I looked down at my hands. I packed the lace lingerie. I shaved my legs. I spent time fixing my hair before coming here so I’d look pretty. And to him, I was just an image problem.
“You didn’t need to come along,” he added. “The office could’ve handled the documents. How did they convince you to come?”
“I…” My voice shook, and I hated it. I wanted to be as cool and detached as he was. I gripped the edge of the table, the wood biting into my palms. “HR asked who wanted to help. I put my hand up because—”
Because I wanted to be with you.
The truth was a stone in my throat. I couldn’t say it. It was pathetic.
“Because I thought it’d be a good experience,” I lied, my voice barely a whisper.
“Makes sense.” Derek nodded. “But please don’t make it weird. Just keep it professional, all right? Dial it back.”
Something inside me was cracking, splintering. My chest tightened, crushing inward until I couldn’t pull in a full breath. I stood abruptly, chair legs screeching against the wooden floor, which made nearby diners turn to stare.
“I need air,” I managed, the words barely audible.
“Sure thing.” Derek was already picking up his phone again, thumb swiping across the screen. “The rest of the team should be here soon anyway.”
He didn’t watch me go.
I turned and walked blindly toward the back; my vision was blurring. My knees threatened to buckle with each step, but I soldiered on. I needed a restroom. I needed a dark corner.
A dark figure stepped into my path. Too close, too sudden. I jerked back instinctively, but there was nowhere to move. For a second, I couldn’t make sense of anything—just fabric, heat, and an obstruction right in front of me, blocking every way forward. Hands closed around my arms, steadying me, and that was when I realized I was staring at someone’s chest.
I blinked once, twice, trying to pull the pieces into focus. Slowly, my gaze traveled upward until it reached a familiar face.
Dom.
He was standing there, close enough that I could see my reflection in those blue eyes. His presence felt like a barrier between me and the rest of the world, something steady when everything else was spinning out of control.
“You okay?”
I forced a smile, but it felt like broken glass was cutting my face. “Fine. So, everyone’s here?”
He didn’t answer. He was studying me, taking in the red blotches I knew were staining my cheeks and the tears I was fighting so hard to hold back.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.” I tried to pull away, but he wasn’t letting go. “Really, it’s nothing.”
I let my eyes drop to the floor, then to the side, anywhere but his face. If I looked at him—at this stranger—and saw whatever expression he was wearing, I might not handle it. I might actually break right here in front of someone who didn’t even know me.
“Come,” he said, his voice leaving no room for argument.
And then he was moving, one hand still on my arm, the other on the small of my back, stirring me toward the side exit, away from the warmth that had become suffocating… out into the snow and the cold and the blessed darkness.
4
Dom
THE AIR WAS icy enough to freeze my lungs, but the fire burning in my chest made the cold irrelevant.
Eunice was walking beside me, her breath coming out in pale bursts that the cold turned visible. Her fingers had gone that bloodless, shock-cold that comes when everything inside you shuts down, but where I’d touched her arm to pull her outside, I could still feel traces of warmth. My handprint on her skin, evidence that I’d dragged her away from watching her own heart break in real time.
“You have a car?” She stopped when she saw my BMW, her eyes widening.
“Rental,” I lied.
