Only now, there were...moments.
I’d catch him watching me during meetings, his attention locked in when I spoke.When I finished a point, his mouth would twitch like he was fighting a smile.Sometimes his hand brushed mine when passing a file, his fingers lingering just long enough to remind me he was aware.
It was maddening.
One afternoon, I was reviewing contracts when he walked into my office without knocking.His tie was loose, sleeves rolled to his elbows, fatigue etched into the tightness of his jaw.
“You’re late,” I said without looking up.
“Traffic,” he replied.“And a headache.”
I glanced up.His hair was mussed, his eyes shadowed.
“Sit,” I said.“I’ll summarize.”
He settled into the chair across from me.I began outlining the key points, but after a minute, I stopped.
“Creed.”
“Hmm?”
“You’re not listening.”
He didn’t deny it.“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I needed to see you.”
My pulse stumbled.His gaze moved over me slowly before returning to my eyes.
“You’re impossible,” I muttered.
His mouth curved faintly.“So, I’ve been told.”
Personally, things were harder.
Creed didn’t push.That was the unnerving part.The old Creed would have stormed into my life and taken what he wanted.This one held back.He asked.He waited.
It made every instinct I had want to test him.
Valentine’s Day arrived without fanfare.
No red roses.No grand gestures.No declarations whispered into the dark.
Creed picked me up just after seven, dressed in a charcoal coat and a crisp white shirt, no tie.Intentional.Controlled.The kind of restraint that made my pulse kick up before I even got into the car.
Dinner was at a small Italian place tucked between a bookstore and a wine shop, the kind of place that didn’t advertise itself.Candlelight pooled across linen-covered tables.The air smelled like garlic and basil and something warm enough to soften the edges of the day.
Nothing extravagant.
Which somehow made it worse.
He ordered for me the way he always had, but this time, he asked first.Waited for my nod.For my consent.
We talked easily.About work.About Morgan’s insistence that ballet shoes should be worn everywhere.About Michelle’s refusal to eat anything green unless it was dyed with enough cheese to disguise it.
Normal things.
