Page 92 of Until the Stars Fall

“Me too,” I muttered.

A small smile tugged at his mouth. “You already apologized, Sapphire.”

“Sapphire?” I asked, rolling the word around in my mind.

Connor’s smile turned upside down. “New nickname. Like the color of your eyes.”

It was decidedly better thanblondieand definitely less irksome thanbride.

“I might actually like that one,” I said and nearly laughed when he pulled back in surprise.

“You’re agreeing with me on something?”

“I’m just as shocked as you are.”

He leaned back and roughed a hand over his chin. “I would like to work together, if you’re willing.”

I glanced up at the ceiling, pretending to ponder the idea. Sighing, I let my shoulders drop dramatically. “That does sound better than the gallows.”

“It would require you to hide your hatred for me when we’re around others though.”

At this, I frowned slightly. He thought I hated him?

“I don’t hate you, Wolfie,” I said, adding a smile.

“Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure,” I said, shrugging. “Do you drive me nuts? Absolutely. Do I want to smack you? Regularly. But that’s not hatred.”

He smirked but seemed to be searching for any sign that I was lying to him. “Okay, so you don’t hate me. And I don’t hate you. That’s a good start. But that’s a far cry from being so in love we got engaged in secret and only announced it when we were forced to.”

“Do I need to kiss you on the nose?” I asked, wrinkling my own nose as if the thought disgusted me.

“Only if you want to, I guess.” He dropped his gaze to his lap and remained quiet for a while before finally focusing on me again. “Maybe we need to set some rules. I would rather not have either of us feel forced to do something we don’t want to.”

What in the world was he saying? What did he think I was going to do?

My confusion must have shown plainly on my face, because he laughed and said, “No need to look so nervous, Sapphire.”

“That’s not my nervous face, Wolfie. I’m confused. What sort of rules are you thinking of?”

“Well, we will be expected to stand close, hold hands, and—”

“Look longingly into each other’s eyes?” I asked.

“I suppose.”

“I can handle that. What else?”

“You got angry over a kiss on the nose. But—”

“It wasn’t the kiss that bothered me. It was the questionable intentions behind it.”

He nodded. “Fair enough. But kisses could get complicated.”

I shot him a lopsided grin. “You might be doing it wrong if you think it’s complicated.”

This earned me a laugh that almost sounded sincere. “I mean, it could quickly complicate things between us if one of us gets carried away.”

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