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but
don’t tell his wife that.”
    “Is she a health freak?” Between what Matt said at the diner
during my interview and what Stacy was saying about her, I was afraid I was
going to have to hide my addiction—the tallest, most calorie-and-caffeine-loaded
coffee I could find. I probably would have had an addiction to pastries,
cookies, and cakes, but having a mother that baked her troubles away cured me
of that. It was great as a kid, but once I found my drug of choice, there was
no going back.
    “No, she just doesn’t want to lose her husband. She’s really nice
and they are the cutest couple ever.”
    “Matt’s great. I can’t wait to meet her.”
    I turned with Stacy to go back to my office and ran right into a
solid chest. The force knocked me back a couple of steps, and a man reached out
and grabbed my arms to stop me from further humiliating myself by falling.
    “I’m so sorry.” Once he was sure I was balanced, he let me go.
    “It’s my fault. I should watch where I’m going.” I looked up and couldn’t
help but stare at the face looking back at me. Without thinking, I reached up
and touched his cheek. “I would love to draw you.”
    He grinned. “Well, I’ve never heard a better pickup line than
that.”
    Stacy saved me from even more humiliation and took me by the
wrist to remove my hand. “She’s the new graphic designer, and you already know
we all love your face. It wasn’t a pickup line, Ryan.” I still hadn’t said
anything and couldn’t stop staring at the perfect man in front of me. Stacy
nudged me. “Was it a pickup line?”
    Finally out of my trance, I realized what conversation was going
on around me. “Oh, I’m sorry.” I looked at Stacy. “No, it wasn’t a pickup
line.” Turning back to see him again, I tried not to stare this time. “I just
really would like to draw you.” I didn’t add what else I wanted to do.
    “Bummer.” He shrugged. “Hey, if you don’t mind, I may use that
line. That’s a great one.”
    The thought of him picking up other women bothered me for reason
I didn’t want to understand. I didn’t date much. I was too focused on finding
my family. And since I didn’t know exactly who my family was yet, I couldn’t
really date here. That would be an awkward moment if we realized we were
related. I shivered at the thought, and he thought it was because he wanted to
use my line.
    “Do you think it’s too creepy?”
    I snapped to attention at his voice. “What? Oh, well, do you
draw?”
    He grinned again and leaned a little toward me. “No, that’s what
they hired you for.”
    “Then it’s creepy. They are going to expect you to actually draw
them.” I held out my hand, realizing I still didn’t know his name. “Rebecca
Shultz.”
    “Ryan Thomas.” Ryan took my hand as I finally looked at the rest
of him. He was taller than me, but not too much. His brown hair was a little
longer than most, but still above his collar. His eyes were a warm brown color,
but his best feature was his face. I’d never seen lines or definition like that
on a regular person. I thought they only existed in magazines and on
television.
    “I’m sorry I ran into you.” I finally let go of his hand.
    “I’m not. Maybe we’ll run into each other again.” He looked at me
for a second and tilted his head. “Did you say Rebecca Shultz?” His smile grew when
I nodded, and I was wrong: his smile was his best feature. “We’ll be seeing a
lot of each other. You’re on my team.”
    “Team?” I was confused.
    “That’s what I just said. If you were listening to me . . .”
Stacy huffed and grabbed my wrist again to drag me away from Ryan. “Rebecca,
come on. Let’s get the rest of the tour over. I know Matt wants to see you
before you get started, and we still have to go to human resources.”
    I looked back as Stacy dragged me on for the tour, and Ryan was
just standing there with his hands in his pockets, looking back at me. He took
one hand out to wave,