I headed toward the second vehicle,It seemed like the most reasonable choice for the journey,everyone had already settled into their places.
My fingers had barely brushed the second car door handle when Jacob's husky voice drifted across the driveway.
"Jennie."
The single word halted me where I stood,it settled against my skin like the lightest brush of needles, sending a familiar shiver down my spine.
I turned,
He was only a few steps away, standing beside the black cars with the afternoon sun stretching behind him. One hand rested lazily in his pocket, his posture effortlessly unbothered , yet his grey gaze remained fixed on me with a quiet intensity that made it impossible to look away.
For a moment time forgot how to move , the bustling driveway and everyone else seemed to fade away until only Jacob remained.
"You're sitting with me." He said calmly
The words were calm,yet something about the way he said them left no room for repetition nor objection.My feet moved before my mind caught up, I turned from the second vehicle and walked toward the first.
My fingers trembled ever so slightly as I opened the rear door,Mark was already seated in front, beside the driver. I slipped into the back seat behind him, smoothing my dress across my knees before I remembered to breathe. A second later, Jacob entered from the opposite side, settling beside me with the same composed ease he carried everywhere.
The door clicked shut.
Instantly, the sounds outside faded into a distant murmur,the space inside the car felt impossibly smaller,I kept my eyes fixed ahead trying my best to seem composed, painfully aware of the man sitting only inches away.
The engines outside rumbled to life,just as the convoy was about to move, Jacob's voice broke the silence.
"Why haven't you buckled your seatbelt?"
I blinked, quite startled.
"I…I…" My fingers instinctively searched for the belt, but before I could find it, he leaned toward me.
Everything seemed too slow.
My breath caught somewhere deep in my throat.
His shoulder brushed lightly against mine as one of his arms reached across me, close enough for the faint scent of cedar and fresh linen to surround me, close enough that it stole every coherent thought from my mind.
I found myself perfectly still,not because that what I wanted to but because I had forgotten how to move nor breathe .His fingers closed around the strap before I could reached it.
"Allow me."
He said ,barely above a whisper.
The belt slid slowly across my chest as he guided it into place, every careful movement bringing him impossibly closer.I could feel the warmth radiating from him and my rapid heartbeat , hear the quiet rhythm of his breathing, even count the tiny flecks of silver hidden inside his grey eyes.
Click.
Neither of us moved.
The movement should have lasted only a second .Somehow his hand lingered just long enough for my pulse to betray me neither of us pulled away.His fingers paused on the buckle, his face only inches from mine . When I finally dared to look up, I found him already watching me .
His expression gave nothing away but his grey eyes looked more sliver and softer than I had ever seen ,they held mine with warmth that made my heartbeat lose all sense of rhythm.Heat rushed into my cheeks, spreading down the back of my neck,I could hear my own pulse and feel every frantic beat of it.
Then, as though nothing unusual had happened at all, Jacob leaned back into his seat.
"There," he said quietly. "Better."
I swallowed the invisible lump in my chest ,unable to trust my voice and simply nodded.
Somehow, speaking suddenly felt far more difficult than breathing,heat climbed steadily into my cheeks.
In the front seat, Mark cleared his throat.
A little too loudly.
When neither of them acknowledged him, he suddenly developed an intense fascination with whatever lay beyond the passenger window, studying the passing gardens as though they were the most captivating sight in the world.
Outside, the convoy rolled forward through the wrought-iron gates.
Through the tinted glass, I watched the mansion slowly recede into the distance,the towering stone walls glowing beneath the afternoon sun, the endless gardens swaying in the breeze, the staff still gathered near the entrance as they watched the vehicles depart.
For one fleeting moment, it looked less like a home and more like a dream I had somehow wandered into.
Then the road curved.
The mansion disappeared behind the trees.
And with it, the only world I had known since arriving there was far behind .