The office was unusually quiet that morning. Papers sat stacked neatly on my desk, the soft hum of the air conditioner filling the silence. I should have been focused—typing reports, sending emails, checking off the never-ending list of tasks Elijah had asked me to help with. But instead, my mind was anywhere but here.
I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose and forced myself to re-read the same paragraph for the third time. Nothing stuck. Every line of text blurred until I caught myself sighing loudly, dragging a hand through my hair in frustration.
"Get it together, Lyra," I whispered under my breath.
But it wasn't that easy. Not when every time I blinked, I saw him.
Kairo.
The way his eyes seemed to see right through me the other night. The way he looked at me like he shouldn't, like he wanted to turn away but couldn't. I hated how much that look haunted me, how it made my skin burn as though he were standing right behind me even now.
I tried to shake it off. My life didn't revolve around him. It couldn't. I had responsibilities—work, family, myself. I wasn't about to become one of those foolish girls who spent her days obsessing over a man she could never have.
Still…
The memory of his hand brushing against mine—accidental, fleeting—sent a shiver up my arm.
The door to my office clicked open. Elijah poked his head in, phone pressed to his ear, mouthing something like "Ten minutes" before disappearing again.
I sank back into my chair, biting the inside of my cheek. Elijah. My brother. If he ever knew the thoughts that had been running through my mind these past few days, he'd never forgive me. He'd never forgive Kairo either.
And yet, my heart beat faster every time I thought of him.
I forced my eyes back on the computer screen, determined to distract myself with work. Numbers. Contracts. Safe, predictable things. I typed furiously, the clacking of the keyboard filling the room, but deep inside, I knew I was only pretending.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop wondering when I would see him again.