“She won’t interfere,” he said, his gaze locking with mine. “You have nothing to worry about.”
Maybe not tonight, but what about tomorrow? After he left and I was at my stepmother’s mercy. If I was lucky, she would only lock me in my room for the foreseeable future. If not … well, I hated to think about her other methods of punishment, of which she had many.
“After you left the pool, you spent a lot of time in your room,” he prompted. “Were you hiding from me?”
“No, of course not.” I smiled shyly, purposely not mentioning that he’d been otherwise busy with his work. Didn’t want to remind him that he’d caught me watching him. “Okay, maybe I was.”
I took a deep breath, attempted to relax. Not an easy feat when his gaze raked over me, leaving a trail of heat as it did.
It bothered me that I was on edge, waiting for him to do something. Something like kiss me or touch me or … I didn’t know what Knox’s plan was, but I also knew I wouldn’t make it through this meal without addressing the elephant in the room first.
“What is going on here?” I asked, attempting to sound curious, not concerned.
“What do you mean?”
“This. Dinner. You and me. We’ve never done this before.”
“You’re right,” he agreed with a smirk. “We haven’t. But we should. We should have dinner together often.”
I laughed. “So, what? Are you planning to move back in?”
His smile never faltered. “Not on your life.”
I brushed my ponytail back, pushing it off my shoulder, and the move seemed to draw his attention. Knox’s gaze lingered briefly, then lowered, as though physically caressing the bare skin of my chest.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I blurted.
His gaze slowly lifted. “Like what?”
“Likethat. Like … like…” I didn’t know how to explain that he made me feel desirable without sounding ridiculous, so I shrugged.
“Like you’re an incredibly beautiful woman and I enjoy looking at you?”
While I wanted to lap up the compliment because they were such a rarity in this house, I wasn’t sure I should. That didn’t sound like a brother telling his sister she looked nice.
I forced a laugh, acting like I got whatever joke he was playing on me.
I picked up my wineglass, took a sip of the dark red liquid. My nostrils flared from the heat of the alcohol, but I pretended to like it although I would’ve preferred seawater to whatever this was.
Knox continued to watch me, his eyes trailing over my face as he drank his wine, relaxing in his chair. “I like your hair up.”
If he kept this up, I might get spoiled by the attention.
I took another long swallow of wine, not sure what to say to that. The good news was, it was easier going down than the first drink.
“And I like the dress,” he added.
When I still didn’t know what to say, I finished off the glass, knowing full well I was fast on my way to being intoxicated. Since I’d never had alcohol before, it wasn’t going to take much.
“I think your next words are thank you,” he said, leaning in close.
Another smile, another nod, but now there was no more wine to gulp.
“Say thank you, Em.”
My eyes widened at the authority in his tone.
I stared at him for a moment, taking him in. It was then I realized the man before me was no longer the Knox I remembered. While he still looked the same, only a little older, a little more chiseled, he did not have that playful, boyish grin I’d glimpsed on occasion. His eyes had hardened in much the same way his jaw had.
