Kalil hated being distracted.

  It was a weakness, a crack in the armor he had spent years building.

  But Stacy Ramdial had managed to slip through it.

  He watched her now from the end of the hallway, pretending to skim through a file, though his eyes weren’t moving across the words. Instead, they followed her- how her ponytail swung slightly as she walked, how her brow furrowed when she was focused, how she offered a patient a smile that could disarm the darkest of moods.

  She was too bright. Too soft.

  And entirely too human.

  Kalil turned away sharply, angry with himself. He didn’t have time for this. For her. She wasn’t for him. Couldn’t be. Not with what ran in his veins.

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  But fate didn’t care for logic.

  Especially when, as he rounded the corner near the nurse’s station, he found her laughing softly with a man in a navy blue shirt.

  Matthew.

  The boyfriend.

  Kalil didn’t realize his jaw clenched until a nurse brushed past and gave him a quick, wide-eyed look. He relaxed it.

  Matthew had his arm casually slung around Stacy’s waist, like he’d done it a thousand times. Stacy didn’t seem to mind. She leaned in to whisper something to him, and they both laughed again.

  Kalil felt something sharp twist inside him.

  He wasn’t jealous. He wasn’t.

  He was just…observing.

  Right?

  Still, as he passed them, he didn’t acknowledge either of them. But he noticed the way Matthew’s laughter faded when their eyes met. Men could always recognize when another man posed a threat, even one who said nothing at all.

  Stacy’s smile faltered. She turned to watch Kalil’s retreating figure, a small frown forming between her brows.

  “Is that your supervisor?” Matthew asked, sliding his hand off her waist. “He’s… intense.”

  “Yeah,” she replied absently, still looking down the hallway. “That’s one word for it.”

  Matthew narrowed his eyes. “He’s not giving you a hard time, is he?”

  Stacy blinked, pulled her focus back to her boyfriend. “No, no. He’s just... strict. That’s all.”

  But inside her chest, her heartbeat betrayed her. Because strict wasn’t the right word.

  Kalil made her feel seen. Like he was stripping away every layer she wore and reading things she didn’t even know were there.

  And she hated that part of her… didn’t hate it at all.