Page 17 of Seduce Me in Shadow

“Come in. Or did you come to stare at me as if I’m a mutant in a freak show?”

“You don’t look like a freak, Sydney. Not at all.” His deep voice pours over me like chocolate—rich, warm, tempting.

I nearly melt.

What is going on? First, Caden comes to my flat unexpectedly. Then he seduces me withthatlook. Now he’s complimenting me? Uncharacteristic, to say the least.

What is he about?

“I’m sorry to pop by unannounced. I’d like to talk to you. Is it too early? I can come back later…”

“No, I’m just surprised you’re here. Is something wrong?”

“Must something be wrong for me to want to talk to you?”

On a Saturday morning? Uninvited? Given the disagreement we had yesterday afternoon? “How did you find me?”

Caden smiles. No, he smolders, like he’s…flirting. What the blazes is going on?

“Why not simply ring me?”

“You never gave me your number.”

“I never gave you my address, either.”

He shrugs. “I wanted to see you.”

Well, he did—and he got more than an eyeful. He’s being very cryptic, too. I want to know why he’s here. I have my suspicions…

He shuts the door and approaches me, standing so close, we’re nearly touching.

Having him this near does destructive things to my breathing. “About what?”

“I want to discuss things with you that couldn’t be said in the office.” His warm breath hits my lips. His voice drips sex.

My belly flutters. My knees feel weak.

Five minutes ago, I would never have believed he wanted anything to do with me beyond the job. Now…? His eyes lock onto me as if I’m the only woman in the world. Forget flutters; my belly plunges to my toes.

Why does he suddenly want to be…cozy?

“Then let’s sit so you can tell me whatever you’ve come to say. Tea?”

“No, thanks.” He settles himself on my sofa and stretches his arms clear across the back.

The wide span of his arms, coupled with those amazing shoulders, makes me salivate in a way I shouldn’t about a colleague. But he isn’t helping, drat him, by staring at me as if I’m edible and he’s starving.

“Sit beside me.” He pats the sofa cushion.

I look between the two empty chairs in the room, then again at the sofa. I settle next to him, maintaining a safe distance to think. “I’m listening, but if your visit has anything to do with my source for the magical war story, I’m not taking you with me to our meeting?—”

“Nothing to do with that. But what’s on my mind is important. Private.”

His suggestive drawl sets me on alert. So does the way his gaze skims down my body, lingering. Though I’m no longer mostly naked, his gaze makes me feel like it. “Go on.”

Caden hesitates. “Maybe you should…change.”

He’s suggesting that I put on more clothes after thoroughly looking his fill? His burning stare says he’s two seconds from ravishing me; his behavior is cagey. I pride myself on being able to read people, but Caden has me baffled.

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