Elca’s POV She is different. Even a blind man can see it. There’s something about her. Catlike, sexy, irresistible. It’s there in the way she cradles the glass, running the tip of her finger across the surface, leaning back and forth.

She angles her head to the side when she’s observing me. Those eyes, I can never get used to them. They make me feel like she’s stripping me naked, assessing me.

“Tell me your deepest secret,” I ask her again.

She doesn’t reply at first. She’s ...