Taking Zee’s advice, he stopped in the washroom to stretch his leg and whimper like a baby. He pulled his toes toward himself the way the physical therapist had taught him, and whimpered away as several spasms cramped up and down his leg. He stuck with the pain as his calf and hamstring loosened. Then he let out another whimper just because it felt so bloody good.

The pain had to be influencing how he was feeling about everything: retirement, the show, the reason why he was on the show. Had he really thought about fatherhood back in the limousine? What on earth was going on with him? He hardly ever gave thought to family. There was no reason to. He hadn’t had any for a very long time and been just fine.

By the time he entered the studio staging area, arranged from end to end with state-of-the-art cooking stations, he had his urge to whimper well under control. It was like walking into an oversize display case of model kitchens.

There was something ridiculous about hearing clashing cymbals when his eyes met Ashna’s, because that rom-com bullshit was not real life. So, when he heard the loud crash as Ashna looked up at him with eyes that took up most of her face, he knew it was either his mind playing tricks on him or someone’s awful sense of humor.

It was option two. Thank God.

Usually, Rico would have laughed. But terror flashed in Ashna’s eyes when the bang of the cymbals went off. He thought she’d sink to the floor; instead she wiped a hand across her face and the bright horror was gone from her eyes. The set was filled with cast and crew, all of them in hysterics. With a determined swallow, Ashna pushed out a laugh through lips gone white because she’d bitten them too hard.

Rico followed suit and made the obligatory motions, an embarrassed but sportsmanlike laugh, a sufficiently self-deprecating shake of the head. The moment he reached her the entire set burst into applause.

One thing he’d say about her—she blushed like no one else he’d ever met. Her gorgeous skin went from warm brown to an almost fiery pink. It didn’t help that Rico knew she was blushing with her entire body right now. He had loved to chase that blush across her skin.

From beneath her spiked fan of lashes she met his gaze.

He was about to ask if she was okay, but she caught the question before he spoke the words and it made humiliation tighten her jaw and fade the flush from her cheeks. The Raje pride was alive and well.

How embarrassed she must be about the video. The girl who loved her secrets, viral on the internet. How was she even here right now?