He stops and turns to me. His gray-blue eyes are wide, peering straight into my soul.
I lean towards him, unable to help myself. Looking at him is like slipping into a warm bath. Once you feel the heat on your skin, you want to be submerged in it. You want to luxuriate. You want more.
“You lied?” My voice sounds far away, dreamy.
He nods. “I’m a selfless man. I care for the widowed and the orphaned. I feed the hungry, house the homeless. I spend my days giving back to the world in every way I know how.”
It takes me a few seconds to realize he’s toying with me.
But by the time I can school my expression into a scowl, Adrik is already smirking down at me.
“Asshole,” I mutter.
“You need to expand your vocabulary,” he remarks. “And for what it’s worth, I prefer ‘strategic.’ If your friend is down in the kitchen hocking baked goods to middle-aged women on a sugar kick, she can’t watch out for your daughter.”
I think on it for a moment. “That was still nice of you. Looking out for Isabella like—”
All at once, he rounds on me. Steps right into my space, his breath warm and fragrant. I try to back away, but his hand on my back stops me, traps me close.
“It wasn’t ‘nice’ of me; it served me. Everything I do serves me,” he hisses. “Stop looking for generosity in me, Emery. You won’t find it.”
When he releases me, I’m so off balance I nearly fall backwards.
But Adrik is already climbing into the car.