Chapter 206
Chapter 207
FAYE
I pushed open the door to our chambers, feeling the day’s weight still clinging to me like dust, and the first thing I saw was Alexander on the couch. He was half–reclined, laptop balanced on his thighs, eyes narrowed in concentration. The glow of the screen reflected against his cheekbones, highlighting that furrow he got whenever he was buried too deep in work.
“Hey,” I murmured.
He looked up instantly.
The crease between his brows softened, his whole expression warming as he leaned slightly toward me. I kissed his cheek, and he hummed a soft response–barely a sound, more like a quiet acknowledgment that he’d missed me, even if he wasn’t going to say it out loud right now. Then, just as quickly, his attention returned to the laptop.
I walked toward the closet, letting my heels slip off with little thuds along the way. My shirt was tucked neatly into my skirt, but it felt like a straightjacket after the day I’d had, so I tugged it free with a relieved sigh. I took a few breaths–just long enough to ground myself–then padded back out and sank beside Alexander on the couch, and he shifted automatically to make space. “How was your day?” he asked, eyes still scanning something on the screen.
“Fine,” I said. “Irene came by and tried to get me fired.”
That got his attention. His mouth quirked up in that half–smirk he couldn’t hide when he was amused. “Did it work? ”
“It didn’t.”
He clicked his tongue in mock disappointment and shook his head. “She can do much better.”
I nudged him, scandalized. “You actually like the idea of me getting fired?”
He spared me one glance–quick, boyish, and full of trouble–before bursting into a quiet laugh.
I rolled my eyes dramatically and leaned over his shoulder, partly to annoy him and partly because I really did want to see what he was working on. His scent hit me–and the combination relaxed me before I even realized it.
I wasn’t sure when sleep began tugging at me. One moment I was reading an email draft over his shoulder; the next, the words blurred. I blinked a couple of times, tried to straighten my posture, but my body wasn’t having it. I gave up and let my head drop onto his shoulder.
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