Time-Limited Love: A Contract Expired, Not Renewed novel Chapter 23

That voice—so different from the cold, impatient tone he used when he blamed her. Was that... worry she heard in it?

No, she must be mistaken. There was no way that was Landon’s voice. She had to be imagining things.

The next moment, she jolted awake from her nightmare, sitting bolt upright in bed.

Her breath came fast and ragged, panic still clutching at her chest.

Landon was watching her, his gaze fixed on her hollow eyes, as if she hadn’t quite returned to the waking world. Yet her whole body trembled, a clear sign the nightmare had shaken her to the core.

“Zinnia, are you all right?”

His deep voice was laced with a tenderness and concern she’d never heard from him before.

At the sound of his voice, Zinnia froze. Gradually, the emptiness in her eyes faded, and she blinked into focus, seeing Landon’s face hovering above her. She stared, momentarily stunned.

“Bad dream?” Landon asked softly.

His tone was so gentle, so unexpectedly kind, it almost left her at a loss.

Swallowing her fear, Zinnia nodded. Her voice was rough when she spoke, “Sorry, did I wake you?”

Landon caught the distance in her tone—more pronounced than it had been downstairs earlier that evening. That wall between them was higher now, and it bothered him more than he cared to admit.

“What was the dream about? Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, choosing not to answer her question, hoping that by sharing, she might let him in, even just a little.

Zinnia hesitated.

“Where are you going with that?” Landon’s voice broke, tinged with a note of panic he didn’t even recognize in himself.

She paused, looking back at him, her face calm. “I haven’t been sleeping well lately. I don’t want to disturb you, so I’ll take the guest room tonight.”

Landon’s expression darkened instantly.

He fixed her with a piercing glare; his voice was cold and sharp as ice. “Zinnia, are you saying you want to sleep in separate rooms?”

She heard the anger in his voice but ignored it. She truly had no desire to share a room with him right now—she didn’t even feel like arguing about it.

Still, she kept her tone even, explaining with quiet patience, “You work long hours and need your rest. It’s better for both of us if I sleep in the guest room.”

Landon’s jaw clenched, his lips pressed into a thin, stubborn line.