The Billionaire's Second Chance by Peyton Reeser Page B

exam room in the blink of an eye.
    Somewhere in that process they must have given her something for the pain because she did appear somewhat more relaxed upon her return. Not necessarily loopy but certainly less cross than she had been. In fact she may even have smiled at him when she came back into the room but it all happened so quick Nick couldn’t be sure.
    In short order Dr. Surfer Dude reappeared to let her know what the x-ray showed. The good news was the ankle wasn’t broken; the bad news was it was quite deeply bruised. His instructions were pretty straightforward; stay off of it completely for forty-eight hours, as in don’t even put it down.  She was instructed not to do anything for herself; and if she did that he could almost guarantee that within a couple of days she would be able to walk without assistance. Oh yeah, that and she was going to need crutches and someone to wait on her hand and foot for the next 48 hours.
    When Shannon heard this she all but panicked. Who would take care of her? Her own family was thousands of miles away. Rory worked for her and was in no way responsible for her personally and she couldn’t ask for her help because Rory would need to take care of the business. So who else was there? What the hell was she going to do?
    Mister I’m here to take charge of everything stepped forward right at that moment and let them both understand in no uncertain terms that he would be handling this entire situation. Whatever was needed to assist Shannon, he would provide. He would make sure that she was off her feet for the prescribed amount of time. He would make sure that she followed doctor’s orders. He would make sure that everything was fine. Oh great .
    It certainly hadn’t taken long after that for him to arrange for Shannon’s release from the clinic and for transport to her bungalow in one of the canyons above Malibu. 
    Shannon was having her ankle wrapped and braced for comfort and stability while he was pinning down the specific details of having crutches and a ridiculously vast assortment of home medical supplies for every possible need delivered to her home.  Somewhere in the midst of all that he had the thought that here he was all but taking over her life and until the woman at the front desk had noted Shannon’s address from her intake information, he hadn’t a clue where she lived.  It was a surreal feeling to be overwhelmed in an in stant; consumed by her nearness, feeling oddly connected, deeply connected while at the same time having absolutely zero knowledge of who she was today. Connect and disconnect, new territory to navigate for him.
    By the time his vehicle was brought to the clinic door and Nick had returned to her room to help move her to the car, she was in full, loopy, I am woman hear me roar mode; jumping all over him and insisting she didn’t need his help the moment his face appeared in the doorway.
    “I know how to take care of myself Nick Temple!” she growled. “I do not want you to put yourself out for me.” she declared with more snark than she actually felt while inwardly cringing at her reflexive use of his shortened name.  It galled her that he thought he knew what was best for her.  She’d never been very good at being bitchy and she was all but certain whatever they’d given her for the pain was making any bite she hoped to convey with her words to come off more like soft pillows.
    Nick assessed in an instant what was going on and tried not to smile. The medication she’d been given was making her decidedly goofy and she was obviously trying to keep him at arm’s length, a realization which brought another wave of guilt washing over Nick as he considered that she’d actually rather be in pain and helpless than to lower her defenses and just let him help. While his heart sank a bit, he decided to put on his I’m the boss face and tried to reason with the injured, over-wrought female glaring at him who was flying high at the