PASCAL
When I woke, for a long moment, I didn’t move. Kendra lay turned slightly toward me, one arm bent under her pillow, her breathing even. There was something disarming about seeing her like that, unguarded, no polished mask, no poised retort waiting on her tongue.
I should have gotten up immediately. I had meetings, calls, a dozen unread messages on my phone. But I stayed. My mind refused to cooperate with reason. There was a calm in the room I hadn’t felt in years, a fragile peace that I was afraid to disturb.
I reached out, brushed a strand of hair from her cheek, and stopped myself before I touched her skin. I wasn't ready to wake her. She shifted slightly, sighing in her sleep, and I leaned back, exhaling quietly.
It was ridiculous, how deeply she’d gotten under my skin. I’d s
