Chapter 5 Detours and Discoveriees continued

The words hung in the air between them, dangerous and thrilling. Cassie felt her careful composure cracking, all the walls she'd built around herself starting to crumble.

"You don't know me," she whispered.

"I know you stayed calm in the elevator when I was falling apart. I know you have a PhD in art history but work in social media because you want to prove you're not just a trust fund baby. I know you drive a sports car but tip waitresses too much because you remember what it's like to work for every dollar."

Cassie stared at him, stunned. "How do you—"

"I pay attention." His voice was rough with something that might have been emotion. "I've been paying attention to you since the moment you walked into that elevator. My sister told me you're off limits."

Her phone buzzed, breaking the spell. Jake 's name lit up the screen.

"I should—" she started.

"Don't." Greyson's hand covered hers on the table, warm and solid and real. "Not yet."

She looked down at their joined hands, his tan fingers interlaced with hers. It should have felt wrong. She was engaged to another man, sitting in a diner at midnight with someone who was still essentially a stranger.

Instead, it felt like coming home.

"This is crazy," she said, but she didn't pull away.

"I know."

"I'm engaged."

"I know that too."

"Then why Greyson?"

"Sometimes crazy is the only thing that makes sense." He squeezed her hand gently. "Tell me you don't feel this. Tell me I'm imagining the connection between us, and I'll walk away right now."

Cassie opened her mouth to lie, to do the responsible thing, to protect them both from the disaster that was surely waiting down this path. But the words wouldn't come.

"I can't," she whispered.

"Then don't." He brought her hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles. "Let me drive you home. Let me make sure you're safe."

She should say no. Should call Jake , go home to her perfect apartment, pretend this night had never happened. Should do all the things a good fiancée would do.

Instead, she nodded.

They left the diner together, running through the rain to where their cars sat side by side in the parking lot. Greyson opened her car door, his hand warm on her back as he helped her in.

"Follow me," he said, leaning down to speak through the open window. "I know a shortcut."

As they drove through the storm-washed city, Cassie caught glimpses of his BMW in her rearview mirror, steady and sure behind her. She should have been thinking about Jake , about the wedding, about all the reasons this was a terrible idea.

Instead, she found herself thinking about the way Greyson's hand ha

d felt in hers, about the way he'd looked at her like she was the only person in the world who mattered.

And for the first time in months, she felt fully alive.