But this… this wasn’t sitting cleanly. Because she hadn’t reacted like someone violent or unstable. Or dangerous in the way the brief had described.
She had reacted like someone cornered. Like someone who knew exactly what he was the moment she saw him, and had immediately started calculating survival.
Spencer exhaled slowly.
“You’re doing it again,” Mark said.
“Doing what?”
“Thinking loudly.”
Spencer gave him a flat look.
Mark shrugged. “You get this line between your eyebrows.”
“I do not.”
“You absolutely do.”
Spencer ignored him again. Which was becoming difficult because his own thoughts were already loud enough. He noticed ridiculous things now.
Unhelpful things. Things that had absolutely no relevance to the job whatsoever.
Like the freckles scattered lightly across her nose. Or the way her hair changed in the sunlight, not just purple, but shifting subtly with the light, catching flashes of lilac and silver beneath the darker strands.
Or… his jaw tightened slightly.
Her skin. Because for one brief moment, when the sunlight had caught her just right, he could have sworn he had seen scales.
Not fully visible. Not even obvious. Just the faintest shimmer beneath the surface and gone almost instantly.
His fingers tightened slightly around the mug, and he didn’t know if that had been just his imagination because maybe he wanted her to be the missing heir now. Not for the bounty, not even for the job, but because he needed the uncertainty resolved.
Needed to understand why the sight of her had lodged itself under his skin so quickly.
Mark leaned back slightly, studying him.
“You met someone.”
Spencer nearly choked on his drink.
“No.”
“That’s not a denial.”
“It literally is.”
Mark grinned. Spencer hated when he did that.
“You’ve got the look,” Mark continued smugly.
“I do not have a look.”
“You do now.”
Spencer rubbed a hand across his face. “This conversation is over.”
“Oh, it absolutely isn’t.”
