He pushed through the door and let it shut behind him, the sound final and accusing.
His reputation was untarnished. But at what cost?
He’d spent too long protecting the wrong thing. The wrong person.
Luke was already waitingwhen the final bell rang.
He had to park a few blocks down from the school. Kids spilled out in noisy waves—backpacks thumping, laughter sharp and bright, the world resuming its ordinary rhythm like nothing dangerous ever brushed against it.
And then—there she was.
Grace stepped out. She paused to say something to a student, bent slightly to listen, smiled.
God.
That smile burrowed right into his chest.
He watched her until she saw him. Her gaze flicked to him, lingered.
When she reached the sidewalk, he fell into step beside her.
“Hey,” he said.
“Officer,” she replied, neutral.
The late afternoon air was cooler now, autumn deepening by the hour. Leaves skittered along the pavement, scraping softly against the curb. Kids and parents thinned out the farther they got from the school, the noise dropping away until it was just their footsteps and the quiet hum of the neighborhood.
Luke kept his pace measured. Walking with her felt… right. Stupidly right.
Like this was something he’d been meant to do all along.
He glanced at her hands, relaxed at her sides. He remembered those hands on him. Hot. Demanding. He remembered how easily she’d let him into her space, her bed, her body.
And how carefully he’d kept her out of everything else.
The thought made his jaw clench.
He didn’t know what would come next. Didn’t know if any of this could be fixed, or if he’d already burned something down past repair.
But as they walked side by side toward her house—no shadows, no hiding, just the two of them in the open air—one truth settled heavy and undeniable in his chest:
He had been a coward.
He’d been afraid of standing up and saying she was his.
And that fear had cost him more than he’d ever expected.
CHAPTER 21
Grace
Luke walkedbeside her all the way home.
Grace slowed as her house came into view.
It wasn’t a conscious decision. Her steps just… shortened. The white siding, the porch rail, the square of concrete that marked the spot where the man had frightened her.
Luke’s pace dropped too, matching hers without comment. And his attention sharpened—not on the house, but onher. She could feel his eyes.
