She could not tell.
All she knew was that the distance between them disappeared too easily, as though neither of them had truly intended to keep it.
Her lips parted slightly, her breath unsteady.
He was going to kiss her.
The certainty came before the moment.
Her eyes closed.
Just for a second.
Just long enough to let it happen.
She felt his breath against her lips.
Warm.
Close.
So close that the anticipation of it tightened through her chest, through her fingers, through every part of her that had no business reacting so quickly.
Then his voice came instead.
“I daenae intend to kiss a woman who has nay intention of marrying me.”
The words brushed her mouth where his lips should have been.
The effect was immediate.
Her eyes snapped open.
Mortification flared hot and sharp, burning away the softness of the moment, leaving only frustration in its wake.
She shoved lightly at his chest, forcing space between them.
“Ye have a fine way of choosing when to be honorable,” she snapped.
His brow lifted slightly, though his expression remained steady.
“Do I?”
“Aye,” she said, blush rising in her cheeks. “Considering ye did a great deal more than kiss me the first time we met.”
That earned her something.
A flicker of satisfaction.
“So yedoremember that night,” he said, his voice low again, edged with something she could not quite place.
Her stomach flipped.
“What night?” she shot back, far too quickly.
His gaze sharpened.
He did not believe her.