Great! Here's Chapter 35, continuing from Paula
Paula's POV
I should have pulled away.
I should've stepped back, laughed it off, told him it was just the wine and the moonlight making us foolish.
But I didn't.
And now we stood there—his lips still barely apart from mine, our breaths mingling in the cool night air, the silence heavier than it had ever been.
He touched my cheek like he didn't believe the moment had happened. "That wasn't just me, right?"
I shook my head slowly, still trying to catch my breath. "No. Definitely not just you."
But my heart was racing with something I hadn't felt in years—anticipation… and fear.
Ezra Saint was complicated. Ryan's cousin. Dangerous in the kind of way that didn't leave scars, just imprints.
I looked up at him, searching his face for any trace of smugness, but there was none. Just that soft, unguarded expression that said he was just as surprised as I was.
"We should probably go," I said, tugging on his hand gently.
"Yeah," he whispered. But he didn't move. Not yet.
---
Ezra's POV
She was something else.
Paula had this fire in her eyes that could scorch if you got too close—and I just had. And I didn't regret it.
But as we walked back to her car in silence, I could sense the walls going back up. She was cautious. Smart. A woman who didn't hand her trust over easily—and I respected that.
"Can I see you again?" I asked before she opened the door.
She glanced at me with that same fire. "You already know where I work. I'm not exactly hard to find."
"Not at the hospital," I said. "Outside it. Again. Properly."
Her lips twitched, but she didn't smile. "Let's see how you behave this week."
Fair enough.
She got in, rolled down the window, and added, "And Ezra?"
"Yeah?"
"That kiss doesn't give you rights. I'm not a prize to win. I'm not Ryan's assistant."
I laughed, low and genuine. "I never thought you were."
As she drove off, I leaned against the hood of my car, staring after her.
Trouble. Beautiful, intoxicating trouble.
And for the first time in