"Are you scared?" she murmured, her voice low, almost teasing, as she leaned closer, her breath brushing his chin. Her eyes lingered on his lips with a quiet hunger.
"I'm not drunk, if that's what you're worried about," she added softly, as if she could already read his thoughts.
He didn't answer immediately.
"I just… needed a little courage," she admitted, her tone shifting, still light, but carrying something more honest beneath it.
It wasn't easy for her. The past hadn't let go of her so easily, especially when it came to intimacy. Even now, there were shadows she hadn't fully stepped out of.
But this time… she wasn't standing at the edge because she was pushed there.
She had walked here herself. And for once, she didn't want to step back.
Maximilian saw through her immediately.
She wasn't drunk. Just a little uninhibited, just enough to let herself cross a line she would usually hesitate at.
And yet… it wasn't recklessness.
It was choice.
