She took it.
He led her to the dance floor, and for a moment, they just stood there. Uncertain. His hands hovered near her waist like he wasn’t sure they were allowed. Her arms didn’t know where to go.
“I should warn you,” Lincoln said quietly, “I’m not good at this.”
“Neither am I.”
“Then we’re appropriately matched.”
His hands finally settled on her waist—tentative, then firmer when she stepped closer. Her arms found his shoulders, then slid around his neck. They weren’t really dancing. More like standing together while the music happened around them.
Then she laid her head against his chest.
And everything else fell away.
His arms tightened, pulling her closer. She could feel his heartbeat under her ear—quick at first, almost nervous,then slowly settling into something steady. His chin came to rest against her hair. They swayed without trying to, their bodies finding a rhythm that had nothing to do with the song.
The bar faded. The conversation and laughter became distant noise. The coordinates and codes that had ambushed her in the bathroom went quiet, forced out by the simple physical reality of being held.
And the fact that she was falling for him.
The thought arrived without fanfare. Not a revelation—more like finally admitting something she’d known for a while. She was falling for this man whom she’d been sharing her thoughts with for years. Who’d decoded her SOS and driven through the night. Who’d held her through nightmares and never once made her feel strange. Who was standing on a dance floor he’d normally avoid because she needed this, because she needed him.
She was falling for him. And she was falling apart. The data was crowding out her memories. Her mind was betraying her. She was losing pieces of herself to make room for information she’d never wanted.
Both things existed in the same moment. The falling toward and the falling away.
The song ended.
Neither of them moved.
A wolf whistle cut through the quiet—Bear, definitely Bear—followed by laughter from the table. Someone made a comment Morgan didn’t catch.
Lincoln ignored all of it.
His arms stayed around her. His heartbeat stayed steady against her ear. He held her like the rest of the room had simply ceased to exist.
Morgan closed her eyes.
The fear was still there, underneath. The coordinatesand all the other information waiting to surface. The grief of memories going soft while Randall’s data stayed razor-sharp.
But right now, she was exactly where she wanted to be.
He spread his hand flat against her back. She pressed closer.
And for as long as the moment lasted, she let it be enough.
Chapter 18
Four months ago:
Mercury: What does it feel like when your brain finally goes quiet?
Binary: I don’t know. It never does.
Mercury: Never? Not even when you sleep?
Binary: Sleep is just processing in a different mode. The calculations continue.
