she felt a blush coming on. She’d worn a thin white turtleneck under her spring-blue blazer. Maybe she’d have a fighting chance to cover up the warmth as it started on her chest and worked its way up her neck and cheeks before blossoming into pink. “You’re too kind, Mr. Hunter.”
“Call me Leo, please.”
“Leo,” she practiced, knowing that out of respect for him and his world-renowned clinic, it would probably never come easily to her.
“We have weekly staff meetings to discuss our various cases, and we share notes from both our successes and challenges. The point is to keep growing and learning. Don’t you agree?”
“Wholeheartedly. That’s why I accepted your generous offer to work here.” She wouldn’t go into the fact about needing to get away from her stuck-in-first-gear life.
He flashed that charming smile again and stood. “What do you say I give you a tour of our clinic? You’ll have an office here as well, of course, plus scheduled procedures, but you’ll be doing your more complicated surgeries at Princess Catherine’s or the Lighthouse Children’s hospitals, like everyone else.”
She nodded as he came round the desk again and directed her out of his office door.
“I’ll introduce you to some of the staff. Unfortunately, a lot of them are in Theater this morning.”
He walked her further down the long, pristine hall, with original artwork hanging on the walls, stunning her with color and beauty. Not a single comfort had been spared in this clinic.
He popped his head inside an office. It was empty. He respected the privacy of all occupied procedure rooms, but announced himself then tugged her inside the staff lounge. A half dozen nurses greeted her with genuine smiles, and she felt warmly welcomed and thought maybe she’d finally found a place where she could belong.
Though most of the office doors were closed, she saw the nameplates on them: Iain McKenzie, Rafael de Luca, Edward North, Abbie de Luca, Declan Underwood, Kara Stephens. The hallway forked in another direction, with more names on the office doors. All closed. Then around the corner, at the far end, was another closed door. The plaque read Ethan Hunter, his office as far away from his brother’s office as possible in this building.
“Sorry things look a bit like a ghost town today, but we keep a heavy schedule. Mondays are always busy and everyone is either in Theater or preparing to do surgery.”
“I understand.”
A chirpy female voice came from another office as they doubled back.
“Oh, at least I can introduce you to Alexia Robbins. Lexi, as we call her. She’s our head of public relations.” He tapped on the partially open door. “Lexi?”
She was on the phone, but immediately waved them in while she quickly finished up her conversation. “Great, I’ll have all the information to you by this afternoon. Thanks!”
She hung up and looked excitedly at Leo. “Just scored a two-minute promo on the local news station about yesterday’s charity event at the Eye.” She stopped talking when she realized Leo wasn’t alone.
“Fantastic,” he said. “Tell me all about it later.”
“Will do.”
“Lexi, this is Grace Turner, our newest reconstructive surgeon.”
“Oh, lovely to meet you.” Lexi jumped to her feet and offered her hand. They shook lightly. Grace immediately liked the tall, bubbly lady with blonde hair and an hourglass figure, wearing a bright pink dress. Her flashing blue eyes gave off a mischievous glint. “If there’s anything I can do to help in any way …”
“As a matter of fact,” Leo said, “I was hoping you’d give her a tour of the hospitals this afternoon.”
“Love to.”
“Grand. Talk later.” Leo moved toward the door.
“Hold on, mister,” Lexi said playfully. “How is the honeymoon planning going?”
Leo gave her a look. She wouldn’t back down. “Well?”
“What do you think, Lexi? I’ve married the most wonderful girl in the world. Paris in June will be perfect.”
Lexi’s cheeks pinkened with pleasure. She nearly sighed, like a woman in love. Leo glanced at Grace, who was feeling very out of the loop.
“Lexi recently got engaged herself, so she’s being a busybody.”
“It’s my job, being in PR and all,” she teased back, playing with the ring band … which held a huge rock. Wow.
Grace had never seen anything like it. Whatever the stone, it was humongous and pink, and all the little surrounding diamonds sparkled around it.
“So what do you say, Grace, is noon good for you?” Lexi tore Grace away from her thoughts. “We can grab lunch at the clinic buffet before we head over to the hospitals.”
“Sounds good. Thank you.”
Off Leo and Grace went, retracing their steps along the row of closed doors. “We do a lot of our plastics on-site. Down there is the recovery room. Plus we make arrangements for many of our patients to spend the night in nearby luxury recovery apartments,” he said.
She’d gotten the impression many of the first-floor apartments in her building were there for that very reason.
“I’ve put you next to another American. Wanted to make you feel at home.”
He opened the door and showed her the beautifully decorated office that would be hers. It was small but comfortable with a lovely window that let in daylight. She turned in a circle looking at everything, thinking how she’d utilize the space, cabinets and amazing medical library. She went behind her chrome-and-glass desk and tested out the white leather chair. “I love it.”
“Wonderful.” Leo leaned against the doorframe. “Cooper! Come out and meet your new neighbor,” Leo called into the hallway, then looked back at her. “I’m glad you like it. You’ll get along swimmingly with Mitchell Cooper. He’s one of our top plastic surgeons. Been with us four years now.” Leo smiled at someone outside in the hallway. “Come and meet Grace Turner. She’s American, too.”
Popping into the doorway, sporting a wide grin, adventurous pod man appeared. And Grace nearly fell out of her custom comfort chair.
She looked at him. He stared back. Both of them were wide-eyed and unbelieving. A silent message jumped between them, followed by a quick bargain. Leo wouldn’t find out that they’d already met. Agreed.
“Grace, meet Mitchell Cooper.”
Mustering every ounce of poise she owned, Grace stood and stretched out her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mitchell.”
He accepted her proffered hand and shook it. “The pleasure’s all mine. Welcome to Harley Street.” Quick memories of how she’d squeezed his hand in the cab, just before he’d bussed her cheek, caught her off guard.
A large cat must have hovered
