Dark Tides

r: Fracture

d introspection for Anya. The leather-bound sketchbook he'd left remained on he

ccepting the gift felt like accepting hi

s words with the crash of waves and the rhythm of her paintbrush. But no matter how hard

found herself standing before the blank canvas that had taunted her

ll s

see Sarah standing in the doorway, a mug of coff

Anya muttered, sett

ide, her gaze flicking to the empty canvas. "So, are we call

her eyes.

leaned against the windowsill. "You'v

Anya said t

yebrow. "Uh-huh.

who you're t

amien Blackwood shows up in your life out of nowhere, all br

l," Anya insisted. "I'm

Sarah sai

hand through her hair

tement of

t want to g

do

ot that

ssion softene

e he saw through the walls she had so carefully built. She wanted to explain the strange pull she felt toward him,

trust him," sh

Guys like him? They don't just want a relat

-

lear her mind. The market was bustling, a stark contrast to the quiet of her seaside home. S

carton of eggs, a voice b

ny

tanding there. He was dressed casually for once-dark jeans a

e?" she asked, trying t

though the faint smile on

his t

"I was pass

believe him

, his gaze locking onto h

y, clutching the carton

used the s

N

ded slightly

it," she said, her voice

sion unreadable. "It wasn't a gift," he sai

wh

yourself. To let me s

p tightening on the carton.

echoing the words he

him away, but the intensity i

like this," she said fina

e didn't waver. "I don't mean to unsettle

understanding,

plied calmly. "Even if

giving her space. "I'll leave you to your sho

g Anya standing in the aisle, her mind

-

the sketchbook. Damien's words replayed in he

fingers over the smooth pages. Despite herse

ines faint and uneven. But as the image beg

nto the page. When she finally leaned back, hours had passed,

thing she hadn't been able to put into words-a fracture

t a sense of release, as though a we

ake the feeling that Damien had already seen this