LAUREN'S POV

It felt like we were staring at each other for hours, though it might have only been a few seconds. Time seemed to stretch, holding both of us in that quiet tension. Roman’s gaze was steady and I could feel it pulling at something inside me I didn’t want to acknowledge. His eyes were dark, sharp, and yet strangely soft in that moment, as though he was looking past my face, past my defenses, into something deeper.

I swallowed, my heart beating a little too fast. Why did he have ...