"Dinner is ready. Please, Mr. Hale, sit."
Alex moved to the chair Helena had indicated and settled into it with the kind of easy confidence that suggested he owned the furniture, the room, and perhaps the entire villa.
Helena took the seat to his right. She arranged her emerald gown with practiced elegance, smoothing the silk over her lap, and offered Alex a brilliant, charming smile.
Alex's gaze lingered on her for a beat longer than polite.
"You're even more striking than I imagined," he said calmly, as if stating a simple fact.
The compliment landed harder than Helena expected.
For just a heartbeat, the practiced smile faltered. A faint warmth crept up her neck, coloring her cheeks despite her best efforts to remain composed.
She lowered her gaze briefly, smoothing the silk over her lap as if to ground herself, then looked back up... eyes bright, a touch softer than before.
