Callie's POV
Mara’s question landed like a blade wrapped in velvet.
“Why are you smiling, Callie?”
The fork in my hand froze halfway to my mouth. For half a second, just half, I forgot how to breathe.
Dominic’s hand was still on my thigh. It was not moving. Neither was it squeezing. It just sat there.
A quiet, devastating weight that anchored me to the chair and lit my nerves on fire at the same time.
I felt it before I understood it. The way my body reacted instinctively, heat rushing low beneath my thigh, my stomach tightening, my pulse jumping to my throat. My smile hadn’t even been conscious.
It had crept up on me the moment his fingers had brushed higher, just slightly, just enough to remind me that he was aware of me in a way no one else at this table was.
And now Mara was
