CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE – BUILDING CHEMISTRY

Three weeks passed in tense awkwardness. Every interaction with Gordon was like navigating a minefield, each of them overcompensating with formal brevity or agonizing silences. Their previously easy camaraderie and inside jokes were shelved in favor of halting small talk. Jasmine wanted to scream in frustration. Just when she thought she had a handle on whatever this was with Gordon, it managed to rear its complicated head every time they were in the same room. Case in point - a meeting with the prosecuting attorneys regarding follow-up from Chandler's trial. Gordon had spent the entire hour nursing a brooding silence, giving terse one-word answers whenever he was addressed. The air was thick with palpable tension by the time the meeting mercifully wrapped up. Jasmine lingered, shuffling papers on the conference table to buy herself a moment alone with Gordon. When the room had emptied out, she drew a fortifying breath. "Hey, so listen. I think we need to ta -" "Don't worry about