The Procedure by Tabatha Vargo, Melissa Andrea Read Free Book Online Page B

waiting for you to offer me a million dollars if I agreed.”
    “If that’s what it takes.”
    That wiped all humor from her expression. “You’re kidding, right?”
    “About you spending a month with me, no. The other part, yes.”
    I hadn’t been, but if it made her feel better, I would go along with it.
    Again, she shifted nervously, something she’d done a lot since she sat down. I wasn’t sure if she realized that she was doing it, but I found it amusing.
    “Are you asking me to stay with you for a month?”
    I laughed, and she turned a shade of pink. “I assure you I’m not asking you to live with me, but we would be spending a lot of time together. Is that something you’d be comfortable with?”
    She seemed to be having an inner battle before her face cleared and her final decision clouded her dark eyes. I realized I’d been holding my breath in anticipation. I hadn’t wanted to admit how much I was hoping she’d say yes.
    “Yes,” she said, looking up.
    Our eyes clashed. “Yes?”
    She nodded firmly. “Yes. What have I got to lose, right? You’ve already turned me down for the surgery.” She ended her sentence with a smirk, trying to make light of the other morning.
    Leaning over my desk, I held eye contact with her. “I’ll make you a deal. You spend the time with me and if after the month you don’t feel any differently about your choice to have the surgery,” I took a deep breath, praying in the confidence I held that I could change her mind, “then I’ll do it.”
    Sadness darkened her eyes. She looked up at me beneath dark lashes, making me shift in my chair.
    “Why are you doing this for me, Roman?”
    She stuttered over my name, but she said it with such conviction that I couldn’t lie to her. The truth hurt, and I hadn’t felt the sting of my past in a long time.
    “You remind me of someone. Someone I should have done more to help… but I didn’t.”
    I could tell she wasn’t sure how to take that, and I was sure she was dying to ask questions. Holding my breath, I hoped she wouldn’t. In the end, she was content with letting me keep my regrets private.
    “So when do we start?”
    I smiled, pulled open the drawer in front of me, pulled out my prescription pad, and picked up the pen off my desk. Scribbling across the front of it, I ripped the paper free. Before handing it to her, I got up and walked around the desk to sit on the edge next to her.
    “Soon, but first, you have to do something for you.”
    “For me, but why?”
    “Because you deserve it.” I grinned and handed her the paper and a business card. “Remember, doctor’s orders.”
     

 

 
     
     
    SERENITY SPA & RESORT .
    I held the matte, black card with the two words in blue up in the air and matched the front of it to the sign on the building. It wasn’t what I expected, and I was grateful for that.
    When it came to Miami, it was either go big or go home and when you pictured a spa and resort, it was towering levels, pools the size of small countries, marble floors, and stone walls. While Serenity Spa wasn’t exactly the equivalent to Chucky Cheese, it was modest and felt perfectly… serene.
    While his procedures were unorthodox, I wasn’t exactly going to complain about Roman’s doctor’s orders .
    Walking up to the building, I breathed in deep and the sweet waft of jasmine and lavender instantly calmed my senses. Stepping inside was nice and cool compared to the not-so-nice heat of Miami. Music made up from the sharp keys of a piano and wild nature sounds floated through the reception room, recreating an incredibly realistic ambiance of a secret oasis in the middle of a blazing dessert.
    The wall behind the massive cherry desk was made up of a black, coal-colored rock. The sounds of the water rushing over the rocks made the room even more soothing. The floor-to-ceiling rocks and water wall created the coolest indoor waterfall I’d ever seen. Openings on either side of the wall led to the back