Page 58 of Auctioned to the Devil

For a second, I think he’s going to kiss me.

I want him to.

That’s the terrifying part.

But he slowly releases my hip.

“Dinner’s burning.”

I blink. “What?”

He steps around me and grabs the pan from the stove.

I stare at his back. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

“You started that.”

“Yep.”

“And now you’re cooking?”

“Yep.”

“You’re such an asshole.”

He glances over his shoulder.

A slow smile spreads across his face.

“Still want me to kiss you?”

“I absolutely do not.”

“Liar.”

I grab my wine. “I liked you better when everyone thought you were terrifying.”

“They still do.”

I watch him move around the kitchen.

The scars.

The broad shoulders.

The man who once hid beneath a bed with his little sister and somehow grew into someone who believes he has to stand between the entire world and everyone he cares about.

I finally understand why Devil’s Peak isn’t afraid of Caleb Mercer.

They trust him.

And that might be far more dangerous to me than fearing him ever was.

Chapter 8

Emily