(Ryan’s POV)
I sat in my office, my hands resting on the edge of the sleek black desk. The file I had retrieved from the library earlier lay unopened before me, but my focus was far from work. Instead, my mind replayed the scene from the library, my irritation flaring again for a moment before it faded into something more complex.
Aurora.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and leaned back in my chair. I hadn’t expected to see her there, sitting on the library couch with a book in her lap, completely absorbed. It was a strange sight…someone so quiet and unassuming, yet so present in that moment.
Her startled expression when I snapped at her lingered in my mind. I scowled, my fingers tapping restlessly on the desk.
“Why didn’t she say something back? Why just sit there like a deer in head
