Molten

Two hundred and twelve pieces of glass. Six weeks of nights. And not one single touch.Hana Seo is thirty-three, a sharp, polished lighting designer with long raven-black hair, warm golden skin and a curvy figure she has stopped pretending she didn't dress for. She talked her way into the one studio on the coast that doesn't take commissions, and every night since, she has driven down through the rain to stand on a yellow line in a hot brick foundry and watch the man who makes her glass.Rhys Tolliver is thirty-nine, Welsh, huge and scarred and permanently shirtless in the furnace heat, with long dark hair tied back, a full dark beard and a sign on his door telling visitors exactly where they can go. He is rude to her. He is brilliant. He hands her every finished piece with his fingertips and lets go the instant she has it. And once, when she had a cold, he made her tea without a word.Tonight the last globe goes into the kiln. After tonight she has no reason to come back.So she wears the green silk dress. And when he finally looks up from the glass and tells her to cross the line, Hana is about to learn what those big careful hands do when they stop being careful, and just how slowly a man who works with fire likes to take his time.