taken great pains to hide his shock. He had seen those sapphire-blue eyes before. But even if it
had
been the first time Dylan had ever seen her, he suspected he might have been nearly as shaken. No wonder sheâd been drawn to the eye goop. Her eyes would draw men with the noblest intentions.
And the foulest.
âNo, it doesnât seem strange to me at all. I can see you in this room. Did Alan suggest you take it?â
âHe did, yes. Just before he died.â
âYou moved out of itââher chin tilted and her eyes sparked in that familiar defiant gestureââbecause of me, didnât you?â
âI didnât know what to expect. Sidney thought we should cautiously expose you to the surroundings,â he admitted. Sidney had suggested bringing her to the estate under the pretense of hiring her as a Camp Durand counselor when they discovered thatâmiraculouslyâshe was a business major. In those circumstances, Dylan could determine what she recalled about living thereâif anythingâand see how she reacted to the environment. If not Dylan personally, then the two Durand security employees heâd ordered to covertly watch her while at the camp could give him insights as to her state of mind.
âI was familiar with Addie Durandâs habits,â he said slowly.âThere are a few places that I worried might be more likely to trigger memories too quickly. This one, even though itâs been redecorated. Alan and Lynnâs suite. The den, the stables, the library . . . and the dining room. The entry hall, the kitchen, the living room, the terrace gardens, and the media room have been extensively renovated, so I didnât worry as much about that. Most of the other bedrooms here werenât used muchâeither by the Durands or me, so they werenât of any concern.â
He hesitated. âI never imagined youâd inadvertently find your way into the dining room that first night at the castle. Or the stables the next day,â Dylan told her, choosing his words carefully. Alice had made it very clear to him that while she would discuss the details of Addie Durand, Addieâs kidnapping, and Dylanâs part in the tragedy, she wouldnât talk about Addie and herself as if they were the same person. Currently, they were treading on volatile ground.
Her eyelids narrowed slightly, and he knew heâd made some kind of misstep, despite his caution. âYou suspected I was going to be in your bedroom, even before I came here? And so you moved suites, in order not to trigger any . . .â She faded off uncertainly, aware she was skimming close to the fire. Her defiant expression made a quick resurgence. âI thought you said that you hadnât planned for anything sexual between us . . . that it just
happened
that morning in the stables?â
âThatâs true. And since you seem to need a reminder,
youâre
the one who seduced
me
, Alice,â he said with a stern, pointed glance meant to quash her suspicion immediately. It didnât work. He damned her defensive posture and closed the space between them. Satisfaction went through him when he took her into his arms, and the tension melted from her muscles. She pressed against him.
âIf thatâs what you want to call the first three seconds of what happened in those stables. It was all you after that, baby,â she grumbled under her breath.
âI didnât hear you complaining.â
Her eyes flashed up at him.
âIâm telling you the
truth
,â Dylan said succinctly. âI didnât plan for us to be together in the stables that morning. How could I have? I didnât know youâd show up there. I
didnât
plan for us to get involved in that way when you came to the Durand Estate.â
âThen why would you worry about me being here . . . in this room? Why did you pack up most of your things