Will The Flowers Wither?

He found her insufferable at first.

Too sharp in speech, too steady in gaze - a woman far too at ease in the presence of men. She was merely his assistant, or so Mr. Whitlock claimed. Yet she carried herself with a quiet authority that unsettled Christian Coulson more than he cared to admit.

He had come to strike a deal.

He had not come to be studied, contradicted, or-God forbid-intrigued.

And yet, as the weeks passed and autumn crept through the city, Christian began to notice the way she paused before speaking. The way she looked at the world like it was something she'd already read and memorized. He began to wonder who she was beneath the silence.

And he began to forget why he ever despised her in the first place.