THE SMELL OF COFFEE still lingered in the air when Mailah found herself wandering through the halls in search of Grayson.
There were two sunrooms in the Ashford estate that she knew of—the more frequented one that overlooked the gardens, and the quieter one where he'd proposed to her before.
She hesitated between the two, her heart pulling in both directions, before deciding to check the one she knew he preferred when thinking.
The sound of turning pages guided her before she saw him.
Grayson sat in the corner of the sunroom, half-immersed in a book, sunlight pooling over his shoulders. His hair glinted where it caught the light, and his posture—relaxed, yet impossibly composed—made the scene look like something from another time.
He looked up when she entered, and for a heartbeat, something unguarded passed through his expression—warmth, relief, maybe even the faintest trace of amusement.
"I thought you'd choose the other one," he said, setting the book aside.
