CHAPTER ONE
Elise Moreau had tutored dozens of college-bound students over the years, yet none lingered in her thoughts the way Daphne Harlow did.
The girl possessed a sharp mind that sparkled whenever she focused, but focus came rarely. More often, Daphne sat with her pen idle, her lower lip caught between her teeth, her gaze drifting in ways that made Elise’s skin prickle with awareness she refused to name.
At nineteen, Daphne carried herself like someone still learning the weight of her own body.
Long auburn hair spilled over her shoulders in loose waves that caught the lamplight whenever she turned her head.
Her hazel eyes, framed by unfairly thick lashes, held a quiet intensity that made Elise’s pulse stutter more than once.
Daphne favored soft oversized sweaters that slipp
