Collin Tanner
I couldn't say the words.
The lie sat heavy and sour on my tongue, but my throat locked up tight, refusing to let it out. I stared into Zander’s gray eyes, watching the raw, desperate hope flickering behind the dark irises.
Instead of answering, I ducked my head, pushed past his shoulder, and walked briskly out of the kitchen.
My pulse roared in my ears the entire day. The mansion felt like a pressure cooker, every room charged with an electric tension that made it impossible to breathe normally. Whenever I helped Oliver with his reading or played dolls with Sophie, my mind looped back to the heat of Zander’s chest brushing against mine and the low gravel of his voice asking me to lie to him.
By nine o'clock, the children were fast asleep, exhausted from a full day of pl
