And, as I took his hand and let the stranger guide me into the car, like I was a proper lady in my soaked clothes, I didn’t feel the slightest twinge to organize or fluff anything.

I just looked into those bewitching green eyes and smiled.

“Salad again, Miss Hamilton?” Roman said, raising an eyebrow in my direction, as I sorted through the food delivery.

When I’d phoned him to inquire about lunch ideas, he’d told me to make sure I included something for myself if I planned on eating at my desk every day.

I nodded, setting his chicken salad on wheat that I’d ordered from a deli onto his desk. He speculatively eyed me before taking the wrapped sandwich and iced tea.

“You don’t really strike me as a salad girl,” he said before I had the chance to turn around.

Instead, I stood there, awkwardly holding my strawberry and walnut salad in one hand and an empty bag in the other.

“I don’t really know what that means,” I admitted shyly.

He slowly unwrapped each corner of the wrapped sandwich, like a present. His face was passive, as if he were wisely choosing his next words.

“Your boyfriend, the clothes he bought you… it’s not altering the way you feel about yourself, is it?”

I thought back to the night Tyler had come home, arms laden with packages and bags as he tried to fit through the small opening of our apartment.

“What is all this?” I asked, amazed by the sheer volume of material goods he’d acquired since his departure to work just a mere nine hours earlier.

“I bought you an authentic New York wardrobe, Cara!”

“What?” I asked, completely blindsided by his announcement.

“You’ve seemed so down and out since you arrived, roaming around the apartment and barely leaving unless it’s for work or to follow me to a function. We might have been apart these last few years, but I know you—the real you—and I know this move has been harder than you’ve let on. So, I’ve been beating myself over the head, trying to come up with a way to help acclimate you to your new home, and when I mentioned it to one of the girls at work, she suggested this!”

“And what is this?” I asked hesitantly.

“Clothes!” He laughed. “I went to Bloomingdale’s and gave one of the consultants your sizes. And here I am!”

He was so damn excited. He’d blown half his savings on it. I knew he’d make up the cash in a matter of weeks with the way he was going, but as we sat down and went through the various patterns and textures, I felt nothing but distance growing between us.