Page 109 of Silent Shadows

Then he steps back from me, his entire posture shifting back into field-leader mode. Only the slight blush lingering on his neck betrays him. Then he turns and walks back toward the canyon as if he didn’t just kiss me breathless behind a tree while Bigfoot possibly lurked nearby.

And the worst part? I follow him automatically. Like some instinctive part of me already recognizes the shape of him now—the smell of cedar soap and campfire, the steadiness of his hand, the quiet gravity of him—and decides, without consulting the rest of me, that close is where I belong.

chapter

fifteen

MILES

I can’t stop smiling.

Which is a problem.

Not a huge problem, though, because the crew probably thinks I’m just pumped that we found concrete evidence. Not that Daisy and I kissed behind a tree hard enough to temporarily erase my ability to form complete thoughts.

I've been with enough women to know the difference between chemistry and compatibility. Enough to know that most relationships don't end because someone does something wrong—they just slowly run out of reasons to keep choosing each other.

More than once, I've been told I lived too much in my own head. Too focused on work. Too emotionally… elsewhere. They weren't wrong.

It was always easy to compartmentalize a one-night stand here or there. Work and relationships stayed separate. I never expected the two to blur, let alone for someone to kick the walls down entirely. But that’s the force that is Daisy Bennett.

And her suggesting we could just have fun? I smile to myself, because we both know this is already more than that.

“Adler.”

I blink.

Maya’s staring at me from across the Machine.

“You’ve labeled the same audio file three times and you’re smiling too much.”

I look down.

Sure enough, she’s right. Very professional behavior.

“Crazy day,” I mutter.

Jax walks past carrying camera batteries. “You look like you got hit in the head with whimsy.”

Taylor points at me from the dinette. “No, wait, hold on. He’s got a post-validation glow.”

“Could be a thing,” Jax agrees.

“This man just spent fifteen years getting called insane for this particular case, and then found a giant, very real, footprint in the woods. He’s experiencing the highest form of validation.”

I drag a hand down my face while everyone keeps talking over each other around me.

Normally this would be my favorite part.

The aftermath.

The crew buzzing with adrenaline as we catalog evidence, argue theories, and replay sounds until three in the morning.

Usually, I love this.

Tonight, though?

Tonight every nerve ending in my body is hyperaware of Daisy sitting eight feet away pretending to organize her show notes while wrecking my psychological stability.