"Nathan," Cassie whispered. Her voice came out thin, as if her lungs forgot how to function.
The tall, elegant man with the aura of a boardroom tycoon rather than a doctor approached her with determined strides.
He wrapped his arms around her, firm yet comforting, as if shielding her from everything she had endured.
He pulled away slowly, but not before the warmth of his embrace settled deep in her chest.
When his gaze met hers, something flickered there, familiar, intense, something she couldn't quite name. Not love, not longing, but a kind of recognition that made her heart flutter uneasily.
"Cass," he murmured, his voice deeper than she remembered, "it's been so long. I came looking for you four years ago but was told you'd moved out. I couldn't reach you in any way unt
