“Because I like you, Elena. And because I wanted to.”
The room went quiet.
Annoyingly quiet.
I looked down at the donut in my hand.
“That’s manipulative,” I said softly.
“How?”
“Being thoughtful without warning and saying things like that out of nowhere.”
He almost smiled.
“I’ll schedule future acts of kindness.”
“Please do. I need emotional preparation.”
I bit into the donut.
Chocolate glaze.
Also perfect.
I glared harder.
“You got my favorites too?”
“You’re predictable.”
“I am layered.”
“You’re loud.”
“I am vibrant.”
He sipped his coffee.
“You’re impossible.”
“And yet,” I said around pastry, “here I remain.”
His eyes dropped briefly to my mouth.
Then returned to my face.
I nearly inhaled wrong.
To recover, I grabbed another contract.
“Right. Business. Serious th
