Lexi couldn’t breathe.
Not with Julian this close.
Not with his hands still on her waist, his breath uneven against her skin.
Not after he had just spent a million dollars to claim a single dance with her.
The world around them had faded. The chatter, the whispers, the music thrumming softly in the background. It didn’t matter that they were standing in the middle of a grand ballroom, surrounded by people who lived for spectacle and scandal.
Because all she could feel was him.
His touch. His heat.
The weight of everything they never said pressing in on her.
She swallowed hard, forcing herself to steady her voice.
“Julian, what are you doing?”
His fingers flexed slightly, just enough to remind her that he wasn’t letting go.
“You left.”
Lexi exhaled sharply. “And you let me.”
So
