I did know it. That touch, his protecting me on my first day, had opened something I didn’t want.
Before the whole text disaster, I’d spent part of my night with heart-shaped emojis practically floating above my head.
After that came the guilt. The what-the-hell-am-I-thinking spiral. Cold reality slapping me across the face. Ice I had to scrape off my windshield in chips of frozen reminders about what was actually happening here.
There was no future with Knox. There was no scenario where I could ever be with him.
“You’re mad at me for more than just the text,” he said.
“You think I’m so easy to read?”
“Hard not to be when I catch every micromovement of your features.” He cocked his head, assessing me with those husky-dog eyes. “Like that. You get this little line between your eyebrows when you’re frustrated.”
I said nothing.
“And that.” He gestured toward my face. “Your lips turn down slightly when I say something that makes you uncomfortable.”
“Can we just drop this?”
“And that’s the tone of voice you use when you’re trying to throw up your professional wall and ice me out on the other side of it.”
Anger surged through me. “You might think you’re good at reading people, but those are just parlor tricks you’ve honed over fourteen years while sitting in prison for murder.”
Yikes. That was … harsh.
I opened my mouth to apologize, but to my shock, Knox chuckled. The sound was low and warm, and it caught me off guard.
“I do read people well,” he admitted. “But you’re different.” His voice softened, his body tilting slightly, lowering himself so he wasn’t towering over me as much. “And I’d like to know what else is upsetting you.”
You. Us. These feelings that aren’t going away, no matter how much I’ve commanded them to.
“Nothing. We’re all entitled to a bad day.” I moved back to the desk and shuffled papers, needing something to do with my hands. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”
He watched me fidget, silent, his eyes lingering on my face, as if trying to decode the secret message behind my mood.
“It’s because I touched your hand.” Still not a question.
I opened my mouth to lie, but what was the point? Whether I liked it or not, he knew me better than I wanted him to.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “It’s really hard not to cross this line with you.”
The words settled between us like a confession. My heart did something traitorous in my chest.
After all Knox had done for me—hurting himself, getting a job here just to make sure I was safe, and now apologizing for touching my hand …
It made the thing growing inside my chest harder to fight. And I was fighting it. Hard.
But how could I develop feelings for a man who had ended someone’s life? My God, that went against everything I believed in as a human being.
And for reasons I couldn’t fully explain, I needed to know why he’d done it.
I looked at the clock, calculating how much time we had before Dr. Mercer returned.
“You’ve learned things about my life,” I said carefully. “Now it’s your turn. And I want you to be honest with me.”
Knox went still. His full attention locked on me.
“Tell me right here, right now. The truth.” I met his gaze head-on. “Did you reallyintend tokill that man? And don’t lie to me. The truth always comes out, and if I find out you lied, I’llknow you’re just another manipulative bastard. I’ve had enough of those in my life.”
