b“/bbIf /bwe treat your weak heart and the lost mate sickness as two different entities, we should be able to develop a treatment n that would lead to a cure.”

    “A… cure?” Chase looked at her like she had grown a second head. Never in his life, since his diagnosis,

    would he have expected something like this. He’d sort of epted that he would have a short but

    glorious life. Now… he might live to see old age?

    Watching Amber, it was difficult not to feel a sudden, blooming affection for her. Olivia had been right

    when she had said that Chase would find Amber amusing. She was, and she was attractive too. But this

    was something else. Something new. Something he hadn’t felt since Violet.

    He was suddenly looking at Amber in a new way, not as an easy mark or a quick hookup, but as a genuinely beautiful person. Someone to be admired. Adored.

    “Come to dinner with me tonight to celebrate,” he found himself saying. He wasn’t being as over–the–top flirtatious as before. This, he meant genuinely.

    “I don’t need something like that,i” /ishe said. “I’m only doing my job.”

    “I insist, Amber,” Chase said. “You’ve done so much for me. Hells, here you are giving me my life back.”

    Amber considered a moment. “Fine,i” /ishe said. “But only if others from the staff cane too. We all work

    together here, so we all celebrate together.”

    That wasn’t the romantic night Chase envisioned, but if it meant he could still spend some time with

    Amber outside of the clinic, then he was for it. “Alright. Tonight.”

    Julian’s POV

    When I went to the clinic to continue my training for the day, I was surprised when Ca at reception stopped me before I could go into the back hallway.

    “Healer Amber told me ito /itell you, you have the day off,” Ca said. She smiled, likely thinking this was some kind of reward for my progress.

    She had no idea that this was Amber simply not wanting to see me today.

    I supposed I couldn’t me her. After what happened, she probably needed some space. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t be professional…

    Who was I kidding? All I really wanted to do was fix things between us.

    I hated this distance, when things had been going so smoothly so far. But what could I do? I couldn’t force her ito /ilisten to me if she wasn’t ready to.

    And even if she would listen, I didn’t know if that would have been enough to convince her that there was

    nothing between Olivia and me. After all, I had spent the night with Olivia in the past, when I had been supposed to return to Amber. That I couldn’t remember it at all was no excuse.

    No. The only way to convince her was through action. Words weren’t enough. If I wanted to prove that Amber was the one I wanted, I had to be there for her. Not just flirting with her, but being there in times

    when it really mattered.

    But how would I do that if she didn’t even want to see me?

    “Oh! You should stille tonight, though,” Ca said, still smiling brightly.

    “Tonight?” I prompted, pulled from my spiraling thoughts.

    “Chase is taking the whole office out for drinks and dinner,” Ca said. “He’s such a great guy. You’re part

    of the office now, so I’m sure you are invited. You shoulde!”

    I highly doubted Chase’s invitation included me, but… if he said everyone in the office, I was a part of the

    office…

    It could be a chance to get close to Amber again, while making sure Chase kept his distance.

    I forced a smile of my own. “I’d love to, Ca. Count me in.”