I apply one last swipe of mascara and lower my hand.
My reflection stares back at me.
The makeup is soft and casual. Smoky enough to make my dark eyes stand out, not so dramatic that I look like I am going to a club instead of hosting dinner. My hair falls in smooth waves over my shoulders, dark and glossy. The dress hanging behind me is deep wine, fitted through the waist, soft around the hips, elegant without trying too hard.
Trying too hard would be humiliating.
I am trying exactly enough.
I turn from the mirror.
Adrian is leaning against the bathroom doorjamb.
He is dressed in black. He has to know how it affects me to see him in all black.
His dark hair is neat, his jaw shadowed, his body relaxed in a way I know by now is a lie. He is not relaxed. He is never relaxed. He is watching me, watching the doorway, watching the window behind me through the mirror, watching everything.
But mostly, right now, he is watching me.
Hunger crawls through my stomach immediately.
It happens every time.
Every time I see him, every time his eyes move over me, every time I remember that beneath the discipline and the tactical calm and the quiet authority is a man who can put me over my own desk and make me forget my name with just his mouth.
I was excited about dinner five seconds ago.
Now I want to cancel the entire evening, lock the bedroom door, and drag him into bed.
Or against the wall.
Or onto the vanity.
I am not particularly picky at the moment.
His gaze slides down me. Back up to my eyes.
“You planning to stand there silently and just watch me?” I ask.
“I’ve been here almost a minute.”
“That does not answer the question.”
His mouth moves slightly. Barely a smile. Enough to make my pulse trip.
“You were busy.”
“I was thinking.”
“I know.” His eyes hold mine. “You get quiet when you think important thoughts.”
His comment makes me go soft inside, which is very inconvenient because I was prepared to tease him, not feel seen by him.
I reach for the clip in my hair and release the last section. “That sounds dangerously close to insight.”
“I try to limit it.”
“Good. I would hate for you to overextend yourself.”
