I attended, what tasks I pretended to complete. My body was on autopilot-smi

ept with

e wors

to do i

aster, plai

stroom looked like someone who was keeping it together with duct tape and caffeine. I

eard the voi

u o

s Jes

le. "Yeah, jus

u sure? You've seemed...

d. "It's

ike she didn't belie

h the new CEO," she said, ca

mh

nd

d w

as intimidating in

n. His mouth against my neck. The w

said quiet

and left it th

t she left, m

er. No strings. No p

reen. My thumb hov

:

can't stop thi

le idea. The worst kind of disaster

s alread

Wh

Tribeca that led to something between a wine bar and a cathedral. Low lights. Gla

er like he'd been born in shadows. When he stood, he di

you'd come,"

her w

awkward kind. This was like the rooftop again. That soft, cha

h you," I said finally,

ame," he said evenly

as when I walked

ed it ou

idn't say

ant to scar

"So you let me walk

n the same company, Mia. You

at him. "

"I don't chase women, Mia. I don't plot seductions. That night... it

er. My dress felt tighter. Every

"I don't sleep with people I don

kno

ould r

ead. "Do you th

know what

was the only thing wort

ou

ath hi

No expectations. Just... you. How

asy to fall back into the part of me that needed to be

t I expected,"

eit

-really laughed. He was quick, clever, fluent in sarcasm. He

idn't push. Didn't sugg

me outside into

o get home?

hink

and of hair behi

t before I could move, he

ia

oked

re scared. B

en he

sleep t

nxiety. Not even

omething in m

. Getting over Caleb. Repair

usting. Quietly. Elegantly. Wit

e wors

elt

go

deep in the

asn't

something that could u

wasn't sure I w

nce carving through my sleep like a scalpel. I hadn't dreamed-not really. Or if I had, it was all sensation. Fingers o

red had been cracked open in the night and now everything was raw. I got ready on autopilot. Clothe

d. The office buzzed around me in that typical muted chaos-phones ringing, heels clicking, s

ould fe

he floor, the air shifted. I

ithout a word. No glan

burn that curled up my spine

ed between us. Like I hadn't been naked under his hands two nights

dly I wanted t

I was un

g espresso shots and a conference call-but I barely registered it. I smiled, I nodded, I laughed at the

is how it's

expect

, three min

We're

o bother you when your

e. T

ng to do the r

s the wrong t

right now, locking the door, and f

he screen, pu

if I want

ecide if I'm a better ma

say to that. So I didn

irwell, clutching my phone like it was

t control. If I stayed, I wouldn't have to think. Wouldn't have to feel. Wouldn't have t