ALEX’S POV
The lift ride down should have felt normal.
It didn’t.
Not because anything unusual was happening.
Quite the opposite.
Evie stood beside me quietly scrolling through her phone, probably looking at the menu online before we arrived.
A perfectly ordinary thing to do.
Yet for the first time since she’d started at Wolfe Publishing, I became aware of how little space existed between us.
Not enough to be inappropriate.
Not enough to attract attention.
Simply close.
The faint scent of her perfume drifted towards me whenever the lift shifted.
Something floral.
Subtle.
Nothing overpowering.
The sort of fragrance someone wore for herself rather than everyone around her.
My gaze dropped briefly.
The outfit she’d worn that morning still looked immaculate despite half a day’
