“Yeah.”
I let out a short laugh. “So we’re all working with the same information.”
He steps in until I can feel the heat of him.
“I like you,” he says.
I look up.
His gaze does not move.
“Exactly as you are.”
The words land with infuriating solidity.
No flirt.
No easy charm.
Just fact.
I swallow.
“You say that now.”
His thumb strokes once across my knuckles. “I’m not planning to change my mind.”
He cups my face. “You don’t need to hide.”
I steal a glance at him.
Then I do what I always do when things get too sincere.
I step back, roll my shoulders, and give him a slow exaggerated turn like a deeply underfunded catwalk model.
“Better?”
There is half a beat.
Then Mark laughs.
Properly.
Low and unguarded.
“Come here.”
He catches my wrist before I can pretend I’m considering it and pulls me forward.
I land back on the bed with a laugh.
“That’s not fair.”
“Probably.”
He shifts us both against the headboard, close enough that our arms brush.
The fire flickers opposite us.
