Page 98 of Made for Sinners

Then she looked away, her fingers brushing over the edge of the clipboard again. “You’re not supposed to say things like that.”

“Why not?”

“Because it makes it harder to hate you.”

I stepped closer, my hand brushing hers. “Good.”

She didn’t pull away.

We stood there for a moment, the noise of the gala fading into the background, the weight of everything unspoken settling between us like smoke.

And as I stood there, with her smile cutting through the chaos around us and her presence grounding me in a way nothing else could, I realized something.

I didn’t care about the gala.

I didn’t care about the deals being made or the stares being cast our way.

I only cared about her.

Then she cleared her throat and turned back to the clipboard. “I’m also bidding on a year’s supply of wine.”

I laughed. “Of course you are.”

She glanced at me, her smile returning, soft but laced with that edge of defiance I’d come to expect from her. “You’ll need it to survive me.”

I didn’t miss a beat. “I don’t want to survive you,” I said, my voice low, deliberate. “I want to be undone by you.”

The words hung between us, cloaked in something heavier than the simple banter we usually exchanged.

Her breath hitched, the faintest sound, but I caught it.

And for a second—just a second—I saw it.

The way her walls cracked, splintering at the edges. The way her guard slipped, leaving her open in a way she rarely allowed. The way she looked at me like she wanted to believe I meant it.

Because I did.

Every word.

I wanted her to unravel me, to strip me bare of everything I thought I was and rebuild me into something better. Because that’s what she did—without even trying.

But she didn’t say anything.

Her lips parted slightly, like she might, but then she stopped, her gaze flicking away for just a moment before returning to mine. I didn’t push. I knew better than to push her when she wasn’t ready.

Still, the air between us felt charged, electric, like we were standing on the edge of something neither of us could name.

Someone called my name from across the room, the sound cutting through the moment like a blade.

I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to step back, to put distance between us when all I wanted to do was stay. “Duty calls.”

Her expression shifted, the crack in her armor sealing itself up again. Her smile returned, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Go play king.”

I smirked, though it felt weaker now, like a pale imitation of the real thing. “You’ll be here when I get back?”

She tilted her head, her eyes narrowing slightly, the faintest hint of amusement tugging at the corners of her lips. “Where else would I be?”

That shouldn’t have been a question that rattled me.

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