Chapter 33 — Too Close
766 Words
The business trip was presented as a standard negotiation assignment, something both companies had handled many times before. Aurora did not believe that for a second. Experience had taught her that whenever powerful people called something routine, it usually meant the opposite.
Her suspicion was confirmed the moment she reviewed the travel arrangements.
“What do you mean we’re on the same flight?” she asked, looking up from the document in her hands.
Amelia didn’t even pretend to be surprised by the question. “Company charter.”
“There are other options.”
“There are.”
“Then why this one?”
A small pause followed before Amelia responded. “You might want to ask Mr. Vale.”
Aurora already knew she wouldn’t like the answer.
The flight itself felt longer than necessary, not because of time, but because of awareness she could not fully ignore. The cabin had been converted into a working space, documents arranged across the table between them as both sides prepared for the upcoming negotiations.
At first, Aurora focused entirely on her work, reviewing contracts and marking adjustments that needed attention. Cassian did the same, at least outwardly. Yet she became increasingly aware that his attention drifted toward her more often than it should have.
Not openly. Not in a way that could be challenged.
Just enough to be noticeable when she looked up.
After a while, she set her pen down without looking at him.
“Staring isn’t part of the agenda.”
Cassian didn’t react immediately. When he finally spoke, his tone remained calm. “I wasn’t staring.”
“You were looking at me.”
“I was observing.”
“That’s worse.”
A faint trace of amusement crossed his expression before disappearing again. Aurora immediately returned her attention to the documents, though focusing became harder than it should have been.
By the time they landed, the day had already shifted into a series of scheduled obligations. Security teams were waiting at the airport, followed by transport, then a sequence of meetings and formal discussions that filled the rest of the evening without pause.
Aurora only realized how much time had passed when the schedule finally loosened just before midnight.
Even then, the day wasn’t finished.
A final review session remained.
She arrived at the hotel conference suite expecting a group of executives.
Only Cassian was inside.
She stopped at the entrance. “Where is everyone else?”
“They finished earlier.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“It does. Their part was complete.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “And ours isn’t?”
Cassian met her gaze. “No.”
The answer was simple enough that arguing felt unnecessary, even if she disliked admitting it.
They worked through the remaining documents in relative silence. The conversation stayed professional, but the atmosphere between them had shifted in ways neither of them acknowledged directly. Every interaction now carried traces of everything they had not addressed since the kiss, lingering beneath even the most ordinary exchange.
At one point, they reached for the same file at the same time. Their hands brushed briefly before either of them could adjust.
The contact was accidental, but neither of them moved immediately afterward.
Aurora withdrew first, returning to her seat and forcing her attention back to the papers, though her focus no longer held the same clarity.
By the time the final document was signed, exhaustion had settled in.
Aurora closed the folder. “We’re done.”
Cassian nodded once. “For now.”
She exhaled slowly, refusing to engage with that implication. “It’s one in the morning.”
“And?”
“And this could have been finished hours ago.”
Cassian’s gaze shifted briefly toward the untouched coffee beside her. “You’ve been working since early morning without proper breaks.”
Aurora paused.
That was not a guess.
It was an observation.
A correct one.
For a moment, she didn’t respond. Then she closed her laptop with slightly more force than necessary.
“Don’t start tracking my habits.”
“I’m not.”
“That sounded exactly like that.”
Cassian didn’t deny it.
Which somehow made it worse.
When she eventually left the room, the thought that stayed with her had nothing to do with negotiations or schedules.
It was the simple realization that Cassian Vale noticed far more than he ever said out loud, and that pretending otherwise was becoming increasingly difficult.
Not because he was forcing anything.
But because he was paying attention.
And she was beginning to notice it back.
- Writer
