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Taylor’s fingers closed around the keys, but her hand trembled. Not visibly, but enough that she could feel the war inside herself. She wasn’t used to help without strings. Without resentment. Without someone reminding her what they’d done.

She stared at the Mercedes like it might bite her.

“You didn’t have to do this.”

“I know,” Brooks replied, smooth as ever. “I wanted to.”

That was the part she didn’t know how to process. Want. Not obligation. Not guilt. Not a man doing it to throw it in her face later.

“You don’t even know me like that,” she said quietly.

Brooks tilted his head. “I know enough.”

She slipped the keys into her bag.

A flicker crossed his face, surprise, maybe even respect, but he just nodded.

“I’ll see you later, Tay,” Brooks said, stepping back as Marco pulled into the lot to scoop him. She watched him walk off, calm, confident, unbothered. He had just disrupted her whole emotional routine and had no qualms about it.

Marco waved politely. She waved back.

“Thank you!” she called after him.

“Don’t mention it,” Brooks called over his shoulder.

“Literally,” she muttered, half-smiling. He winked and just like that he was gone.

She stood there a moment longer, watching himdisappear down the drive.

The Mercedes being personally delivered. The expedited repairs. Her head was swimming, heart racing. Brooks’ voice still echoed, lodging itself in a part of her she thought had gone numb.

Worse, she had no one to help her untangle it all. No confidant to help her understand why her heart raced every time his name illuminated her phone screen. The silence of her isolation felt suffocating. She’d wanted to call a million times since they parted ways, but she needed to keep some distance between them. Their vibe at the Diner was too much for her to handle.

She wasn’t trying to close one chapter just to stumble into the next. She knew Tyree would be calling soon enough, expecting her usual compliance, her automatic rescue. She didn’t need the drama.

She was done tolerating a man who hurt her simply because he could.

But she couldn’t lie, something had changed.

Brooks was allowing her to take up space—for once. And he was doing it effortlessly. Handling challenges before they had a chance to become problems. No hinderance. Just pure, decisive action.

Taylor sighed and headed back.

When the world got too loud, she ran to the one place she could still keep score. Work had rules. Emotions didn’t.

She’d already calmed two execs, rescheduled a surgery, and caught a mistake three people missed—and it still wasn’t enough to hide the fact that she was unraveling. So, when her boss came knocking, she wasn’t surprised. Only tired.

“Taylor, hun. I've heard some things,” Patti said, easing into the seat across from her desk.

“Good or bad?” Taylor asked, already knowing the answer. She’d been slipping—coming in late, zoning out during meetings, letting small tasks pile up while her mind wandered too far off course.

“My sweets, it’s not great, but not the worst,” Patti crossed her legs, leaning forward. “People are worried. You’ve been different lately. Late a few times, which isn’t like you at all. And I heard about what happened with the Thompson file Monday.” She paused, her voice softening. “Is everything okay? You can talk to me.”

“Just car trouble,” Taylor said, the partial truth soured on her tongue. “My car is in the shop. And it’s been a struggle.”

Now they were in a stare off. Silence filled the room.

“Mmhmm.” Patti’s perfectly arched eyebrow said she wasn’t buying it. “And Tyree can’t drop you off?”