Page 20 of The Arrogant's Redemption

A good pretender recognizes another.

No one—not even my two best friends—really knows me. People might have a vague idea of what I’m feeling in some situations, but how I analyze every little detail around me? That part is mine alone.

Alexis comes across as a carefree young woman if you look at her quickly, but there’s something in her that grabbed my attention in a way most people never do.

A depth that doesn’t match her age.

She fakes a kind of nonchalance she doesn’t actually feel, like when she said she was used to this town and wasn’t in danger, even while standing exposed on a beach that would’ve been deserted if not for the fishermen. If I had to bet, I’d say she’s the type to check the door three times before going to bed.

Cautious.

Yes, that’s the word. Even while showing clear interest in me, she was pulling me in with one hand and pushing me away with the other—like a game of hot and cold. If it were any other woman, someone from my world, I’d say it was a calculated tactic to keep me intrigued. But something tells me that’s not the case with her. She doesn’t even realize she’s playing a game, which only makes me more curious to figure her out.

And that—that inconvenient desire—was precisely why I decided to end our conversation this morning.

I don’t play games with people who don’t know the rules. No matter how much their personality might pique my interest.

Alexis

CHAPTER TWELVE

“I don’t thinkyou should take that,” the shop owner says, laughing.

“I like it.”

“Yeah, I noticed. It’s a very stylish swordfish, no doubt, but I feel bad for your neck. Badger’s gonna hate it.”

“Then he shouldn’t have sent me to pick the decorations. The fish reminds me of summer. I love all those colors mixed together.”

She frowns and glances at my clothes. “But you always dress in pastels. Neutrals.”

“Because the colors are inside me. Like a secret identity,” I joke.

I can’t tell her the truth—that even when my mom wasn’t in prison, we didn’t have enough to buy clothes anywhere besides places likeRoss Dress for Less. And there, you grab what’s available, not what you’re looking for. Only once did I strike gold: a pair of golden running shoes. The very ones I’m wearing now.

“Take it, then,” she says. “You’re right. If Badger didn’t want to risk something over-the-top, he shouldn’t have left you—someone with your...unique taste—in charge.”

If I hadn’t known Mrs. Araya since I was a kid, I might be offended, but she’s always made me feel comfortable with her bluntness. “You can wrap it up. That one, and the two royal blue jellyfish.”

“That fish is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen,” says a deep, powerful voice behind me, and even before I turn around, I know exactly who it belongs to. I memorized it this morning so I could replay our awkward encounter before falling asleep later tonight.

After getting totally stood up by the would-be buyer, I went for my run and came straight here—still wearing the same clothes I had on when I ran into that arrogant, gorgeous man at sunrise.

I turn around slowly, mentally ordering my stupid heart to stop galloping like a wild horse.

This man, aside from calling me beautiful, was nothing but a jerk. The cherry on top was his dry little piece of advice to be careful and not become a statistic.

So why in heaven’s name is my body reacting to him like I’m standing in front of a literal god, right after he insulted my lovely swordfish?

“It’s meant to stand out,” I reply, honoring the manners my mother taught me, even though what I really want to say is:“Why in hell do you care about my fish?”

“That’s not what you were thinking,” he says, and even though his face remains neutral, there’s a hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

I’m shocked.

He . . . smiles? Does he bleed, too? Eat? Sleep?

Whew. For a second, I thought I had accidentally stumbled straight into Olympus.

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