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“Kind of ruined the evening,” he said

“Not unless we let it”

His grin was forced

And Lacey wasn’t sure what to do She was too close Couldn’t find her boundaries

“Can I bring back the twinkle to your eye?” she asked And immediately hated herself for the question As if this was in any way about her

He tilted his head Looked at her And smiled A real smile “You already have”

“I’lad”

“Believe it or not, I am, too”

He needed time She didn’t like it, didn’t want to not help him, but she wasn’t a professional when she ith Jem

She was a wo to show her Or, if nothing else, a friend tuning in to a friend

“You want to call it a night?” she asked then

“No, butyeah” His gaze was direct, touching her as intimately as his lips had and far more deeply

Lacey nodded, picked up their wineglasses and walked into the house, leaving him to folloith the bottle

She couldn’t take ahat had happened to hi he’d been a partner in an abusive relationship But she could tend to hi

Giving him what he seemed to need Time to himself To assimilate To recover