Page 27 of The Candlemaker

Shit was right.

I wiped my mouth like I would wipe the kiss from my memory. Unfortunately, I already knew how impossible that would be. Of course, the best kiss of my life would be with the one man that family and loyalty dictated that I detest.

Dammit, Frankie.

What had I done?I straightened my jacket, then folded my arms, then clasped my hands in front of me. I fidgeted, the electric heat building inside me suddenly having nowhere to go.Crap. Crap. Crap.The women looked between us and giggled as they walked by. The whole time, I bit into my tongue, leashing the wild thing until it was just the two of us again.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Collins, that was?—”

No.

I stopped. My gaze snapped to his. Chandler stilled.

And then our lies crumbled.

His expression hardened. “You know who I am?”

My jaw dropped, my tongue suddenly dead weight in my mouth. “I do.”Think, Frankie. Come up with a story—an explanation.“Were you ever going to tell me the truth? Or were you just going to continue to lead me on, believing you were a gentleman?”

Or just go straight for the jugular.

His eyebrows rose, the barb well-aimed.

“I was,” he began slowly, the sparks in his eyes making me think I should be running for cover. “I was just waiting to see how long you were going to lead me on…believing you were your sister.”

My jaw dropped, and I swayed.No. How—I swallowed the lump in my throat. The only way through this now was to keep on going.

“How did you know?”

He let out a bitter laugh, the question also a confirmation. “The scar on your wrist.”

My gaze dropped to my hand like I didn’t know exactly where the hot wax had left a permanent mark on the inside of my wrist. But the fact that he’d noticed it in my shop—that tiny thing when I’d handed him the ocean candle—dammit.Gritting my teeth, my head snapped back up, sending my vision swimming again.

I yanked off Lou’s glasses and shoved them in my pocket. No reason to keep them on now.

“What can I say, Mr. Collins? I had to look out for my sister.” I folded my arms.

“You think I came here to hurt her?” His incredulous look would’ve been comical—even cute—if I wasn’t so determined to hate him.

“I think you already are—holding her dream hostage and then pretending to swoop in here like some prince?—”

“First off, no one swooped. I stopped in for a cup of coffee, and if I remember correctly,youwere the one who insisted she give me a tour of town without getting my full name?—”

“And when you learnedherfull name, you didn’t think that was the appropriate time to tell her that you were the man standing in the way of her dreams?”

“Do you think it was?” He barreled his arms. “I don’t know your sister that well, but I don’t take her for the type to enjoy confrontation.”Unlike youwent unsaid but not unheard.

I opened my mouth and then snapped it shut. He was right about that. Lou would’ve…not taken to the news very well in the moment.

“So, you just invited her to dinner instead?” I volleyed back, taking a step toward him. I didn’t care if he was a good foot taller than me, a solid billion richer, or an entire empire more powerful—I wasn’t going to back down. Not when it felt like so much was at stake.

“I invited her to dinner because I enjoyed learning about the town from her and I wanted to learn more?—”

“About the town or the inn or her?”

“All of it,” he answered, answering my interrogation without even a single crack in his demeanor.

“Why?”

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