She pressed her lips together, her voice dropping very low.
But her cheeks flushed with a faint, uncontrollable red.
She instinctively took half a step back, yet still refused to really pull away.
He bent down a bit, his eyes curving into a smile.
"So… since you're a big kid now, can I hold your hand?"
He leaned over, closing the distance between them.
The outer corners of his eyes lifted slightly, his gaze as soft as water, reflecting the streetlights' warm glow.
Vivian gazed at him, her heart as if gently plucked by something unseen.
Looking into his eyes, Vivian felt a tightness in her chest, her heartbeat abruptly falling out of rhythm.
The back of the hand he'd touched—and her whole arm along with it—felt hot all of a sudden.
The night breeze softly swept by, carrying scraps of paper and fallen leaves at the street corner.
This old street had long since turned into one of Julian Sterling's most famous night markets.
