ading warmth to her limbs. Seraphina's body grew nu

ately searching for anything. She didn't want to see J

thetic, insignificant. He had to be handsome, powerful, and

et types, too polished and predatory. She skippe

he saw

drinking it, merely letting the amber liquid catch the dim light. He wore a well-tailored charcoal su

nose, a firm jaw, and thin lips pressed into a severe line. He looked like a Roman statue, all hard angles

tared for a

was just dazed and adrift. She felt utterly e

e kind of man who didn't need to perform or pretend. He simply existed, and the whole space se

ep, subtle luster of custom craftsmanship. Everything about him, from the cut of his su

. Was she really going to do this? Throw herself at a

of laughter came

onal voic

ntended for a proposal. The future she had imagined with Julian would

r approach, because he

omplex gray. They were sharp and perceptiv

er pain, all her humiliation, everything that had gone so terrib

l made her bold, or perhaps just stupid.

ass down with a sharp clink, spilling a

ed the ring on the table

her voice rough and l

for a long, unreadable moment. Then he reached out, picked

voice rough from the a

s again, then flickered briefly downward to t

She had really done it.

on the table. Slowly, deliberately, she broug

t was a challenge, a plea,

surprise, finally broke through th

ow and resonant: "You

in control. It was the laugh of a woman who had lost ever

e barely a whisper. "But to

the seat beside him, her thigh pressing agains

with you.

ening beneath the fine wool of his suit. She caught his s

refuse. She braced herself. In trut

tled firmly and gently on t