Eric liked these moments best—the breath before the smile when her eyes crinkled and her teeth peeked out from her lips. She held back sometimes, as if remembering her predicament, and didn’t fully smile, but the barely there dent of her dimples made him smile for her. Here she was, lost in a new land and unable to communicate well, and she didn’t seem afraid at all. She was brave, and it made him feel brave. And all those complicated little feelings smoldered in his chest like a coal. She wasn’t his true love, so why was he feeling like this?
