Protocol told him to leave. He’d already overstepped any professional interest.
But instinct screamed louder than protocol ever had.
He checked his mirrors. The street behind him was empty. No dark sedan. No movement. No obvious danger.
That didn’t mean anything.
Luke exhaled slowly, forcing his breathing to even out. He couldn’t storm back up the steps. Couldn’t knock again. Couldn’t insert himself into her life just because fear made him want to.
She’d made that boundary crystal clear.
But leaving—actually leaving—felt like swallowing broken glass.
“She’s safe,” he muttered under his breath, like saying it might make it true. “She’s not alone.”
The words didn’t help.
Because safety wasn’t just about locks and lights and having someone in the next room. It was about trust. About knowing who would come if things went wrong.
And tonight, that hadn’t been him.
Luke started the engine at last, the quiet purr of it sounding loud in the stillness.
He swallowed.
If anything else happened, she’d call it in.
She just wouldn’t call him.
The truth felt heavy and undeniable.
Luke put the car in gear and eased away from the curb.
As he turned the corner, he glanced in the rearview mirror one last time.
The porch light was still on.
And as he drove off into the quiet streets of Crystal Lake, one thing was painfully clear:
Whatever he’d been telling himself before—about arrangements and boundaries and not wanting more—none of it mattered now.
Grace was in danger.
And Luke Bennett had never been very good at walking away from that.
Luke layon his back staring at the ceiling, hands folded on his stomach like he might as well be in a coffin.
Grace had never been here. Not in his home and not in his bed.
That thought was strange.
He knew her house well.
Her couch. Her kitchen. Her narrow hallway where he’d learned exactly how many steps it took to reach her bedroom in the dark. Her bed, warm and lived-in and inviting.
She’d never visited his house. He’d never invited her to.
Luke swallowed and shifted onto his side, staring at the clock on his nightstand.
