Eric merely chuckled, shameless and smug.

“Chaos? Please. We’re just two consenting adults in love. It was a kiss, not a crime. Perfectly respectable, if you ask me.”

He gave an easy shrug, like he hadn’t just been caught with his hands all over her.

Without giving her a chance to retort, his arm snaked around her waist. “Come on, don’t pout. Let me zip you up properly.”

“Then make it quick.”

“Right away, baby,” he said with a grin.

Outside the door, Linda sat in her wheelchair, utterly forgotten. Her lips were pressed thin, her expression frozen into contempt as muffled laughter and murmurs floated out.

Inside, Eric slid the zipper up the back of Hadley’s dress with practiced hands. She turned to the mirror, adjusting the fabric like nothing had happened, smoothing every line and crease until she looked picture-perfect again.

Then his phone rang.

“Hello?” he answered, casual as ever. But the second the voice chimed in, his face lit up with a rare, soft joy. “Hey, Joy.”

“Hi!” Joy’s chirpy little voice rang through the phone. “I’m in the garage! Will you come get me?”

“Absolutely,” he said, not even hesitating. “I’m on my way.”

He ended the call and turned to Hadley, already halfway out the door. “Joy’s here. She wants me to go get her.”

Hadley’s expression melted into a smile, full of quiet affection. “Then go,” she said softly. “I’ll be waiting here.”

She was already dressed to perfection, her gown flowing elegantly around her.

There was no rush, no need to move.

?σ? υ ι .

“I’ll be back soon.”

Eric reached out, his fingers grazing her lips in a soft, lingering touch. A smile curved his mouth as he turned and slipped out the door.

Hadley exhaled slowly, readjusted her gown, and stepped out of the changing room.

She had barely made it a few paces down the hallway when she found her path blocked—

Linda was waiting, seated in her wheelchair, positioned squarely in the center of the narrow corridor.

She didn’t speak. Her eyes were fixed on Hadley’s mouth—flushed, slightly swollen, a trace of shine still clinging to her lips.

Linda’s thoughts flashed back to what she’d walked in on: the embrace, the kiss, the hunger in Eric’s eyes.

She’d known him for years—always cool, reserved, disciplined. But in that moment, he’d looked like a man possessed.

Hadley stopped, raising a brow. “Please, get out of my way.” Her voice was calm, polite, but clipped. “I need to get through.”

Linda’s lips twitched.

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