Page 96 of Shadowman

He’s sotall… He must have at least five inches on me. I guess that, paired with those piercing violet eyes, could be overwhelming if I was focusing on it. Which I’m not.

“My apologies. I hope I haven’t caused you to lose them all,” he says casually. My brow cocks, and he glances at the floor. “Your candies…”

“Oh. Right.” I look down. “Just a couple. No biggie.”

He’s walking next to me now, sort of close, watching me speculatively.

I’m overwhelmed by the need to say something, so I ask, “You want some?”

An elated look sweeps over his face, only for a split second, before he ditches it and murmurs, “No, no, I couldn’t. I’ve already cost you a few…”

My lips twitch. “It’s okay. It was only yellows and greens. Those are the worst ones.”

“Are they now?” He grins, and I nod. “According to who?”

“Uh, everyone in the universe with taste buds,” I quip, and he chuckles. A strange heat rushes up my neck, and I clench my jaw to get away from it.

“I fancy a green on special occasions,” he says teasingly…I think. It’s hard to tell with the accent. Still, he appears to be fighting off a smirk.

“That’s only acceptable if they’ve made the switch to green apple,” I counter. “These are original, so it’s lime. Bleh.”

“What’s wrong with a lime?” His brow creases, as if he’s very invested in this stupid conversation.

“Areallime? Nothing.” My face slopes to find him already looking at me. In fact, he’s been doing it pretty much this whole time.Not sure how he even knows where he’s walking…“Fake lime is gross.”

“So you dislike lemon and lime candies?” His dark brows lift. “Yet you like orange… Isn’t that pretty much the same thing? Fake citrus and all…”

“Trevel, please. Don’t compare oranges to lemons and limes. They’re not even in the same ballpark.”

He chuckles again, softly, pursing his lips. I can’t tell what the expression means, but I have to admit, chatting with him about nonsenseismore entertaining than scowling at nothing and obsessing over bullshit.

“Does she give you gifts often?” he asks, tone growing a bit deeper, more inquisitive.

“Who… Joy?” My eyes dart briefly to where she’s walking with Rook. Trevel nods. “I wouldn’t sayoften… But we get along.”

For some reason, I feel weird saying these words, given that Joy was one of my semi-regular hookup buddies before she went exclusive with Rook and Velle. Not that the new guy knows, or cares, about any of that…

“She’s the only female guard, yes?”

It occurs to me with his question that he’s still very much new here. And because no one likes him, he probably hasn’t had anyone to show him the ropes, or give him the Alabaster Penrundown, so to speak.

“She’s the only female on the whole island,” I reply.

“Hm…” He makes a small sound, as if he has thoughts about this. “That must be fun for her.”

A tiny chuckle rumbles out of me. “To be honest, I can’t imagine Joy interacting with women. She’s like one of the guys…” I frown at the thought. “Only, you know… with lady parts.”

His gaze snaps to mine, and he assesses me for a moment. I still can’t tell what he’s thinking, and his eyes are sort of boring into me.

In an effort to pull focus from myself, I add, “Anyway, I hate to break it to you, but she’s off the market.”

His lips twitch, and he murmurs, “I’m not worried about it.” He seems genuine.

Entirely unaffected by the notion of having no females around.

Gazing over the sharp line of his jaw, the pointed slope of his nose, and the long, dark lashes that fan over his pale cheekswhen he blinks, I wonder why people are considering himoddwhen, if anything, he looks like he could be a runway model.

Maybe thatiswhy. Because someone sostrikingin appearance must’ve done something super crazy to wind up here…