I should've known trouble was coming the moment he looked at me like that
that intense, searching stare that made me feel naked even with clothes on.
We were on my couch, still half tangled, still breathless from the kind of session that left my legs refusing to work. The air smelled like sweat and heat and him.
He brushed a thumb across my lower lip.
"Leah," he murmured, "can I ask you something?"
I tensed immediately.
"Depends on the question."
He smirked a little, but his eyes didn't match the expression. They were serious. Curious. Too damn gentle.
"Why did you marry Frank?"
I felt my entire body freeze.
Of all the things he could've asked
Why that?
I forced a shrug. "He wasn't always the man you saw at that restaurant."
"That's not an answer," Edward said quietly.
I pushed his hand away. "We agreed not to get personal."
"We agreed," he leaned closer, "but that doesn't mean I can't want to know you."
My heart skipped.
Too fast. Too loud. Too painfully.
I pulled the blanket over myself like it could protect me from him.
"It's just sex, Edward."
"That's another non-answer."
My jaw clenched. "Just… don't ask about my marriage."
He studied me like he was reading every lie I wasn't speaking aloud.
"You're scared."
"I'm not."
"You are." His voice softened. "You shut down every time I ask something real."
"Because there's nothing real here," I snapped.
The second the words left my mouth, I regretted them.
He sat back, expression unreadable. "Is that what you want it to be?"
"Yes," I lied.
His jaw tightened for a split second before he exhaled slowly.
"Okay," he said, though he clearly didn't believe me. "Then let me ask something else."
"No."
He ignored me.
"What's your favorite food?"
I blinked. "Seriously?"
He grinned. "Come on. That's harmless."
"It's unnecessary."
"It's basic human information."
"And you don't need it."
He leaned closer, eyes narrowing playfully.
"You know what I think?"
"No. And I don't want to."
"I think you don't want me to know anything about you because you know you'll get attached."
My stomach dropped.
"I'm not getting attached"
"Oh, you're already attached," he whispered, tapping the tip of my nose. "You just haven't admitted it yet."
I shoved his hand away, flustered. "You don't know what you're talking about."
He laughed softly, dragging his fingers down my thigh.
"Leah… you literally shake when I kiss your neck."
"That's a physical reaction!"
"It's not just physical."
I glared. "This conversation is over."
He didn't argue.
He didn't push further.
Instead, he sat up, grabbed his shirt, and slipped it on.
For a moment, he looked like he wanted to say something serious
something that would cross a line we weren't allowed to cross.
But then he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Fine. No more personal questions."
"Good."
"But," he added with a slow smile, "you do have a tell."
"A what?"
"A tell," he repeated. "A giveaway. Something you do when you're lying."
I stiffened. "I don't lie."
"You do," he said softly. "And you just did it again."
He leaned down and kissed my forehead before I could push him away.
The tenderness of the gesture
unexpected, warm, dangerous
shot straight into my chest like a bullet.
It lingered even after he pulled back.
"See you tomorrow," he murmured.
"You're assuming a lot," I muttered.
He gave me a slow once-over, his eyes lingering on the love bites he'd left on my collarbone.
"You'll want me again," he said confidently. "You always do."
Then he walked out.
Leaving me on the couch, staring at the door, trying to convince myself that he was wrong.
That I wasn't catching feelings.
That I wasn't letting him inside my head.
Or my heart.
But as I touched the spot where he kissed my forehead, warmth still tingling…
I knew the truth.
I was falling.
Slowly.
Helplessly.
And this was only the first hint of trouble.