I smirk faintly. “Yeah. I haven’t hooked up with anyone wearing a mask before or since, so I was smart enough to put that together. Plus, there’s the math of it all.”
She winces slightly. “No, I mean…I did it to get back at Jason and Faith. To break them up. For cheating on me. That’s the kind of person you’re proposing to, Damian.” She doesn’t look ashamed. She looks honest.
I take a breath and step closer to her, closing the distance deliberately. “I put two and two together once I knew the truth, Perry,” I say quietly. “You are smart and manipulative and so sexy that my body hurts when you’re near.”
Her lips twitch.
“Maybe you’re also a little fucked up in the head,” I add.
She laughs softly. “Yeah.”
“But I must be too,” I continue, voice dropping lower, “if all that devious cleverness turns me on, right?”
Her smile deepens. “Maybe.”
There’s something unguarded in that word. Something hopeful.
The music from the reception swells faintly through the walls again, a reminder that this is still a wedding, still a spectacle, still chaos waiting outside this door.
But in here, the air has shifted.
I look at her carefully. “I meant what I said to Jason.”
She inhales slowly, steadying herself. “I know. I can tell.”
And for the first time tonight, I’m not reacting. I’m choosing.
She doesn’t rush to answer me. That’s what I notice first. Perry is impulsive in the extreme, as evidenced by her choosing to sleep with me in her ex’s childhood bed for revenge. Motherhood, it seems, gives her pause. So now, she inhales and actually thinks. The lights cast a soft glare across her cheekbones, and I watch the conflict flicker through her expression.
“I want to say yes,” she admits finally.
The honesty crashes squarely into my chest. “But?”
“But,” she continues, lifting one finger as if bracing the thought in place, “the last year has taught me that saying yes to my first instincts hasn’t gone very well.”
I almost smile at that. “That’s fair.”
She steps closer, not quite touching me, but near enough that the air between us changes temperature. “Let’s try dating out in the open first,” she says carefully. “Let’s see what that actually looks like. My instincts have been on the fritz for a while now. Even though I want to say yes right the hell now, I think taking it slow is the smarter play.”
The practicality in her tone doesn’t dull the warmth behind it. It sharpens it. She’s not rejecting me. She’s trying to make better choices with me.
I grin despite everything. “Deal.”
She exhales in visible relief.
I step closer, and this time she doesn’t hesitate. My hands find her waist naturally, fingers settling there as though they’ve known the place for years. Her hands come up to my chest, resting flat against me, steadying herself as much as anchoring me.
The kiss that follows is nothing like what happened in the bathroom earlier.
That was fury and fear and urgency. This is an agreement sealed by passion. I tilt my head slightly, giving her time to pull away if she wants to. Instead, her mouth softens against mine, and something in my chest unlocks.
I feel her breathe out into the kiss like a sigh, and I pull her closer without thinking. The fabric of her dress slides beneath my hands, smooth and structured. She fits against me in a way that feels she belongs there.
The world outside the suite might still be unraveling. But in this narrow pocket of space, everything aligns.
When I pull back, I rest my forehead lightly against hers. “So, we date openly.”
She nods once.
