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I didn’t look at her, preferring to study the dregs at the bottom of my teacup. “You get a good laugh?”

She winced.

“No,” she said quietly. “I got a good look. And I didn’t like what I saw.”

That made me glance up.

She was fidgeting with nerves and regret.

“I meant it to be funny,” she said, stepping closer. “At first. You’re always so controlled, and I thought...maybe it would shake you up. Knock loose the stick I assumed you were born with.”

“Charming,” I muttered.

She sighed. “I didn’t expect you to get hurt.”

“Well,” I said, setting down my spoon with deliberate calm, “perhaps next time you play matchmaker, you can try not setting me up with a walking innuendo in flower form.”

“I deserve that,” she admitted.

There was a pause. She stood just beside the table now. Not sitting. Not intruding.

Just...there.

“I forgot,” she said, softer now, “that you're not just Pride. You're a person. A person who puts thought into his cravat and shows up early and cares what people think.”

My jaw clenched.

That was true.

“I think...I’ve been out of control of things for a while now. My life in general, the incident with Xavier, you bringing me back to life without me evenknowingit...I guess, I couldn’t sort through all of my emotions and figured this was something Icouldcontrol, as petty as it was.”

She tucked a curl behind her ear. “I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t dramatic. It wasn’t weepy or theatrical. It was honest.

Lust looked at me over the rim of his cup, wordlessly giving me the space to answer—or not.

I took a breath.

“I don’t like being a punchline,” I said.

“I know.”

“I’m not a prude,” I added, quietly.

“No,” she said, lips curving into something small. “You’re just...afraid, I think?

Before I had a chance to respond to that bombshell, she continued on.

“I can make real reservations,” she said, placing it gently on the table. “Actual ones. No nymphs. No tricks. Just...dinner. If you want to.”

I wanted to. But dammit, I was my sin for a reason.

“No thanks.”

I stood and walked out of the cafe.

Chapter