She looked around her living room. It was a testimony of paths she’d taken—and some that she hadn’t.
The Christmas tree glowed softly in the corner, spilling gold light across the floor. She wrapped her arms across her chest, letting the warmth settle over her even as something inside her felt strangely untethered.
Twenty-seven.
No husband.
No children.
No tidy, predictable life.
And yet . . . her heart still reached for something she couldn’t quite name.
“I thought life would look different by now,” she whispered.
Her eyes drifted back to the door Luke had walked through.
And for reasons she didn’t understand—and didn’t entirely want to—Luke Cross unsettled her more than any stranger ever had.
CHAPTER 14
Luke pulledthe door to his apartment—an unremarkable door, at that—shut behind him and pressed his forehead briefly against the cool wood.
Everything inside him felt too tight, too loud right now.
“Hey,” a voice called from the kitchen. “You look like you lost a fight with a snowplow.”
Luke pushed away from the door and composed himself. He hadn’t realized his roommate was home.
He dropped his coat onto the back of a chair. “That good, huh?”
Harry appeared from the kitchen, mug in hand, sweatpants and an old university hoodie hanging loosely on his frame.
He worked in marketing at the paper, and the two had decided to room together to save money. He and Harry really had nothing in common, yet they got along. Harry was brash, played some different sport every night, and was perfectly content to be known as a womanizer. But at times the man could be surprisingly insightful.
Harry raised an eyebrow as he studied Luke. “You okay?”
“No,” Luke said, thankful for the chance to be honest.
Harry blinked. “Well, that was refreshing.”
Luke exhaled and walked toward the kitchen, dragging a hand through his hair. “I think I screwed up.”
“Oh, this sounds promising.” Harry followed him and leaned back against the counter. “Work or woman?”
Luke hesitated a second too long.
Harry’s expression sharpened. “Both?”
Luke opened the fridge, stared inside without seeing a thing. “You remember that influencer I told you about? The door one?”
“The gorgeous saint with soulful eyes who chose to live in the rough neighborhood?” Harry nodded. “Yeah. Hard to forget a woman who looks like that.”
“She’s not fake,” Luke muttered. “Not even a little bit.”
Harry took a slow sip of coffee. “Uh-oh.”
“She fed her neighbor kids tonight. Let them eat like they hadn’t seen warm food in days. Didn’t film it. Didn’t post it. Didn’t even mention it.” Luke closed the fridge harder than necessary. “She just did it.”
