The kiss couldn't have lasted more than a couple of heartbeats. Marie ripped herself away from him, shocked and furious. She didn't care that people were watching, possibly willing to interfere; she didn't care that she might have to work with him in the future. She was absolutely hopping mad. It was an insult on a profoundly personal and threatening level, and everything in her rose up in protest.

"You've got a fat lot of nerve," she spat out, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. If she was thinking clearly, maybe she wouldn't have given him the satisfaction. Maybe she would have been able to act like the kiss meant nothing. Maybe she would have just slapped him, like they did in all the movies. But now Marie was running on instinct, and instinct had her talking until she figured out what she needed to do. "Is that how they punch back in Hightown? Because that explains a lot."