Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn t hurt. Lily can t get him out of her head. But Ryle s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his no dating rule, she can t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place. As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.