Anxiety was so quick to grip at the leopard in the aftermath of that incident as she felt that too-warm beverage coating her front and quite obviously that of the man she had run into. Southern propriety deeply ingrained insisting she apologize for the incident profusely, albeit with her own twist where the cursing was concerned. She was prepared for the irritation and annoyance from the poor victim of her carelessness, especially in today's age where everyone seemed so much more volatile and quicker to anger even when not provoked much less after having hot coffee spilled on them. The last thing she expected, however, when looking up at that rather chiseled jaw and wildly dark-haired gentleman was to find him smiling at her. Surely a bit of surprise colored her features as he brushed off that uncouth apology so easily, like water off a duck's back her mother would have said; a rare trait indeed in such times as these. It served so quickly settle those nerves and allowed such light laughter to leave her at his roughish innuendo.
That insinuation something she didn't so much as bat an eyelash at before responding in kind, the warmth of his hand spread across her hip doing little more than adding fuel to a fire which had been held at a simmer for so long. It had taken nearly a year for the girl to finally be feeling like herself again, a year from the upheaval and terror which had torn her sense of normalcy to shreds, and she decided she would relish in the feeling. His response only causing those coals to burn all the brighter, a spark that reflected in the twinkle of her aquamarine eyes.
The look on his face something she did not miss as that finger came to rest solidly on the soaking wet fabric of his button-down shirt, daring to turn the tables in playful accusation that the entire situation was absurdly the dark-haired man's own fault. Her brows raising slightly in bemusement as he simply agreed with her, followed by his taking of her hand and planting that featherweight kiss atop it. It was the first thing he had done to actually give her pause, that chivalrous gesture calling her back to those days of cotillion dresses and manners she had run so far from. Still her sweetheart lips couldn't help but mirror that mischievous grin as he laid out his solution to their rather sorry state, followed by a chuckle as his rather sorry excuse for an American accent.