Page 54 of The Restoration Program

When she was tired of trying to make sense of his work, she took over a side of the desk to do yoga. She intended to be as unobtrusive as possible, but Ryan kept glancing. At first she tried to ignore him, not wanting to encourage distraction from his work, but their eyes locked while she was in the middle of a downdog, and she couldn’t help but collapse into giggles.

Ryan smirked.Just wait ‘til we get home, his eyes promised.

Once her stretches were done, she propped Ryan’s phone against a stack of binders on the desk and read a book. She made a mental note to get more educational books downloaded soon, but for now, she made do with the entertainment of regency romance novels she had bought before the accident.

The next client opted to meet on a video call, so Nicole was able to stay completely out of sight. Ryan knocked it out of the park, but even as she focused on her slow burn romance, she couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling of being a voyeur in the meeting.

After Ryan closed the application onscreen, he sat back in his chair with a victorious sigh.

“So, that’s how these things usually go when you don’t have to introduce your abomination girlfriend?” she asked.

She grinned, but Ryan’s smile fell away. He rested his chin in his hand, growing pensive.

“This morning’s still bothering you?”

She forced a laugh. “No.”

“Well, it’s still botheringme.”

Why had she brought it up? If they went into it, the fragile scabbing keeping her composure intact would dissolve. Nicole threw him a haughty look. “Toughen up, buttercup.”

“No, fuck her. Who says such vile shit like that right to someone’s face?”

“The world’s a crazy place.”

“I feel like you’re blocking me out.”

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t want to dwell. Not right now. It’ll make me feel worse.”

He nodded quietly, eyes sliding away. “Well, are you hungry?” he asked. “This cafeteria’s actually not terrible. There’s also a little sushi bar down the block—you might’ve seen it on the drive in.”

She nodded.

“Is that yes to sushi, or…?”

Nicole peered up at him—weary, vulnerable. “Whatever we decide, can we get it to-go?”

“Yeah, no problem.” His expression softened, so perfect and understanding. He wouldn’t make her say that she would rather die all over again than sit in a public restaurant that afternoon.

She slumped into his bicep like she was hugging a tree. “Everything is so fucking big,” she said into his sleeve.

A soft noise escaped him at howadorableshe must look, but Nicole let it pass. His other hand pressed her into him, a thumb rubbing between her shoulders. She had been soterrifiedof his touch not too long ago. Today was a different story.

“It’ll get better,” he said softly. “I promise.”

He had no way of promising that, but she supposed the world was a little less terrible when he held her like this.

Too soon, he pulled away to sign out of his computer and grab his keys from his bag. While he was rummaging, someone gave two swift knocks on the other side of the door and flung it open without waiting for an answer.

A man with short black hair filled the doorway. His eyes were pointed at the tablet in his hands, so he didn’t notice Nicole right away. She considered diving behind the monitor, but all she could manage was to lean away from the sound of his voice as he addressed Ryan.

“One of Matt’s clients got frustrated and wants to transfer. I’m booked for the day, but the schedule says you’ve got—” The moment his eyes flickered up, he stopped talking. He gave a yelp and took a fumbling step back. “Holy shit!”

Nicole tightened her hands into fists at her side, then loosened them. Did he see her as a rodent? Alittle creature, as Levesque so lovingly put it?

“Anthony,” Ryan said evenly. “This is Nicole, my girlfriend. Already sorted everything out with Callahan. What were you saying about the client?”

Anthony stayed locked on Nicole, easing forward and hunching slightly to get a better look. “You had a photo of her on your desk, didn’t you? Damn, it looksjustlike her!”