The elevator ride was silent, but not empty. The kind of silence that hummed, charged with tension and the heat rolling off the two people in said elevator.

Emma kept her eyes fixed on the glowing floor numbers, as if watching them flicker one by one might ground her heartbeat. Ross stood close, only slightly touching her, but the heat radiating from his body felt like Emma was in a large metal oven.

She could feel the faint brush of his hands when the elevator swayed. Every ...