The moment Sophie saw Lucas across the room, time faltered.

His gaze held hers, steady, hungry, as though the months apart had been seconds.

The tailored cut of his suit clung to his shoulders, but it was his eyes that undressed her.

Her heels clicked against the floor, each step a silent invitation, a dare.

The champagne glass trembled slightly in her hand, though her smirk betrayed confidence.

When he leaned in, the brush of his breath at her ear made her knees threaten to give.

She felt the memory of his touch before it even landed, an echo of what once was.

Their words were careful, but their bodies spoke a sharper, older language.

His fingers barely grazed the small of her back, yet it set her aflame.

Every glance was a promise, every pause stretched like velvet over steel.

He smiled, slow, predatory, and she felt it in places she dared not admit aloud.

Sophie tilted her chin, refusing to be the one to break first, even as her pulse betrayed her.

The air between them thickened, ripe with all the things they hadn’t said.

It wasn’t just reunion—it was temptation wrapped in silk and shadow.

And when his lips hovered near hers, the world fell away, leaving only the fire of almost.