Jessy stepped through the door of her home, the soft click of the lock echoing in the stillness. Rocky trotted ahead, his tail wagging furiously as if he hadn't just spent the last hour running through the quiet streets. She dropped her keys into the bowl by the door and let out a long breath. The encounter with Dave still clung to her, a shadow she couldn't quite shake.
"Morning, Miss Jessy!" The familiar voice of her nanny, Mrs. Larkin, greeted her from the kitchen. The older woman's warm presence was always a comfort, even on days like this when Jessy felt off-kilter.
"Hey, Mrs. Larkin," Jessy called back, her voice a little more strained than she meant it to be. She entered the kitchen to find the older woman humming to herself as she chopped vegetables for dinner. Her hands moved with practiced ease, a calm rhythm that Jessy couldn't help but envy.
"How was your run?" Mrs. Larkin asked, not missing a beat.
Jessy sank down into the chair at the small breakfast nook, running a hand through her hair. "It was fine. But… I met someone today. Two someones, actually."
Mrs. Larkin didn't stop her work, but her head tilted slightly, her eyes narrowing in subtle curiosity. "Oh? Who?"
"Dave and Petter Sebastiano," Jessy said, the names rolling off her tongue with a mix of uncertainty and intrigue. "They're my new neighbors. The brothers."
At the mention of their names, Mrs. Larkin paused mid-slice, her knife hovering above the cutting board. She didn't say anything, but her silence spoke volumes. Jessy knew she was probably forming her own conclusions about the Sebastianos, having been around long enough to know that people like them—handsome, mysterious, and rich—always came with their own set of complications.
"Dave…" Jessy's voice trailed off as she considered what to say. The truth was, she wasn't sure how she felt about him yet. There was something magnetic about him, a kind of danger mixed with charm that unsettled her. And then there was Petter, who, though quieter, felt just as enigmatic in his own way.
"Yes?" Mrs. Larkin's voice broke through her thoughts, gentle but probing.
Jessy looked up, meeting the older woman's gaze. There was an understanding there, a knowledge that Jessy didn't have to say much for her nanny to know the depth of her thoughts. "I don't know what it is, Mrs. Larkin," she confessed. "I'm not sure if I'm imagining things, but there's something about Dave… it's like he's too interested, you know? Like he knows exactly how to make you feel… seen."
Mrs. Larkin's lips twitched into the faintest of smiles. "You've always had a way of attracting attention, Jessy. Whether you want it or not."
"I didn't ask for it," Jessy muttered, running her fingers over the edge of the table. "It's just that… I can't shake the feeling that he's dangerous. Not in the obvious way, but in the way he makes you feel something you don't want to."
The older woman seemed to consider this for a moment before continuing her task, now dicing the vegetables with precision. "Sometimes, darling, it's not the obvious dangers that are the most threatening. Sometimes it's the ones you don't see coming."
Jessy sighed, leaning back in the chair. "Maybe. I don't know. It's just… I'm not used to this kind of thing. Not from someone like him. And yet, when I look at him, I can't stop thinking about him."
"Well," Mrs. Larkin said, placing a hand on Jessy's shoulder, "you know you can always talk to me, don't you? You know my lips are sealed."
Jessy smiled, grateful for the reassurance. "I know. You're my secret keeper, right?"
"Always," Mrs. Larkin replied with a knowing look in her eyes. "But don't rush things, Jessy. The heart can be a tricky thing."
Jessy nodded, her thoughts swirling with the unspoken tension of the morning's encounter. She stood up to grab a glass of water, her mind still caught on the feeling of Dave's gaze on her. His smirk, that quiet confidence, seemed to follow her everywhere. And now, there was this pull, like gravity, dragging her back toward him.
Meanwhile, across the street, Dave was at home, running water into the bathtub. His movements were slow, deliberate. He had a tendency to think better when he was alone, surrounded by the comforting silence of his own space. But today, as the steam from the water rose in tendrils around him, his thoughts kept drifting back to Jessy.
He smiled to himself, a small, private grin that tugged at the corner of his lips. She had looked… interesting, to say the least. A mix of curiosity and caution, with just enough of a spark to keep him intrigued. He had seen the way she froze when he first spoke to her, the subtle hesitation in her gaze, and it was all the more captivating.
The way her lips had curved into that soft smile. How her eyes flickered between him and Petter. She wasn't like the other women he'd encountered—eager to please, desperate for his attention. No, Jessy was different. She seemed to have a certain resistance, a mystery about her that intrigued him more than anything else.
As the warm water lapped at the edge of the tub, he closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the way her presence had made the world outside seem a little less dull. He leaned back into the water, letting it soothe his muscles as he pictured her again—her eyes, the way her lips had parted when she spoke, that tiny frown as if she were trying to figure him out.
He wasn't sure where it would go, but he was certainly curious to find out. And somehow, he had a feeling Jessy wasn't the type to back down easily.
With a soft chuckle, Dave dipped his hand into the water, watching the steam rise like the illusion of a secret just out of reach.