“You’re staring,” Liane remarked without looking at him.
“You puzzle me.”
Liane glanced over her shoulder. “Is that another line? Still trying to convince me to marry you?”
“Not a line, just an observation. You’ve dragged me across this city and beyond, and I’ve gone along willingly, and I’m wondering if you’ve enchanted me somehow.”
She scoffed and rolled her eyes, but heat coiled in her stomach. To avoid looking at him, she pretended to be absorbed in hunting for a book, then she noticed the next installment in the Wicked King series on the top shelf. Standing on tiptoes, she reached for it, the tips of her fingers brushing it but failing to grasp it. Liane looked for a step stool, but before she could, Erich leaned past her. Withone hand braced on the shelf, he pinned her between him and it. His chest was firm, and she imagined what it would feel like to run her hands over those chiseled planes. It should be criminal to be this handsome and untouchable. What cruel torture had she concocted for herself to make him off-limits?
Erich stepped back and handed her the book with a sultry smile.Remember your mission, don’t get distracted,she chided herself.
“Thanks,” Liane said as she took the book. She idly flipped through the pages, but her eyes kept flicking back to him. And how could she not? This close, she could appreciate every line of his square jaw and the molten gold flecks in his brown eyes.
“Now you’re staring,” he said.
“I’m wondering what motive you’d have to follow me around the city and beyond.” She smirked.
Erich dragged his knuckles across her cheek, and her lips parted, head tilting upward. Against her better reasoning, she wanted him to kiss her, desperately. Maybe if they did, her curiosity would be sated, and he wouldn’t be a distraction anymore.
Someone cleared their throat, and they snapped apart. The shopkeeper tutted as she came around the corner with a stack of books in her arms.
“Forgive me; I didn’t mean to interrupt.” The shopkeeper chuckled.
“You weren’t interrupting anything,” Liane squeaked, as she smoothed out her hair.
It’d worked out, because her guard turned around, presumably to give her privacy. If she could distract Erich next, she could sneak out the back.
“For just a few gelds, you can use the cozy spot in the back room.” The shopkeeper winked at them.
“That won’t—” Liane said.
“Thank you,” Erich said, cutting Liane off. He pressed a few coins into the shopkeeper’s palm.
Before she could protest, he tugged her into the forementioned back room and slammed the door on the guard, leaving them alone. Shelves filled with worn books surrounded squishy chairs, creating an intimate space perfect for steamy trysts. Liane’s heart stuttered in her chest.
“I thought we agreed to keep things platonic,” Liane stuttered.
“We did. You need to get away from your guards, don’t you?” Erich said, striding over to a shelf; he pulled on a book, and a hidden door swung open. “Seems the bookseller is a romantic, or maybe a smart businesswoman. I can’t tell which.”
The flirting had been part of his ruse to get them back here, hadn’t it?A niggling of disappointment twisted in her gut as her skin flushed with embarrassment.
“Why do this for me? You hardly know me,” she asked.
“No one deserves to be locked in a cage,” he shrugged.
There wouldn’t be abetter opportunity. While the guards stood watching, assuming they were necking, she’d sneak out to the apothecary and come back. Easy.
“I won’t be long,” she said.
“You don’t think I’m letting you go alone, do you?”
She paused to consider his offer. She’d come this far thanks to his help, and it would be nice to have backup. But she still couldn’t trust him completely.
“I’ll let you come with me on one condition: you stay outside and don’t ask questions.”
“I wouldn’t dare invade your privacy.”
Their agreement settled; she ducked below the low-hanging doorframe and squeezed through the narrow hallway and out into a dingy alleyway. It connected with the street, which was crowded with shoppers. They joined the throng and headed southward toward the Velvet District. She’d been through the area enough times to know the back streets and alleyways by heart and led them through the maze of crowded buildings, which leaned upon one another.
