Their eyes met, and this time, no smile was waiting to break the tension.
No smirk to hide behind.
Just the truth of two people standing in the aftershock of something they hadn’t meant to start.
He let go slowly like every inch mattered.
And maybe it did.
When her hand slipped from his, the absence felt like an ache.
Arden took a step back. Then another.
She was the first to look away.
Only then did the music finally fade into silence.
The night airshould have cleared her head.
It didn’t.
Manhattan moved on around them—silver and shadow threading through the dark, the soft pulse of headlights slicing the silence. The city remained indifferent, relentless. But here, in this narrow stretch of sidewalk, the world felt paused. Time had taken a breath.
Their footsteps matched in quiet sync, falling into rhythm without conscious effort. Arden barely noticed the traffic, the chatter behind cab windows, the distant trill of horns. It all felt far away. Muted. As if the city had turned down its volume to let her listen to something else entirely.
To the thrum beneath her skin.
To the echo of a dance that hadn’t ended when the music stopped.
She didn’t know why she let him walk her to her car.
Or she did but didn’t want to say it aloud.
Because something had shifted.
The balance that tethered them—professional distance, practiced restraint—had tipped in the quiet hum of the lounge.
The dance was supposed to be harmless. A moment suspended in soft lighting and old jazz.
But Gideon had a way of pressing pause on the world. Of turning seconds into something weighted. Intentional.
The memory of his hand at her waist lingered, firm and intentional, but never forceful. Each step they’d shared felt instinctive, a rhythm neither had learned but already knew.
And now?
Now, she wasn’t sure she could make herself forget it.
Her hand reached for the car door, fingers brushing the cool edge of the handle—searching for something solid. A tether. A clean end.
But then his fingers touched hers.
A soft press. Measured. Undeniable.
She stilled.
Turned.
He was there.
