It had been professional admiration at first.
Elion’s steady rise. Its refusal to fold under pressure. The precision and heart threaded through every decision.
A company that could inflate Falkirk’s value by billions—and I wanted it.
I reached out to her with that in mind. Strictly business. A merger, an acquisition—nothing more.
But then she spoke.
And the sound of her—steady, sharp, alive—woke something inside me I hadn’t felt in years.
Fascination, I told myself. Logical. Harmless.
But fascination became fixation.
And fixation became something dangerously close to longing.
I’d made mistakes because of that longing—unforgivable ones.
Pushed when I should’ve waited.
Hidden when I should’ve told her the truth.
And yet here she was, asleep in my arms.
Accepting me. All of me—the dark corners, the jagged edges, the pieces I’d thought no one could ever want.
Her agreement to walk this path with me, to trust me with her body and her heart—it made my chest ache, too full to contain.
***
Morning came quietly, turning the curtains a mottled shade of gray as sunlight tried—and failed—to slip through.
Emma breathed softly, her chest rising and falling in a measured rhythm that made time feel almost merciful.
She stirred in my arms, and I froze—waiting for her to drift back under. But a small yawn slipped free. She turned toward me, face creased from the pillow, eyes rimmed red from last night’s tears.
“Good morning,” she croaked, dragging a hand across her face.
I leaned in, pressed a kiss to her temple. The gesture had become instinct—unspoken love made routine. “Good morning.”
“What time is it?”
“Ten.”
“Jeez,” she huffed. “It’s been a while since I slept this late.”
“I know,” I said, my fingers tracing idle circles over the bare skin of her back. “I thought we could do something different today.”
She turned to face me, evidence of sleep still clinging to the inside corners of her eyes. “Like what?”
“Something out of town so we can relax. I found a vintage market about an hour away. I thought we could go take a look.”
“The one in Peeksville?”
“The very same.”
“I’d love that!” she said, tone bright.Then, her face fell. “I promised Candace I’d see her today. She wanted to know how the meeting went.”
