“I can hardly be blamed,” she said, lifting her chin. “You’ve been very difficult to understand.”
“Ah, delightful, and yet incomprehensible? The goal of every courtship,” he teased with a wink. “What precisely is it about me that requires clarification?”
She hesitated, her teeth catching her bottom lip in a way that completely derailed his composure. The effect she had on him was absurd. Maddie didn’t even realize she had all but rendered him a moth darting toward flames.
“Well?” he prompted, his tone deliberately light even as he tensed under her scrutiny.
“It’s…” She sighed, her shoulders dropping as though she’d given up the fight. “It’s just that when you look at me like that…”
“Like what?” he interrupted, shifting forward just enough to diminish the space between them.
“Like you do,” she finished, her voice so quiet he had to strain to catch the words. “I forget all the rules. You make me feel as if I were posing for an artist in the nude.”
As soon as the words left her lips, Maddie wanted to claw them back.
Saints, had she truly just compared herself to a nude subject?
The heat that flooded her cheeks had little to do with the fire.
Her heart thudded against her ribs, uneven and wild, because this wasn’t her. She wasn’t the girl who said brazen, ridiculous things aloud. She wasn’t the girl who flirted or teased or bared herself emotionally or otherwise.
But he looked at her like he saw all of it. Every flustered thought. Every unspoken longing. And even more, like he liked what he saw.
For all his practiced charm, the confession made him falter. Sebastian stared at her, the weight of her honesty tugging something deep in his chest. He reached forward, his fingers brushing hers, hesitant at first but firm when she didn’t pull away.
“Forget them then,” he said simply.
Maddie blinked, startled. “Pardon?”
“The rules,” he clarified, his thumb tracing slow circles along the top of her hand. “Forget them.”
“You can’t just…” She floundered, clearly unprepared for his boldness. “There are rules for a reason.”
“Maddie,” he said, leaning closer, his deep voice softening to a near whisper. “Would you like to know my opinion of rules?”
Her eyes narrowed, but there was no mistaking the spark of curiosity that danced behind her hesitation. “I suspect I will regret asking,” she murmured.
“Likely,” he agreed, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Rules are for the unimaginative.”
She gaped at him, her indignation both immediate and wholly charming. “Is this why you’re impossible?” she exclaimed, flustered. “Because you just make things up as you go?”
“Not everything,” he countered, his grin broadening. “For example, I didn’t make you up. You’re better than anything I could ever imagine. Ever did imagine. So much better.”
There was that once again.
Her expression softened, the teasing air between them shifting just enough to make her pause. “I’m not certainwhat to do with you,” she confessed, her voice so quiet he almost missed it.
His hand tightened gently over hers, the slight pressure sending a current down her arm. “I’ll tell you what to do,” he said, his smile soft as he tilted his head toward her. “Kiss me.”
Her inhale was sharp, her lips forming a small “O” before she caught herself. “You can’t just… say things like that.”
“Why not?” he asked simply, his fingers sliding to brush the inside of her wrist, where her pulse fluttered wildly against his skin. “You’d rather I say what’s expected of me?”
She glanced toward the fire, her eyes catching the light in a way that made his chest ache. “I don’t know what I’d rather,” she admitted finally. “You… unsettle me.”
“Good.” The softness of his gaze tempered the heat in his voice. “Unsettling you might be the best thing I’ve done today.”
Her laugh came unbidden, but she quickly stifled it with her hand, shaking her head. “You’re infuriating.”
