Page 68 of Face Off

“I love him just as he is,” she corrected.

Easton reached us next, followed by Rider and Briggs. Lyric entered several steps behind Briggs, stunning in a silver dress and already looking past him toward the crowd as if searching for a more interesting place to stand.

Dinner was announced before anyone could begin another interrogation. I found my place card beside Charm’s and pulled out her chair.

She paused with one hand resting against the back. “Some things will never change.”

“It’s a trademark at this point. Don’t get attached.”

Her smile softened. “Juanita raised a gentleman. You never let anyone forget it.”

“That she did. Milwaukee taught me to check whether anyone has a camera before behaving badly.”

“That sounds like professional growth.”

“It’s mostly crisis management.”

Charm sat and smoothed her dress beneath her. I took the chair beside her, close enough that my knee brushed hers as I reached for the water. She noticed. I knew because she shifted slightly toward me instead of away.

“Aura and Bliss sent me twenty-three questions before I made it to my room,” she said.

“That sounds efficient.”

“They asked whether you remembered that you hated me, why we were sitting so close, and whether the mezcal was likely to cause an international incident.”

“What did you tell them?”

“That I had no idea what fifteen months changed for you, neither of us respects personal space, and an international incident remains possible.”

“I never hated you.” The words left before I decided whether she deserved them.

Charm’s expression softened, but she didn’t use the admission to move closer. “It felt like you did.”

“I wanted it to.”

Her fingers tightened around the stem of her water glass. Pain entered the space between us, quiet enough that no one else noticed.

I could’ve softened the truth. Fifteen months ago, I would’ve done anything to keep her from knowing she had hurt me.

Tonight, I let it stand.

A server poured water into our glasses before another presented the first course. Charm thanked both by name after hearing their introductions, offering an easy smile without the apology that once followed every request she made.

She waited until they moved away before turning slightly toward me. “Can we talk later?”

“We’re talking now.”

“You know what I mean.”

I did, and the instinct to shut the door struck hard enough that my hand tightened around my glass.

Charm saw it. “I’m not asking you for anything. There are things I need to say to you.”

“I don’t want heavy tonight.”

Her face fell before she could prevent it.

“That doesn’t mean never,” I said. “It means tonight is the first time in fifteen months it hasn’t felt like someone was cutting open my chest. I’m not in a hurry to ruin that.”