The Coldest Man in the Room Melted Only for Me novel Chapter 287

Riley instantly let go, pulling her hand back under the covers and keeping her eyes lowered, too flustered to look at him.

"Do you want some water?" Sebastian asked.

Riley shook her head slightly, then looked up at him. Meeting his deep, bottomless gaze, she immediately averted her eyes again. "You must be busy. I'm fine now."

Sebastian watched her polite, distant demeanor, a faint frown creasing his brow. He sat back down in the chair. "Don't you have anything to ask me?"

Now that he mentioned it, she did have a lot of questions. "Weren't you in Statenbury? When did you get to Riverport?"

"Three o'clock this afternoon."

"How did you know I was in trouble?"

"Quinn."

Riley nodded, assuming Quinn had reached out to him. "Thank you. If you hadn't..." She couldn't even bear to think of the consequences. "I really am so grateful."

Sebastian stared at her for two long seconds. "Aren't you going to ask why I came to Riverport?"

Wasn't it obvious?

It had to be for work.

But since he brought it up, Riley followed his lead. "Why did you come to Riverport?"

Sebastian locked eyes with her. "For you."

Riley's heart skipped a beat. "What... did you say?"

"For you," Sebastian repeated, his intense gaze never wavering.

Her heart began to hammer in her chest. He couldn't mean what she thought he meant. But those two words were so straightforward, leaving no room for alternate interpretations. If it wasn't what she thought, then what else could it be?

Remembering something, Riley said, "I know you promised Pierce you'd look out for me and Alora, but you really didn't have to—"

Seeing her bewildered expression, Sebastian let out a helpless sigh. "What are you running from?"

His words felt like an interrogation of her very soul, striking right at her inner cowardice and fear.

She kept her eyes down and whispered without any confidence, "I'm not running."

Just then, voices drifted in from the hallway. It sounded like Pierce and Franklin.

Riley instinctively looked toward the door.

Sebastian completely ignored the noise outside, keeping his earnest gaze fixed on her. "I don't have that much free time. I didn't fly hundreds of miles just to honor someone else's request, and I'm certainly not as fiercely loyal as you make me out to be. Quite the opposite—I am rational to the point of being cold-blooded. I never involve myself in the affairs of unrelated people. Not even the Landon family."

He paused, then asked, "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

His words were so overwhelmingly direct that Riley could no longer find any excuse to rationalize them away. He was backing her into a corner, forcing her to face the truth.