My hand froze halfway to my mouth, my fork suspended in midair.
I blinked slowly, kept my composure, but the question slipped out before I could stop it.
"Do you always say exactly what's on your mind?"
"Only when I really want something."
He didn't smile.
He looked at me as though my clothes were nothing more than a minor detail.
Heat climbed from my neck to my cheeks.
I took a deep breath, slipped another bite of risotto into my mouth, and let its delicate flavor buy me a few seconds to think.
The truth was...
He had left me completely defenseless.
With any other man, I would've shut him down by now.
But with him...
It was different.
Because he wasn't trying to make me feel small.
He wasn't feeding me empty compliments.
He was simply making it clear what he wanted.
And so
