Page 89 of Trick or Stalk

I laugh.

His attention drops briefly to my mouth, then back to my eyes. The movement is so quick I almost convince myself I imagined it.

“Do you like it?”

He studies me for a beat, his expression intense. “I understand why someone would.”

“That wasn't my question.”

“No.”

My hopes deflate. “No, you don't like it?”

“No, that wasn't your question.”

I stare at him.

The corner of his mouth twitches.

Oh. He's messing with me.

Hades—the man I mentally categorized yesterday as someone who probably scares children merely by existing—is teasing me.

And I like it.

Way more than I should.

“So... do you like it?”

“I haven't decided.”

I glance at the bookmark. “You're halfway through it.”

“Doesn't mean I've decided.”

“You're stubborn.”

“So I've been told.”

I smile.

But it fades when I realize I'm standing beside his table like some weird woman who followed him into a coffee shop.

Except I didn't.

I came here for lunch. He was already here.

Which means—He didn't come looking for me.

The disappointment is immediate. And completely stupid.

I barely know him.

Why would he come looking for me?

“Anyway.” I gesture toward the counter. “I'll let you get back to it.”

Something changes in his expression. “You don't have to.”