There had been a pull, strong and unignorable, and she hasn't confessed this since but she had been appreciative of the fact that he'd taken it upon himself to seek her out after the fact, even knowing what it might bring to light as far as the possibility of attachment is concerned. From moment one, though, she'd been drawn.

It's her turn, then, to dwell, to recall back on some of her own conversations with Crais — as intermittent as they'd been. She'd always had the vaguest impression that he was somewhat intimidated by her, or, at the very least, didn't quite know how to behave around her, and she in turn had strived not to make any interaction between them more awkward than it already had the potential to be.

Meanwhile, Grayson's response is the one she'd been anticipating — not simply because she can feel his distinct lack of interest in anything having to do with socialization or alternate distractions, but because he's hardly struck her as the type of man who wants to occupy himself with empty diversions.

"I'll always be here," she vows, whispering the words in his ear as their heads tuck against one another. She may not need to say it, but she will regardless, and it feels even more important to reassert it now in the wake of them both sustaining these recent disappearances.