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THIRTY | EDGE
“Cyrus is here?”
My bones locked into place, and I froze. I wasn’t prepared to see him, not yet, and I’d wanted a few hours of freedom from my thoughts. I wanted to dip in and out of idle conversation with the locals, focusing on taking orders and making coffee, not taking out vampires and making enemies.
“Oh, is that his name?” Mae smiled. “Yeah, he’s out there somewhere amongst the old-timers. Come on, let’s get us both a hot coffee and we’ll work the room. I think dinner will be the busiest time, so if you want to talk to Cyrus you’ll have to take your break before or after the rush.”
I nodded. “That’s fine. I can ask him to leave?”
“Don’t worry about that. He’s a paying customer, and he’s not been stingy on the tips so far, either. It just seems like he has something to say that&rsquo
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I yanked myself backwards, stumbling in my sudden effort to avoid any and all contact with Cyrus’s lips. The damage was done – they’d touched – but a brush couldn’t be called a kiss, and my momentarily lapse in sense and reason could be forgiven, perhaps, if it was only a brush of lips, and not a kiss.“Callie,” he murmured, his tone laced with concern. I winced.“I’m sorry, Cyrus.” I took an uneasy step backwards. “I can’t do this.”“But you want to.” His voice had warped, the concern twisting into smugness. There was a tiny smile playing about his lips, too, even as his eyes softened with sadness. “I’m sorry for pushing you. I shouldn’t have.”“This isn’t your fault,” I sighed. His smile dropped.“I thought you would have let the blame lie wi
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