Page 5 of Kisses and Paperclips

“I like clear, sure answers.”

“Then, yes.” I breathed, my voice catching in that charged quiet between us. His gaze lingered on my lips. And the harder I tried not to think about that kiss, the more it pressed against the back of my mind, insistent and dangerous.

“Serena,” he repeated, softer this time, my name turned exquisite on his tongue, a secret offered up just for me. My chest tightened into a riot of butterflies, my heart stumbling as if it had never tried to run this fast before.

He lifted his eyes to mine, and the space around us felt closer, warmer, like he’d just lowered the lights and invited me in. “I like it,” he murmured, voice low, each syllable weighted and sure. “It suits you.”

I swallowed, the tension between us humming, my breathing uneven as his words and the memory of our kiss tangled in my mind. He was trouble, pure and simple, and in that moment, trouble had never looked so good.

“Now you have your win. What now?”

“For starters,” he said, flashing a grin laced with confidence and just the right amount of trouble, “let’s get you out of this cold. Besides, I love making people pay up.”

I exhaled, barely above a whisper. “Mr. Polite.”

I didn’t think he’d catch it, but his head tilted, curiosity lighting his gaze. His lips parted slightly, just enough for a slow sweep of his tongue across the bottom one—quick, unconscious, devastating. My stomach flipped before I could stop it.

“What was that?” His grin remained, playful, but his eyes? There was something else there now. Something deeper.

A flicker of heat. A shift so subtle most people wouldn’t have caught it. But I wasn’t most people.

I felt it, starting at the soles of my feet, climbing its way up, leaving a trail of tingling awareness that settled at the nape of my neck. It was unspoken, but unmistakable. A challenge, humming between us.

I told myself to look away. But I didn’t.

“Nothing,” I said smoothly, ignoring the warmth creeping up my cheeks.

“Uh-huh,” he murmured, not convinced. He took his time watching me, letting the silence stretch, thick and heavy.

Then, just when I thought I’d successfully dodged whatever he was fishing for, his smile deepened. There it was, a dimple. Right cheek, first sighting tonight, and I know I’m in trouble.

Chapter 2

Julien

The bar was right off the hotel lobby where I’d been staying the past few days.

I didn’t tell her that.

Not because I had anything to hide, but because I liked watching her put the pieces together on her own.

The second we step toward the entrance, I catch the hesitation, the slight shift in her weight, the way her arms fold neatly across her chest. A flicker of something sharp flashes in those pretty brown eyes, and just like that, I’ve been judged, sentenced, and convicted, all before I say a word.

Women look at me and see money, entitlement. A man too accustomed to getting his way, to flashing a smile and making them forget whatever problem they thought they had with me.

But this one?

She’s looking at me like I just confirmed something she already suspected. And damn if I don’t enjoy the way she’s making me work for it.

She stops just shy of the door, her gaze dragging over the hotel’s name etched in glass before sliding back to me. “You didn’t tell me we’d be going to your hotel.” She delivers it smoothly, effortlessly, but there’s an edge beneath the silk, sharp enough to nick if I wasn’t paying attention. She’s watching me like she’s waiting for me to fumble, and the challenge in her stare makes it hard not to smile.

“I didn’t think it made a difference.”

Her lips part—not in surprise, not in offense—just the smallest shift, like she didn’t expect me to play it straight.

“You didn’t think it made a difference,” she repeats. “A man invites me for a drink, and conveniently, the bar just so happens to be inside his hotel. That’s not information you thought I needed to know?”

She’s good.

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