Page 95 of The Prime-Time Experiment

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

For a moment neither of them spoke, then Dee folded her arms and leaned slightly against the door-frame. “I know what she’s doing.”

The certainty in her voice immediately caught his attention. “Do you?”

“She’s scared.” The answer came so quickly it almost surprised him. Dee sighed. “Riley spends her entire life analysing things before they happen. She plans for every possible outcome before she takes a step. If something doesn’t fit into the system she’s built for herself, her first instinct is usually to create distance until she can understand it.”

Declan’s chest tightened.

“I’m not going to let her cut people off just because it’s easier than dealing with what she’s feeling,” Dee continued. “She’s done that before, it never makes anything better.” Her gaze held his. “And that includes you.”

Declan didn’t answer immediately. For the first time in weeks, the knot of uncertainty he’d been carrying loosened slightly, knowing that somebody else had looked at the situation and reached the same conclusion he had.

What happened between him and Riley had been real.

Whatever she was doing now wasn’t indifference, it was Riley trying to make sense of something she hadn’t expected.

“Thanks,” he said quietly.

Declan nodded and turned towards the stairs, heading down the hallway with the same deliberate calm he’d arrived with. This was what he’d do, show up. Dee would pass that along. He would leave the ball in her court.

“Hey, Declan.”

He stopped and looked back. Dee was still standing in the doorway, one shoulder resting lightly against the frame.

“She’s happier when you’re around.”

The words caught him off guard, not because he hadn’t wanted them to be true, but because hearing them from someone else felt different. Dee gave a small shrug, like she was uncomfortable making a statement that personal.

“She’s still Riley, she still overthinks everything.” A faint smile tugged at Declan’s mouth despite himself. “But she talks more.”

The smile faded. Dee looked down the hallway briefly before meeting his gaze again.

“Most people probably wouldn’t notice it, but I do. She talks about things that happen during her day now. She’ll tell me something funny one of your clients said, or complain about something you did in training, or spend twenty minutes explaining why you were objectively incorrect about some completely insignificant topic.”

That one drew a quiet laugh out of him. “And when something happens, you’re usually the first person she wants to tell.”

The laughter disappeared just as quickly. Declan hadn’t known that. Something must have shown on his face because Dee’s expression softened.

“She doesn’t let people in easily,” she said. “You know that better than most. Everything goes through about twelve layers of analysis before she trusts it enough to keep it.” His chest tightened slightly. “That’s why this whole thing has been so frustrating to watch.”

Declan frowned. “What do you mean?”

Dee let out a breath through her nose. “I mean she’s spent months getting closer to you, and now she’s trying to convince herself that walking away is somehow the sensible option.”

There was no anger in her voice, she just sounded tired. “Riley’s brilliant, but when she’s scared, she has a habit of treating distance like it’s the same thing as safety.”

The words settled heavily between them. Because that was it, wasn’t it? She let fear dictate her logic, dressed up as a decision. Dee folded her arms loosely and looked at him for a long moment.

“Don’t mistake this for her not caring.”

Declan looked down briefly before letting out a slow breath. When he looked back up, Dee was still watching him.

“She’s worth being patient with,” she said quietly.

Declan nodded. The answer came easily because he’d already made the decision before he’d left the house. “I know.”