On the Ruins of His Regret I Soar novel Chapter 201

George’s voice echoed from the bathroom. “You’re back?”

“Yeah,” Jessica Brown called back immediately.

He asked tentatively, “Could you give me a hand?”

“Coming.”

Jessica hurried inside.

George had his back to the door, his voice laced with frustration. “Can you help me get this shirt off? My arm won’t bend that way.”

“Oh, of course,” Jessica said.

She circled around to his front to help him with the buttons. The moment she was steady on her feet, George’s hand came up and tilted her chin.

Jessica froze for a second, then tried to lower her head, but his grip was firm.

George’s eyes were dark and intense, like black holes pulling her in. “What’s wrong?”

She found it hard to put into words. Twisting away slightly, she shook her head. “It’s nothing, really.”

Suddenly, he leaned in.

The space between them vanished, their noses nearly touching. George frowned. “Why are your eyes red?”

After a brief pause, a wave of hostility radiated from him. “Who upset you?”

Seeing no way to lie, Jessica confessed, “I just had a little argument with my daughter.”

George’s eyes flickered. He’d seen Jessica’s daughter a few times—a little thing, barely came up to his thigh. She looked just like Jessica, but the thought that she was also Lance Smith’s child soured any positive impression.

He narrowed his eyes. “Do you need me to handle it?”

He asked with such seriousness, without a trace of humor, that Jessica couldn't help but let out a small laugh. The tension in her face finally eased, and her eyes curved into beautiful crescents. The lingering redness almost looked like makeup.

George scowled. “What’s so funny?”

“What exactly would you do?” she countered.

“I…”

Her eyes darted around the room. “What is it?”

A clear, bright laugh echoed in the bathroom. “Easy there. Don’t want you to fall.”

“Right,” Jessica mumbled. She stepped out, closing the door behind him.

Sinking onto the sofa, she grabbed a bottle of water and took two large gulps. Her heart was still pounding, and a lump had formed in her throat, a strange, fluttering excitement she couldn’t name.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Jessica’s head snapped toward it. “Dr. White.”

Nathan White stood there, his hands clasped behind his back. “Where’s George?”

Jessica pointed toward the bathroom. A second later, her eyes widened in realization, and she shot up from the sofa, meeting Nathan’s gaze.

In a flash, Nathan darted to the bathroom door and started banging on it. “You can’t take a shower! Get out here!”

It was only seeing Nathan that reminded Jessica of the doctor’s orders. She hovered anxiously near the bathroom, not wanting to get too close in case she saw something she shouldn’t.