Third Person POV
The restaurant sat along the river’s edge, lanterns strung between old wooden posts casting warm light across the water. It was quiet enough to feel private, but public enough that no one could accuse them of secrecy. Lance had chosen it deliberately.
Isla noticed.
She noticed most things lately.
She was on high alert, especially in public. Lance noticed it, though she hid it well. They’d only known each other for a few months, but he could read her as if he’d been doing it all his life.
They sat across from each other at a small table near the railing, the low murmur of conversation and the gentle lap of water filling the pauses between them. Isla’s hands were folded neatly in her lap, her posture composed, but there was tension in the line of her sho
