Chapter 153

Nathan’s POV

The clink of silverware on ceramic fades into the background, dulled by the soft hum of conversation and low jazz curling through the restaurant like smoke. The lighting is dim, golden, the kind that slips over skin like a lover’s touch, softening everything, hiding too much.

Harper, seated across from me, looks like sin bottled up in silk and smugness. She’s lounging like she owns the whole damn place, one leg crossed over the other beneath the table, her lips curved in a smile that’s too serene to be trusted. She lifts her glass, takes a small sip of wine, and sets it back down with the kind of deliberate grace that tells me she’s up to something, again.

I narrow my eyes, watching her closer, watching the way her fingers toy with the stem of her glass, the way she keeps shifting in her seat like she can’t get comfortable.