HIS BY MISTAKE
Marta pressed a cool cloth into my hands, and I wiped my mouth, still shaking slightly, still mortified despite everything he’d just said.
“Take as long as you need.” He turned to me, caressing my hair softly before he could seem to stop himself, brief and unthinking, the kind of gesture that felt more honest than anything scripted could have,making my heart skip. “If you need anything, let Marta know, she’ll tell me.”
He left reluctantly, glancing back twice before the door closed behind him, and Priya let out a low whistle the second he was gone.
“Okay,” she said, her hands raised in surrender. “If that man is just performing duty, I genuinely don’t know what love is supposed to look like.