Tracy's POV
The dinner stayed with me longer than I expected.
I lay awake that night, staring at the ceiling, replaying the laughter, the clinking glasses, the warmth of it all. It had been so long since I felt like I belonged somewhere, even if just for a few hours.
But of course, he had to show up.
Ethan.
The moment he walked in, everything shifted. The air tightened, the laughter softened. Even I sat straighter, as if my body had been trained to react to his presence. He did not say much, did not do much, but he didn't have to. He was the kind of man who carried weight just by existing in the room.
And maybe I imagined it, but… his eyes had lingered on me more than once. I tried not to think about it. Tried not to notice how he glanced toward Nathan, or how the ease of the evening disappeared after his arrival.
Why should it matter? Nathan was kind. Nathan admired me, though he never said it aloud. With him, there was no cold wall, no mystery, no sharpness that could cut me if I got too close.
So why did it feel like Ethan's silence had carved itself deeper into me than Nathan's warmth ever could?
I hated myself for even thinking about it. I wanted to forget him. To build something new here, far away from heartbreak and betrayal. And yet, even as I dressed for work the next morning, the memory of his unreadable gaze haunted me.
I shook my head, whispering to my reflection, "It does not matter. He does not matter."
But deep down, I was not sure if I believed myself.
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Ethan's Pov
The next morning, I told myself it was back to business. Meetings, contracts, decisions that kept the company alive. No more distractions. No more unnecessary thoughts.
But then I saw her again.
She was standing by Nathan's desk, handing him a file, her posture straight, her expression professional. Nothing remarkable— at least, it should not have been. Yet my eyes caught on her anyway, the way light always found its way through a crack in the wall.
I forced my gaze back to the paper in my hand, reading the same sentence three times before I realized I was not absorbing any of it.
Ridiculous.
I did not have time for this. I'd spent years building walls so nothing— and no one— could slip through and distract me. I knew better than to let admiration, or interest, or whatever this was, interfere with my focus.
And yet, last night's image of Nathan leaning toward her still burned in my mind. His laugh, his hand brushing hers, the way she smiled back.
Nathan was free to admire her. He was a good man, decent. I should have been glad if he found someone who brought light to his days.
So why did it feel like a blade twisting in my chest?
I closed the file and set it aside, pushing the thought away as I'd done with a thousand other distractions in my life. Only this one refused to be pushed.
When I passed her in the hallway later, she offered me a polite smile. I nodded, keeping my expression neutral, but the smallest curve tugged at the corner of her lips, soft and brief.
It should not have meant anything. But I carried it with me the rest of the day.
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Tracy's POV
The office was loud with its usual hum of voices, phones ringing, footsteps echoing across the marble floor. Yet somehow, I felt… watched. Not in a bad way, not like a spotlight, but like a presence I could not shake.
Whenever I caught a glimpse of Ethan— across the hall, near the elevators, walking into a meeting— there was a weight in the air. Like I was aware of him before I even saw him.
I told myself it was nothing. That I was imagining it. That he had no reason to notice me, no reason to think of me at all.
But when our eyes met by accident that afternoon, something inside me stilled. He didn't smile, did not speak, but his gaze was steady, sharp, almost searching. And for one breathless second, it felt like the whole world narrowed to just that moment.
Then he looked away, as if nothing had happened, leaving me questioning everything.
Maybe I was just imagining things. Maybe it was all in my head.
But my heart did not believe that. Not for a second.
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Ethan's Pov
I told myself I had not noticed.
I told myself she was just another employee.
I told myself Nathan's admiration was none of my concern.
But late that night, when I sat alone in my office with the city lights flickering against the windows, I realized the truth I had been avoiding.
I had noticed.
And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop.
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