I straightened my shoulders. “Neither.”
“You have to pick one.”
“No, I don’t. If you want me to define it, I’ll call it my way of saying goodbye.”
He jerked. “Goodbye?” His knuckles went white as his hands clenched into fists. “To whom?”
My eyes tightened, trying to read him. He played the perfect part. If he knew Kestrel messaged me, he hid his deception so well—too well. The perfect liar.
“To my past, to who I used to be, to a friend called Kite.”
The reaction was subtle.
The small intake of breath. The slight whitening of his face. The indiscernible flinch of his muscles.
Then it was gone, hidden beneath the snowy exterior he held so well. “Ah yes, the James Bond idiot, 007. The same idiot who just can’t seem to stop messaging you.” Moving quickly, he grabbed my elbow, dragging me toward the door. “Well, I’m glad you said your goodbyes. Nothing worse than dying with unfinished business.” His smile sent gale-force winds howling through my suddenly torn-open chest.
I slammed to a halt. “You can’t help yourself, can you?”
He paused, forehead furrowed.
“You just have to be so damn cruel.”
He sighed dramatically, backing me away from the door and toward the centre of the room again. “I’m not cruel.”
I laughed. “Says the heartless human who probably doesn’t have a reflection when he stares in the mirror.”
He took another threatening step. I took one, too. Backing awayfrom him, waltzing slowly around the room as hunter and prey.
“You’re saying I’m soulless?”
I nodded. “Completely soulless.”
He smirked. “Okay, try me. Ask me to do something. Make me prove to you that I have a soul.”
I frowned. “Like what?”
He took another step, pressing me closer to the bed. The anger throbbing around him switched to sexual interest. My breathing picked up as his golden eyes darkened. “You’re the one who needs proof, Ms. Weaver. You make the choice.”
What could I make him do?
What would prove he had a heart and my resolution to seduce him would actually work?
I know.
The one thing that seemed to be the epicentre of whatever I was trying to do.
I stopped retreating, locking my knees to prevent myself from losing confidence and running. “I have something. A test. It will prove you’re not the monster I think you are.”
He came closer, a slow smile spreading his lips. “Go on.”
I balled my hands, taking a deep breath. The precipice opened wide. I took a leap of faith. “Kiss me.”
The oxygen in the room disappeared. My heart erupted into flurries.
Jethro froze. “Excuse me?”
Standing tall, I said, “You’ve come so close to kissing me. By the stables, in the forest, when you made me pay the First Debt, even in your office. I’m done with your teasing, Jethro. I’m done with you pulling away whenever things get interesting. I want to know why.”
