“Different perspectives,” Daniel offered diplomatically, but his hand had drifted closer to Juniper’s on the conference table, not quite touching but close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from him.

The familiar rhythm of legal work settled over them - papers shuffling, keyboards providing percussion, the soft presence of focused minds. Juniper’s hand reached out automatically for the Delaney brief, her fingers finding empty space where the folder should have been. Oh right, left it at my desk. Smart, Juni.

She began to push back her chair, but something made her glance up first. Daniel was already watching her, his head tilted slightly as if he’d been tracking her movements without realizing it. She studied him like a crime she meant to commit, each glance a confession her professional boundaries hadn’t agreed to make - a silent frequency that needed no words to transmit meaning. Before she could even form the thought of standing, he was already rising from his chair, his movement as natural as autumn leaves following the corridor interstate.