That Spark

I rebuilt my life around one simple rule: never let anyone close enough to destroy it again.
Then Axel Slade walked into my café and made me want to break that rule.

I came to Virginia Dale for one reason, to disappear.
But Axel notices everything.

The exhaustion I can’t hide.
The tension I can’t shake.
The way I’m always watching, always waiting.

He sees too much. Understands too much. And worst of all… he’s patient.
He looks at me like he sees past the fortress around my heart. Like he recognizes every crack, every secret, every fear I’ve buried.

He doesn’t charm me.
He wrecks me.
With his hands. With his mouth.
With the way he tears down my walls one by one.

He makes me feel safe in a way I’ve never known.
Makes me forget, for just a moment, why I have to keep my distance.
Because the man I ran from hasn’t stopped looking for me.
And if he finds me, he won’t just destroy my life.

He’ll take everything.

Axel says I don’t have to face it alone.
But trusting him means risking the fragile safety I’ve built.
Because once that spark ignites…There’s no running from the fire