Amelia didn’t turn on the lights right away.
She stood just inside her apartment, the city’s glow slipping through the curtains, her bag still hanging from her shoulder. The place was silent in a way she usually welcomed—but tonight, it felt different. Not lonely. Just… aware.
She slipped off her shoes and set her bag down carefully, as if noise might disturb whatever fragile calm had followed her home.
Her thoughts kept circling back to the drive.
To the way the car had moved smoothly through the streets.
To the quiet between them that hadn’t felt awkward.
To the way Ethan had looked at her—not like a CEO, not like a superior, but like someone genuinely present.
She pressed her palm lightly to her chest, frowning.
It hadn’t been dramatic. Nothing had happened, really. No grand ges
