Page 16 of Thief of Hearts

Oh.

That was bad.

Very, very, very bad.

Chapter Six

I had spent my entire life paying attention to those around me. I had always thought myself decent at reading people. I usually knew what kind of situation I was walking into. Like two nights ago, when the “master swordsman” had initially pretended to be nice but I saw the dark coldness lurking behind his eyes.

This pirate wouldn’t hurt me. He wouldn’t get the chance if he was foolish enough to try.

No, I was worried about the kind of distraction he might be for me.

This sizzle of attraction, the pull that I felt, was ridiculous. Romantic entanglements had never dictated my life. I made the choices I wanted to make when I wanted to make them. I didn’t pine after men.

And it would be a waste if I did so with this one. I knew the kind of woman a man like him would prefer. I wasn’t like the delicate, tiny women that most men seemed to favor.

“You never told me your name,” I said.

“You’re right. I didn’t.” Another wicked grin.

“Are you going to?”

“Perhaps eventually. If I feel you’ve earned it.” He turned left.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m going to give you the tour so that you know where everything is. First stop is the laundry.”

He was my competitor. We were both here to win the grand prize. I couldn’t afford to let my guard down around him. What if he learned things about me and then used them against me? It was every man and woman for themselves and I needed to keep him at arm’s length.

There were negatives about this man. I should focus on those.

“You lie very easily,” I said.

“Thank you.”

What? “It wasn’t a compliment.”

“It should have been. I am an excellent liar and I always appreciate recognition of my skill.”

His words should have come across as arrogant, but he made them sound playful and I found myself wanting to smile.

A fact he noticed. “I will win a smile from you, Basileia.”

Ignore him. That is not endearing, I told myself.

We entered the laundry, and every woman in the room stopped what she was doing and stared at him.

A younger woman elbowed another worker out of the way and then nearly tripped over her own feet in her rush to assist him.

“How can I help you?” Her tone indicated that she already knew exactly how she’d like to help him.

He flashed her a charming smile. “We need to pick up our training tunics.”

She didn’t even acknowledge me. “I’ll just need your vouchers.”

It had to be among the papers the registrar had given me but I didn’t know which one it was.