They stood there for another moment, two people circling something fragile and familiar, unsure where to touch it without breaking it.
Delaney finally exhaled and gestured toward the bathroom. “I’m going to wash up. It’s been a… long day.”
“Of course,” he said, stepping to the side. “Take your time.”
As she turned away, she felt his eyes on her back, steady and watchful, and it made something in her chest loosen even as her nerves fluttered. She knew what Bobby had in mind, what he hoped for. That the two of them could pick right back up where they had left off, but was that even possible? Could they find their way back to each other after everything, after the paths their lives had taken since the night she disappeared on him?
She sighed. She didn’t know. But either way, they were standing in the same room now, breathing the same air. For the moment, that was enough.
She moved toward the bathroom on instinct, needing water on her face, a moment to breathe without the weight of eyes on her. Leaning both palms against the cool marble counter, she stared at her reflection, breathing in through her nose,out through parted lips, trying to steady the sudden rush of everything crowding her chest.
She barely recognized herself. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes too bright. A couple of hours ago, she’d been calculating threat vectors and firewall vulnerabilities. Now she was standing barefoot on hotel tile, pulse racing, replaying the way Bobby had looked at her like she mattered more than anything else in the room.
You’re the priority.
The words echoed through her like a bell.
She turned on the faucet and splashed cool water over her wrists, then her face, grounding herself in the sensation.
God.
She pressed a hand to her chest. Her heart wouldn’t slow down, no matter how much she willed it.
She hadn’t expected this part—the way being near him would cause her to toss her precautions so quickly. She’d spent years building walls inside herself, stacking logic on top of survival on top of discipline. She’d learned how to disappear emotionally just as thoroughly as the marshals had taught her to vanish physically.
But Robert Jenkins had always been her weak point.
She reached for a washcloth, moving slowly, deliberately, as she cleaned her face and brushed her teeth with her finger, aware of every small sound in the quiet room beyond the door. The faint creak of the mattress as he must be settling down. The soft shift of his weight. The air conditioning kicking on as the temperature in the room changed.
But even in the bathroom’s quiet, she could feel him. He was right there.
The man she’d loved at sixteen and was ready to marry.
The man who’d held her in the back of his pickup and promised forever like it was just that simple. And she had believed him. Ready to go wherever he led her.
The man who now stood between her and danger without hesitation.
Her throat tightened.
She leaned closer to the mirror, studying herself the way she hadn’t in a long time. She had different hair, both in style and color, and her eyes were older, curves softer even if fuller.
She was a woman shaped by loss and hiding and too many nights spent alone in unfamiliar cities.
But would he see all of that? Would he notice the woman she was right then after everything she had been through?
Or would he still see the girl who used to steal his hoodies and laugh too loud at his stupid jokes, or the way he sang off key during Elvis Presley movies?
Her pulse skipped as warmth curled low in her belly, unexpected and undeniable. It startled her—not because she didn’t want him, but because she’d forgotten what it felt like to want someone this completely.
She closed her eyes for a moment.
This is dangerous, she knew.
Not in the obvious way, but in a softer, quieter way.
In a way that made her chest ache and her skin feel too tight, and her heart whisper things she wasn’t ready to say out loud.
Her body betrayed her in small, undeniable ways, as her pulse fluttered like it couldn’t decide where to land. She leaned forward over the sink for a moment, bracing herself, breathing through it.
