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She moves into the kitchen like nothing happened.
No kiss. No lingering look.
“You could’ve said something,” I say, trying to keep my voice level. “I woke up and thought something happened.”
She shrugs, dropping her bags on the counter. “Didn’t mean to worry you.”
Something’s wrong.
She’s here, but she’s not here.
“You’re… quiet.”
She keeps her back to me. “I’m just tired.”
“Ivy.”
She finally looks up, and her eyes don’t meet mine for long. “Don’t make this a thing, Carter. I just needed some air. Some space. That’s allowed, isn’t it?”
“It is,” I say slowly. “But space doesn’t usually come with silence.”
She exhales, tight. “I’m not trying to start anything.”
I step closer, gently wrapping my hand around hers as she grabs the coffee pot. Her fingers twitch but don’t pull away.
“I thought last night meant something.”
She doesn’t move. But she doesn’t deny it, either.
“It did,” she says softly.
“Then why does it feel like I’m suddenly ten miles away?”
She doesn’t pull away. But she doesn’t lean in, either.
“You didn’t misread it,” she says, softly.
“Then what is this?” I ask. “This cold shoulder?”
She exhales hard. “I told you I’m just getting over a breakup. I’m still trying to find my footing. Last night was… incredible. But maybe it also scared the hell out of me.”
I nod slowly. “Do you regret it?”
She pauses.
“No,” she says. “I regret what happens after. The part where you go back to your jet and your boardrooms, and I go back to my apartment and finish my article, and this”—she gestures between us—“becomes a memory I overthink for the next three years.”
“Ivy,” I murmur, brushing a piece of hair from her face. “I meant what I said last night. You’re not someone I’ll just forget when I get on a plane.”
She huffs out a breath. “You say that now.”
“I’ve met a lot of people,” I say gently. “None of them are like you.”
Her eyes flicker, like she wants to believe me but doesn’t know how.
“You’re the smartest, sharpest woman I’ve ever shared a room with. You challenge me. You see things no one else notices. You’re not just beautiful—you’re real.”
That gets her. I see it in the way her jaw flexes, the way she finally lets her guard slip for half a second.