My heart sinks, and it actually hurts. If he gives me the right answer, that’s it—game over.
“Hmmm.” He breathes out and walks over to me. “Now, now, what could the answer be?”
“You know it, don’t you?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Then just tell me.” I lift my chin, trying to preserve what’s left of my pride.
“But if I’m right, you lose. And I like playing with you too much.”
“You’re playing with me now.”
He steps closer, places a finger on my cheek, and slides it down to my chin. His eyes bore into me, so bright, so blue, so blatant. “Iknow.”
“Stop it. Stop playing with me and get to the point.”
He taps my chin. “The answer is shit.”
My eyes snap wide, then I narrow them. He’s wrong, but he must know that. I wasn’t even trying with that riddle. “You know that’s not the answer.”
“Maybe I know. Maybe I don’t. But it looks like you have another chance. The last chance, Isla Monroe. Don’t say I never did anything for you.”
Oh God. He’s giving me a chance. I guess I should say thanks, but since I’m now sure this was another trap, I won’t. “Then it’s your turn, malysh.”
Darkness flashes in his eyes at my words. It grows darker and sharper the longer he stares at me. “I’m not alive, but I grow. I need air, but I die if I drink. What am I?”
I have no idea. Literally none. Is it some kind of… I don’t know. “If the thing is not damn well alive, how can it die? Or need air?”
“Does that mean you don’t know, love?”
“Just give me a minute to think.”
“Clock’s ticking.” He points to the clock on the wall and grins.
Think, Isla, think.What the hell could it be?
I move away from him, because he’s far too close. I walk over to the window and gaze out at the beach. Waves roll against the night in liquid shadows, and I wish they could take me. Or give me the answer.
If I get this right, I’d still have one more chance to get my last question right and get the restaurant. But that’s not possible because I don’t know the answer.
Heavy hands rest on my shoulders, then Knox is at my ear. “What’s the answer, Isla?”
I look up at him. “I have no idea.”
“Fire, love. The answer is fire.”
Fire.
Damn it. I knew the answer was easy.
Fire.
The word hangs between us, but it feels heavy with meaning. Not because I just
lost. Something more.
Something more in the way he’s looking at me with those burning blue eyes that tells me he's not just talking about the riddle anymore.
