Jessica felt it—the precise moment the tension drained from Mark’s body. As if an invisible thread binding them in fear had finally loosened. She let out a quiet breath of relief, the last of her own unease fading with his.
“So…” she said cautiously, with a half-smile, “can we go back to normal now and finish our breakfast? Although it might be ice-cold by this point.”
Mark didn’t smile. Instead, his gaze locked onto hers, intense and unreadable.
“No,” he said.
Her heart dipped, catching onto the seriousness in his tone.
“Things can’t go back to normal. Not after last night.”
There was a long pause, as if he were weighing a decision. Then he added, voice low and deliberate, “Besides, I’m hungry… but not for food.”
Jessica blinked, uncertain at first—until the weight of his words set
