The days following the rain-soaked encounter blurred into a rhythm of avoidance and inevitability. Ethan threw himself into the project, tweaking elevations and coordinating with contractors, but Lila's presence lingered like sea salt on skin, unshakeable.

She'd show up for shoots, her camera clicking methodically, their conversations clipped, all they talked about were light angles, structural highlights. Yet each glance carried the weight of what hadn't been said, the almost-touch in the ...