He seemed entirely unbothered by my veiled threat. “Sounds exhilarating. I’ve grown tired of the usual polite introductions.”
His goading dared me to make good on my promise, but the last thing I wanted was to humor this insufferable man.
“I knew I was being followed,” he added. “But I didn’t expect my pursuer to be a woman, and such acharmingone at that.”
He gave me a long, appraising look, his expression unreadable, though his eyes sparkled faintly with amusement as he took in my bare feet—dirtied from traversing the palace rooftops—and the torn hem of my silk gown clinging unevenly to my legs.
A flare of insecurity rose, uninvited. I wished we’d met in my usual thief garb that made me feel more like myself…before I promptly dismissed the ridiculous notion. First impressions mattered very little when meeting aggravating strangers, especially ones I was determined to best.
That infuriating smirk twitched at the corner of his mouth. “But you’re unlike any woman I’ve ever met. Clearly, you’re something far more dangerous.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Flattery will get you nowhere with me.”
“I don’t flatter,” he said. “I merely observe.”
That was almost worse. “Then you should do so more carefully; I don’t respond well to men who mistake curiosity for invitation.”
I refused to be charmed by a smirk and a pair of storm-colored eyes…but the haunted stillness in his gaze was gone, replaced by smugness and spark. I paused, observing him curiously. His teasing was a sharp contrast to the quiet, cautious man I’d met in my dream. This version was all confident smirks and veiled amusement, as if the world served as his private joke. Either he was a far better actor than I’d given him credit for…or something far stranger was at play.
After all, men didn’t just appear out of dreams.
Even so, I closed the distance just enough to give his arm an experimental poke. Quite solid, not a figment of my imagination after all, but the evidence did little to entirely rid me of my misgivings.
His lips twitched. “Rather forward for a lady—first introduction and we’re already touching. My charm knows no bounds.”
Those words gave me pause. “Ourfirstinteraction?”
His words and behavior mirrored a first meeting, yet I couldn’t shake the dissonance I felt, nor the sense I’d seen him long before even last night. The memory hovered just out ofreach, farther than even the most stubborn secrets embedded in the objects I touched.
He arched a brow. “Surely any prior meeting would have been memorable enough that you couldn’t have mistaken someone so handsome for anyone else?”
Unbidden, treacherous heat engulfed my cheeks. “You remind me of someone I met in a dream.”
It was the wrong admission to make to someone with an inflated ego. By the wide grin that spread across his face, I immediately knew I’d made a mistake.
“Yourdreams, you say? That changes everything. It appears your fire and banter were merely your attempt to flirt.” He tilted his head, studying me as if trying to recall that forgotten moment. “If I could offer a small correction: I believe you meant I’m the man of your dreams.”
My heart gave a strange lurch I couldn’t account for even as my insulted pride flared in anger. “Inyourdreams. Unfortunately for you, the man from mine was much more charming.”
I’d meant it as a jab, but the words tasted strange on my tongue. There had been something different about the man in that surreal garden—something quieter, shadowed, almost haunted. As if I hadn’t dreamed him at all, but stepped into a nightmare that belonged to someone else.
“Then perhaps the question I should truly be asking,” he said, leaning in with a wink, “is how to change that.”
My heart lurched again, caught between irritation and an attraction I refused to acknowledge. A whirl of complicated emotions surged—the frustration and fascination of being bested for the first time in my life, made all the more difficult when the victor was unfortunately quite handsome.
Who knew losing a battle could be so attractive?
But it couldn’t be helped. I prized wit over looks…and this man was fortunate enough to possess both, as if he’d been born a walking trap meant to seduce me from my purpose.
The longer we spoke, the more tilted the world became, and I loathed the feeling. Whatever was happening, I yearned to escape…or at least the logical part of me did. But he didn’t let me slip free so easily.
His teasing smirk softened into something almost thoughtful. “I’m quite certain I would have remembered someone as memorable as you. Climbing palace walls in bare feet and torn skirts leaves quite the impression. Won’t you tell me your name?”
“Considering that despite your hopes you’re not the man of my dreams, I have very little reason to tell you.”
“Stubborn.” But he seemed to find even greater amusement in this. “Then I’ll go first.” He swept into a mocking bow. “Evander at your service, but I’ll also answer to ‘infuriating pest’ if it pleases you.” He offered a gallant dip of his head.
If he was going to be insufferable, I might as well know what to call him when I was cursing his name.Evander. There was something familiar about that name, though the recollection seemed to have been locked away with my other out-of-reach memories. I stared at him, willing the recollection to return but couldn’t pull it from the murky depths that seemed to have swallowed bits of my past.
