"Yet another dastardly thing to lay at their feet," he said, offering a few smaller kisses interspersed with the words. "On my part I'll blame...Templar propriety." It had a lot more to do with the fact that he had good reason to believe she didn't want much to do with him, not to mention that these days he was too busy to come up with the idea of pursuing someone on his own.

The fact that she was busier than he most days made him feel better about it overall. There would never be the perception that he wasn't prioritizing. They both had larger concerns, like it or not. He kissed the corners of her mouth, her chin, and a soft spot of skin just beneath her jaw, rocking upward slightly beneath her.