She was a cyborg, and she would never go to a ball.

If you were a gentleman, you would offer to buy me one as well." "If you were a lady, you would have waited for me to make the offer.

...but I’m trying to be inconspicuous.” Cinder considered telling him it wasn't working but thought better of it. The lack of a throng of screaming girls surrounding her booth was probably evidence that it was working better than she suspected. Instead of looking like a royal heartthrob, he just looked crazy.

He was the fantasy of every girl in the country. He was so far out of realm, her world, that she should have stopped thinking about him the second the door had closed. Should stop thinking about him immediately. Should never think about him again, except maybe as a client - and her prince. And yet, the memory of his fingers against her skin refused to fade.

He gaped at the controls. "Why is my ship talking back to me?

No. She will never be queen.” She swayed toward him, and he felt like he was being encircled by a python, smothered and choked.

Keep your head in the clouds and your hands on the keyboard.