Olivia held her breath for a second because… he was right.

“How do you know?”

“By the way you look at the party… but not at the people.” His tone was certain, unrushed. “You listen. You watch. But you don’t throw yourself in. There’s a kind of hidden romantic in you—” His eyes stayed locked on hers. “—and that makes you harder to reach… and a hell of a lot more interesting.”

She glanced away quickly—not out of embarrassment, but because she sensed that if she held his gaze two seconds longer, s