Here We Go

The house changed after that night.

Not outwardly. The same framed photographs still lined the hallway. The same coffee machine hissed awake every morning at six. Daniel still went to work in ironed shirts and came home with that strained, inscrutable look on his face.

But underneath, something had changed.

Claire could sense it somehow. Like a live wire hidden beneath the surface.

And once she’d noticed it, she couldn’t stop touching it.

Three nights later, she wandered downstairs barefoot wearing an oversized gray sleep shirt that barely covered the tops of her thighs.

Not technically inappropriate. That was the beauty of it. Plausible deniability.

Daniel sat at the kitchen island reviewing paperwork, glasses low on his nose, sleeves rolled to his forearms. He looked up automatically at the sound of her footsteps.

And immediately looked back down again.

Too fast.

Claire hid a smile as she opened the refrigerator.

“Do you mind if I grab a bite?”

“I’m working.”

“Mhm.”

She bent slightly to grab a bottle of water. Not dramatically. Not too obvious.

Just enough for the shortie to work its magic.

Silence stretched behind her.

Claire straightened slowly and closed the fridge door with her hip.

Daniel was staring at the same page without turning it.

She leaned against the counter across from him. “You know,” she said lightly, “you're working too much.”

His eyes lifted. “What?”

“You should try to loosen up.”

Daniel removed his glasses. “Claire.”

There it was again. That tone. Warning mixed with strain.

She took a sip of water, watching him over the rim of the bottle. “Relax. I’m joking.”

Daniel exhaled slowly through his nose. The muscle in his jaw flexed.

Claire loved that she knew what that meant.

It got worse after that.

Or better.

Depending on which one of them you asked.

She started lingering whenever he was nearby.

Standing too close. Brushing past him when there was plenty of room. Resting her hand briefly on his shoulder when they laughed at something.

Tiny things.

Accidental enough to deny. Intentional enough to matter.

And Daniel noticed every single one.

That was the fascinating part. He never called her out directly. But his body gave him away constantly.

Claire began to understand something dangerous:

She started to find it attractive.