in and out of ivy-draped trellises, and quiet streams of water trickled from bronze spouts into narrow reflecting pools. It looked more like a luxury resort than a medical facility.
I walked slowly toward the private cardiovascular offices tucked on the far side, holding the small brown bag with the lunch I’d picked up for Jace, and then I saw a brushed-gold plaque.
Private Offices – Cardiothoracic Innovation & Research
Dr. Jace Stone, M.D.
Well,here we are, I thought as I stepped inside. So much for imagining Jace’s office as a boring room with a desk, some medical certificates, and a few generic heart diagrams on the wall. Of course, it would mirror the same magic and sophistication I’d walked through in that surreal garden courtyard to get here.
Everything was sleek glass and clean lines. Rich espresso shelves were filled with anatomy texts and intricate 3D models. Floor-to-ceiling windows flooded the space with coastal light, and a holographic screen cycled through open-heart surgical techniques like a rotating exhibit of living science.
Then my eyes took in the image of him, Dr. Jace Stone. He stood across the room with his hands in his pockets, a white lab coat on, and a slate-gray shirt rolled at the sleeves. He stood facing the window, focused and still.
I wanted to crack a joke at the dramatics of him standing there like that, in all his perfection and handsomeness, but I bit my tongue and took in the image of what were the first things he’d ever told me about his true personality.
I smiled at the memory of him saying he was a science geek and a book nerd, but I didn’t see that in him at this moment. I saw a man deep in thought, in command, his mind most likely reeling over a life-saving consultation. It was intriguing to use this moment to appreciate that Jace was far more than just a man who was amazing in bed and had a history of taking what he wanted from women and leaving without a second thought.
So, this is who you really are, eh?I thought, knowing this was Jace’s world that I’d stepped into.
This was a far cry from the other night of psychotic dogs trying to rip his balls off and my son screaming in fear as if the house were on fire. I grinned at how different he seemed now. I’d seen Titus in his world with all the lavish jets and resorts, and now, I saw Jace in his…and damn, this man was more attractive now than he was before.
I could see that the genuine side of Jace was all precision, discipline, and genius. But the moment he turned and saw me, all of it—everything cold and clinical—melted with his smile.
“Hey, gorgeous. How did you know it was my lunch time?” he questioned, eying the bag I held in my hand.
“I work with your boss’s wife, remember? She needed me to run some errands in the city and thought I should stop by to surprise you. It sounded like the perfect opportunity, especially after the rough day you had in surgery when we had to postpone our lunch date the other day.” I held up the paper bag. “I brought you lunch.”
“All you needed was to bring yourself,” he said with a playful expression. He crossed the office in three long strides, took the bag from my hands, and cupped my jaw as he leaned in to kiss me. It was slow and soft, like I’d made his day without trying. He slowly pulled away and brushed my nose with the tip of his finger, “Thanks for bringing lunch. I’m starved.”
“This hospital is beyond me,” I said, following him across his office to sit on a leather sofa against the side wall. “I feel like I’m in some futuristic medical facility from Star Trek.”
“You haven’t been here before?” he asked.
