CHAPTER FIVE: The Visit
1276 Words
Silas’ POV
The door opened.
And there she was.
Zara.
She stood barefoot on the marble floor, her hair slightly tousled, a white bralette clinging to her skin, and soft black shorts that showed too much of the girl she was, and too much of the woman she was becoming.
For a second, I forgot how to breathe.
Her lips parted. “Silas?”
I cleared my throat, forcing my eyes up to her face. “Your father asked me to check on you.”
She blinked, like she’d been expecting someone else. “Of course he did.” Her voice was calm, but there was something in her eyes, something that lingered a little too long.
She stepped aside. “You can come in.”
The warmth of the house hit me first; sugar, butter, cinnamon. She’d been baking. The scent clung to the air, wrapping around me in a way that felt dangerously familiar.
I followed her into the kitchen, my footsteps heavy, controlled. She moved ahead of me, light and slow, like she knew I was watching.
She turned, her fingers brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. “I didn’t think you’d come this late.”
“I had to make sure you were okay,” I said, my voice steady even though my pulse wasn’t.
“Do I look like I’m not?” she asked, leaning back against the counter.
I looked at her. The loose hair. The bare shoulders. The soft curve of her collarbone catches the light.
“Zara,” I said quietly, “you shouldn’t dress like that when you’re alone.”
Her lips curved into a small, teasing smile. “Why? You don’t like it?”
I took a slow breath, steadying my tone. “That’s not the point.”
She tilted her head. “Then what is?”
“Respect,” I said. “For yourself.”
Her smile faded a little. “Or for you?”
I met her eyes then, really met them, and the air between us shifted. My throat went dry. She wasn’t afraid of me, not the way people usually were. She was curious. Reckless.
I stepped closer without meaning to. “You’re too young to play this game.”
She crossed her arms, her voice soft but daring. “And what game am I playing?”
I exhaled slowly, my hand tightening at my side. “The kind that gets people hurt.”
Her gaze flicked to my hand, then back to my eyes. “Then maybe you shouldn’t stand so close.”
God, she was testing me. And I was letting her.
I turned slightly, trying to create distance, but the smell of chocolate and the warmth of her skin pulled me back like gravity.
“You should go to bed,” I said finally.
She laughed quietly, the sound light but sharp. “You sound like my father.”
“I’m nothing like him,” I muttered before I could stop myself.
She caught it. “No,” she said softly. “You’re not.”
Something flickered in her tone, something that shouldn’t have been there.
I stepped back again, forcing my voice cold. “You should be careful what you say.”
Her eyes searched mine. “Why? Are you afraid of what I might mean?”
I clenched my jaw. “Zara.”
She smiled faintly, like she already knew she was winning something I hadn’t agreed to play. “You don’t have to keep pretending, you know. I saw how you looked at me that night.”
My stomach tightened. “You’re imagining things. Did you drink? You are drunk, I’m going to assume that.”
“Am I?” she whispered, moving closer.
I could feel the heat from her now. The faint brush of her arm against mine.
This was wrong.
This was insane.
My mind screamed at me to step away, but I didn’t. I just stood there, trapped in the silence between her breath and mine.
“Zara,” I said again, quieter this time. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
She looked up at me, eyes soft and unguarded. “Maybe I do.”
I froze.
For a moment, the world narrowed to her voice, her face, the tiny distance between us that kept shrinking. Every rational thought I had dissolved into the sound of rain outside, into the smell of vanilla on her skin.
“Don’t,” I said, my voice rough.
She blinked, tilting her head. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?” she asked, lips parting.
I swallowed hard. “Like you want me to cross a line.”
Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Maybe I do.”
I turned away, dragging a hand through my hair. “You’re a child, Zara. You don’t understand.”
She laughed softly, bitterly. “You keep saying that like I’m not freaking twenty five.”
“And I’m thirty-four, so I know better. Go wipe your face,” I snapped, the frustration spilling out sharper than I meant.
She didn’t flinch. “Then why are you still here?”
I didn’t have an answer. I wanted to say because your father asked me to, because it’s my job. After all, I care, just not like that. But none of it would’ve sounded convincing, not with the way I was looking at her.
I turned to the counter, gripping its edge until my knuckles went white. “You don’t know what kind of man I am, Zara.”
Her voice softened. “Then tell me.”
I shook my head. “No. You don’t want to know.”
The silence between us stretched, taut and dangerous.
Then she whispered, “Maybe I already do.”
Something broke in me then, something I’d been trying to hold back since the night in the car. The air felt too hot, too small. Every inch of me wanted to reach out, to touch her, to see if she was as soft as she looked.
But I didn’t. I couldn’t.
I pressed my palm flat on the counter beside her instead, close enough to feel her warmth but not close enough to touch.
“Zara,” I said quietly, “you need to stop.”
“Or what?” she asked, her breath brushing against my skin.
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. Because the truth was, I didn’t know what I’d do if she didn’t.
My eyes dropped for a fraction of a second, to her lips, her throat, the soft rise and fall of her breathing, and then back up.
It was enough. Too much.
I took a step forward, every nerve in my body screaming to stop. “This isn’t a good idea.”
She smiled faintly. “Then why are you still here?”
I swallowed, my voice a low whisper now. “Because your father trusts me.”
Her gaze didn’t waver. “Does he?”
That was it. The end of my restraint.
Every thought blurred into heat, every rule burned away until there was only the sound of her breath and mine.
Her breath, warm and uneven.
Both my hands cornered her at the counter, confining her between them.
Her big brown eyes locked on me.
My head shifted to hers. I could hear her fast heartbeat. My mouth is right beside her ears, where she can hear me clearly.
“You’re stepping out of your boundaries, don’t push me.”
Her lips trembled slightly, and then parted to say something,
A knock broke the silence.
- Writer
