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One of his eyebrows rose ‘The water?’ He was obviously curious

She nodded but didn’t give anything away

Leo leaned over to kiss her ‘Your wish is o and have some fun’

It only took her ten et ready and have the conversation with Leo’s PA She switched on the coffeeand fired up his coes

Her heart gave a little leap as she noticed the eht away

The eave her a full outline of what her role and responsibilities would be They had a clear job description for her with a wide remit, complete with salary and expenses—ht at the heart of the cha committee

But not as a competitor

Part of it ht they would have considered her in a million years But the other part of her brain was irrationally insulted They assu Surely they knew she was training again?

Al and her other hand reached for her handbag and froze She was looking for painkillers The ones she took every day

The ones she currently didn’t need

She stopped and pushed herself up frolass ater while she waited for the coffee Taking the painkillers had become automatic

Except fornow

She did a few gentle stretches The truth was since she’d got on her feet again she’d never stopped training She’d thought she just had to learn to live with pain and medicate it

She’d never actually i the pain wouldn’t be there any more How stupid was that?

The ed Leo’s full cup of coffee with her empty one She inserted a new pod and pressed the button as she tried to process her thoughts Was she reaching for so her body for a dream that would never come true?

Tears pricked in her eyes as she looked out over the snow-dusted city Out there was a world of possibilities Maybe she needed to consider her options a little more rationally—take the es—but could she do that?

Leo appeared at the door s his hair with one towel, another wrapped around his waist

He fixed on her with those bright blue eyes ‘Brilliant, I smell coffee’ His fresh, clean scent drifted around her as he rin ‘So, Anissa Surprisetoday?’

She was definitely infectious And he liked it He liked it a lot

They started by taking the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty But one sighting wasn’t enough and Anissa wanted to do the whole tourist thing So they took the boat to Liberty Island and climbed the stairs to the pedestal, statue and finally the crown

‘Isn’t it great?’ she whispered as they looked out over New York Harbor and Manhattan

‘It is, isn’t it?’ he agreed, wondering why he’d never done this before

She nudged hi today Do you think the Hudson will be frozen?’

He thought for a second ‘Parts of it could be—why?’

She so next even more special’

‘And where’s that?’