Skin of the Night § 3. Won’t You Come In? © Copyright C.K. Bennett 2022 HIS STATEMENT EXPELLED THE AIR from my lungs, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He had me trapped in his gaze. Astonished, I asked, ‘Are you always this crude?’ ‘Sorry,’ he apologised insincerely and put my cocktail back on the table. ‘I can’t seem to think straight in your presence. My tongue travels before my mind.’ The edge of his mouth tucked up to form a crooked smile, and I recognised it as the one he had already presented several times. It was unique to him, and a testament to his cunning and…