The toasts blurred into one another as the night wore on, the beers multiplying until Eleanor's resolve cracked.
Julian's absence left a void, filled by the raucous laughter of her colleagues and the relentless pull of Calder's presence across the table.
She wasn't a big drinker. She had never been, not with Julian's watchful eye. But tonight, the cool fizz of the bottles called to her like a siren's song.
One became two, then three, the alcohol warming her veins, loosening the knot of confusion in her chest.
Each sip chipped away at the walls she built since Chenonceau, until looking at Calder didn't just make her wet. it made her reckless.
His eyes met hers once more during a group cheer, that brief, unreadable flicker sending a fresh wave of heat between her thighs.
She was soak
