My breath caught.
“I’d like that too.”
For one suspended second, I thought he might lean down and kiss me.
He didn’t.
Instead he adjusted the hat, gave me a look that made my knees feel less dependable than usual, and stepped out onto the sidewalk. I stood there for a moment after he disappeared into the crowd, one hand still braced on the doorframe.
“Well,” Marjorie said behind me. “That is quite a male.”
I turned. “He is… something.”
“And the way he looks at you,” she said.
“How does he look at me?”
Her smile widened. “Like you are the only thing in the room worth understanding.”
That didn’t help at all, but I smiled at her before I left. Outside, the world felt slightly off-kilter in the best possible way. My phone buzzed before I had gone half a block.
Thank you for today. It was unexpectedly pleasant.
I smiled.
I had a wonderful time. We should do it again.
His reply came almost immediately.
Soon.
I tucked my phone away, warmth settling low and steady in my chest. And on the walk home, for once, I did not trip over a single thing.
That was either a miracle or a warning.
I was not entirely sure which.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Iwoke up tangled in my sheets, the memory of my dream still clinging to me like heat.
Rion’s horns had been under my hands again. Smooth. Warm. Strong. I had traced their curves while his eyes drifted closed, and that deep rumble in his chest had followed me all the way back into consciousness.
“Get it together, Clara,” I muttered, dragging a pillow over my face.
These dreams had become a problem. Not a serious problem, obviously. No one had ever died from being wildly attracted to a minotaur architect with excellent hands and a secret talent for baking.
Probably.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand.
Heavy book delivery today. Need help?
I smiled before I could stop myself. Rion texted the way he spoke when he was trying to pretend he wasn’t being thoughtful: as ifverbs and pronouns were optional and feelings were definitely not invited.
Yes, please. Arrives at 9. Coffee’s on me.
I added a coffee emoji, deleted it, then added it back before hitting send. Whatever this was between us had settled into something deceptively easy. We texted every day. He showed up when I needed him. He looked at me like I was something he was trying very hard not to want too much.
