Page 45 of Sky’s Edge

His fingers went to the stylus and twirled it on the table as he spoke on.

“Mom had a thing for lynx. She saw them often where she grew up. We weren’t allowed to leave here, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t comm. She arranged with several rescues to have them relocated here. My father had to approve this, of course, and for once when we asked for something, he did. Considering they were rehabilitated around beings, they were wild, but they were also a form of tamed. And before we let them loose to wander the island, we’d keep them in a large pen, not close to the castle, so they could acclimatize. That was where she was headed when she fell.”

“Lynx are beautiful creatures,” I remarked.

“They are. And their kits are adorable.”

I bet they were.

We stared at each other down the length of the table.

He broke this by saying softly, “Thank you for asking about Mom.”

Oh my gods.

What was I feeling?

Did I feel…shy?

Was this what shy felt like?

I didn’t like it.

I forced out an awkward, “Well, yeah. Of course.”

He stopped whirling the stylus and stated, “I thought I’d give you a tour of the citadel after breakfast. Then we can go for a hike.”

I choked on the porridge I’d put in my mouth.

After I swallowed, it was high-pitched when I asked, “Hike?”

His brows slanted up. “In those two suitcases, did you not bring clothes to be outside?”

I looked down at myself then up at him.

“Yes, to sit on a balcony and drink hot-buttered rum.”

Okay, now did I see one side of his lips hitch up?

“You don’t have hiking boots?”

I returned to my porridge. “If I’m ever wearing a pair of hiking boots, commit me. This would be clear indication I’ve gone completely insane.”

“Right then, something you can walk in the snow in,” he kept at it.

Here we were, and I was both ecstatic and curiously upset about it.

But we were here so I had no choice but to go for it.

I set my spoon aside and stated, “I do not do the out of doors, Tanyn, unless I’m nipping briskly down a pavement to get to a sale at one of my favorite boutiques. Or I’m lying on a lounge under the sun at a resort. Or I’m wearing a very cute ski outfit and on a slope that, at the bottom, I just have to click off my skis and enter a chateau that spikes its hot cocoa. I do not hike. I do not bike. I do not run. I don’t even take walks. I do not fish, nor do I hunt. The outside is to stare at through a window when you’re feeling contemplative or sit in and drink a cocktail al fresco with your besties. Other than those things, I have no use for the outdoors.”

Once I finished this speech, I waited.

He studied me.

I waited more.

He kept studying me.