Dempsey was looking at her, the way men looked at her when they were attracted to her. Sera smirked, preemptively self-satisfied, because it felt good to be looked at, and flirted with, when she wanted to be. She had sought Dempsey out, if not at the Sanditon then certainly today, because she was sure that he would flirt with her.

She knew she was lonely.

In the almost-year since she'd woken up from the curse, Sera had not crossed any lines. She did not like her marriage, but she'd abided by it — and she knew the question was whether she abided her marriage because she wanted to or because she had not had the opportunity to evade it.

Sera leaned towards Dempsey and laid one hand, casual, on his forearm, below where the shirt was rolled up. The touch, barely-illicit, caused a rush of nerves in her chest — was she really so innocent now? She leaned up to press an exploratory kiss to his mouth.