Resurrected King - Kaye Blue Page 0,11

she wasn’t willing to discuss.

My inclination was to push harder, figure out what the story was, but I resisted.

Mostly because I was far too curious.

I wanted to know about her, to know everything, but getting more deeply involved was something I didn’t dare risk.

It was foolish enough being here, coming under the guise of being hungry, which, while stupid, hadn’t been a lie.

I had been hungry.

Hungry, desperate to see her, which was all more reason I should have stayed away.

“Mikhail?” she said.

We’d been eating in silence for a couple of moments, some distant part of me noticing the sandwich she’d made was the best I’d ever eaten but the rest of me so preoccupied with her closeness that I couldn’t fully enjoy it.

“Yes?” I responded, my attention riveted to her as I tried to figure out where she was headed.

She was going to say something. Her expression gave that away, and I was immediately on alert, wondering what.

She froze, her brows lifted, her lips thinned with concern. “You don’t mind me calling you that, do you?”

“I wouldn’t have told you my name if I didn’t want you to use it.”

My voice was raw, something I hadn’t intended, and I worried I gave too much away. But again, she seemed not to notice, and instead smiled, nodded, the tension leaving her face.

“Good. And it’s a beautiful name.”

I shrugged. “It’s just a name.”

“I disagree, but that’s a topic for another conversation,” she said, lifting her lips in a half smile.

“And what’s the topic for this conversation?” I asked, lifting a brow, feeling light, at ease, in a way I couldn’t ever remember being.

“Well,” she said, leaning back, her eyes dancing with mischief.

“Well?” I responded, finding myself again hooked, intrigued by the playfulness behind her eyes.

“I know that my food is unrivaled, my pastries are the best in the city, and my coffee, while not the greatest, you could do worse.”

“And…” I said, knowing there was more to come.

“And,” she said, “I know that my jeans and apron make me practically irresistible.”

I murmured noncommittally, smart enough not to counteract her sarcasm, though I definitely wanted to.

“But,” she said, pausing for dramatic effect and then taking a sip of coffee, “I somehow suspect you didn’t come all this way for any of that.”

“All this way?” I countered.

“True, I don’t know where you live, but I feel like you might have passed at least a dozen bakeries and sandwich shops before you got here.”

“But as you said, yours is the best. What makes you think I would settle for less than?” I said, again feeling that unfamiliar playfulness.

“Well, I can see that you only enjoy the best,” she said, gesturing toward me.

“You can?” She nodded. “How?”

I was confused.

I wasn’t flashy in any way. In fact, I hated such things. If I had my way, I’d wear cargo pants and T-shirts every day and only didn’t because Etienne insisted I needed to dress to represent the Brotherhood.

“I have an eye, and I can ballpark how much that shirt costs. To make no mention of the shoes.”

I was impressed and annoyed, mostly that Adora probably thought of me as some pretty boy who gave a shit about that kind of stuff.

I reminded myself I didn’t—couldn’t—care what she thought. I turned back to the subject. “Point taken, but what does this have to do with me being here?”

“You may enjoy the best, but I suspect I know why you’re really here,” she said, still smiling though I could sense how serious she was.

My heart thudded, and I wondered what had given me away.

I’d tried to hide my attraction to her and, the kiss aside, thought I’d done a good job.

But then, Adora was the first woman to make me feel anything in over a decade. I shouldn’t have been surprised she could see through me.

“And it’s not necessary,” she said a moment later.

“What?” I asked, blinking as I looked at her.

“This isn’t necessary. Erin is a bit of a worrier, but there’s no need for you to check in on me while she’s gone,” Adora said, giving me a smile that I was sure was intended to placate me and convince me she was right.

“You think Erin sent me?” I asked.

A stupid question, really, because Adora had just given me a way out.

But I didn’t want to take it and refused to consider the reason why.

She shrugged. “She might have gotten Sasha to.”

I said nothing but couldn’t stop the smile that quickly covered my face.

“Maybe. Or maybe I