LOGINPOV: AvaDillan sent me an address, and I regretted agreeing to it the moment I actually arrived. An abandoned warehouse on the edge of the industrial district, nothing but broken streetlights and empty loading bays. Dillan was sitting in the front passenger seat of a blue van, a stranger beside him in the driver's seat, looking at me the way a predator looks at something it's already decided to eat.The second I stepped out of my car, Dillan was out of the van and on me, furious that I'd driven myself instead of letting him collect me. His hands wrapped around my throat before I could even get a word out."You came here yourself instead of letting me pick you up?" he snarled, squeezing. "Are you hiding something from me, Ava? Why won't you let me come over? I'm sure you let the boss come over to your place whenever he wants. Why him and not me? Why can't I know where you live?""Stop it, Dillan!" the stranger shouted from the driver's seat. "You'll kill her!"He wrenched Dillan's han
POV: AvaI wanted it so badly it frightened me. His mouth on mine, his hands at my waist, every part of me had wanted to lean into that kiss and let it go exactly where it was heading. But somewhere underneath the wine and the wanting, a colder, steadier part of me was already doing the maths, and the maths told me exactly why I had to pull away.People already believed I was sleeping with my boss. I’d seen it in every whispered conversation that cut off the second I walked into a room, in the way Sharon and Shelley had already gone on camera together painting me as some kind of home-wrecking opportunist who’d slept her way into a contract. Being caught with him again, days after that leaked video, days after the two of them had already tried her hardest to brand me a whore in front of the whole city, would look exactly like confirmation. Like acceptance of the label they’d already stapled to my name.And there was something else, something I hadn’t even let myself think all the way t
POV: DominicI watched her finish up the dishes, taking her time with it, and I had a feeling she needed that time as much as I needed mine, some distance to steady whatever had just passed between us at that sink. I know I did. Having her that close, watching that look in her eyes, had done things to me that had no business happening in my own kitchen on a Tuesday night."I think that's them done, Ava," I said, pulling myself out of my own head."Yes, looks like it," she laughed."Come on, let's go sit down," I said, smiling at her.I grabbed a bottle of wine and our two glasses, and we headed through to the living room, my hand landing at the small of her back as we walked. I felt her flinch slightly under my touch, a small shiver that she tried to hide by turning her face away from me. She sat down quickly, putting a careful distance between us on the sofa. I took the seat right beside her anyway, closing that gap without a word, and poured us both a glass of wine."Thank you," she
POV: DominicI'd seen her face when she'd opened that file at lunch, before she'd caught herself and closed it again fast. Something in it had frightened her. I wanted, more than I wanted almost anything else right now, for her to trust me enough to hand it to me directly instead of carrying it alone."Whatever. Now hush, I'm eating," she laughed, sticking her tongue out at me."Yes, ma'am," I said, letting it go for now.She laughed, and we both went back to our plates. I watched her enjoying the food, and there it was again, that small, involuntary sound she made without meaning anything by it at all. Not good for my composure. I tried to distract myself and focus on my own plate instead."How's Milo doing with the move, or, sorry, I keep forgetting you're not moving," Ava said, catching herself. "How's he settling into everything, with your ex being back around and all that?""He's fine," I said, and meant it, something loosening in my chest just talking about him. "Better than fin
POV: DominicI swallowed hard, running my tongue over my lower lip as a small moan escaped Ava's lips while she tried the chicken."Damn, that is good," she said, looking up at me."Thanks," I said, giving her a small smile.Her words weren't what I was actually concentrating on. That small sound was still ringing in my ears, and there was something ridiculously appealing about it, even though she'd meant nothing by it at all. I wasn't entirely sure why she kept pulling my mind in that direction lately. We'd known each other for weeks now, worked closely together, and yes, she was sharp and beautiful and unlike anyone I'd let this close in years, but I hadn't expected to find myself this distracted by her, this pulled toward her, the pull creeping up so gradually I couldn't pin down the exact moment it started.Maybe it was the separation. Maybe some part of me was simply noticing things again that I'd stopped letting myself notice back when I was married, back when no other woman cam
POV: Ava"Can I help?" I asked."No, it's fine. I'm a bit of a control freak in the kitchen. Have to do it all myself," he laughed. "You just relax and enjoy your wine."I did as he said while he got started, and found myself smiling watching him work, completely in his element, calm and focused in a way I rarely saw at the office, where every movement he made seemed weighted with some larger calculation."Have you always cooked?" I asked."Yeah. It's one of my favourite things to do. One day I'll open my own restaurant," he said, glancing back with a smile."You've definitely got the ease for it. I can cook, but I hate it. Stresses me out," I giggled."Maybe one day we can cook together. I can help you figure out why it stresses you," he said, turning back to the chicken, knife moving with a precision that would have looked intimidating on anyone else."That'd be good, because honestly, I'm convinced I'm going to be alone the rest of my life at this rate. I need to learn how to stop







