At the ball, he had been condescending, looking down his aquiline nose at the world around him.
Sitting at the table in the kitchen, though, with his hair down and his oversized shirt hanging loosely from his broad shoulders, he was human. Real. Messy. Touchable.
Very touchable.
Her gaze strayed to his lips, which were currently smirking at her.
Embarrassed to be caught staring, she quickly looked back to his eyes. “I’m sorry, what did you ask?”
“I asked if anyone had seen Warrior.”
“He slept on my bed last night,” Blanca replied, setting a bowl of apples on the table. “He was still fast asleep when I got up. The commotion scared him pretty bad, poor little thing.”
“Hmmm.” The non-verbal sound came from deep in Aden’s throat, almost as though he were still a growling beast.
“What’s wrong?” Isa asked.
“I haven’t seen him since you broke the curse—”
“Cured the curse,” she said, cheekily cutting him off.
“Since you cured the curse,” he repeated. “And I don’t know if he will remember the old me.”
“He’ll remember you,” she reassured him.
“Do you remember me?” he asked, his brown eyes staring at her unblinkingly.
She smiled. “I do. I remember how rude you were. How you thought your opinion was better than everyone else’s. How you walked away from the most beautiful woman in the room.”
“I think I’ve changed a bit,” he said, pursing his lips.
“Oh, have you?” She pretended to sound surprised.
“For one, I would never walk away from you now. And additionally, I’ve since realized that my opinion isn’t always perfectly correct.” He sniffed, twitching his nose as though he were about to sneeze.
That small movement caused Isa’s heart to flutter. It was so human and natural.
“For example,” he continued, unaware of the effect his nose was having on her, “I have recently changed my opinion onThe Queen of Silverreign.”
“Have you?” Isa asked, genuinely surprised.
“I have. I think I far prefer your version of the ending, where Andrew and Amelya get to spend the rest of their days together.”
Isa smiled. He wasn’t talking about Andrew and Amelya, and they both knew it.
“I think both endings have some merit.” She caught his eye, hoping that he understood her concession to his opinion. She might feel a little shy at the newness of their situation, but she also knew she could get used to staring at this new face every day.
“Looks like the bridge is out,” Luca said, stomping into the kitchen.
“What?” Isa asked, looking up. “Surely you are jesting.”
His face was completely serious. He shrugged. “It’s out.”
As if in unison, Aden and Isa pushed back their chairs from the table and stood.
“Was there another freak flood?” Blanca asked, joining them as they rushed toward the door.
Isa was confused. There had been no storm or rain during the night.
