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There it was.

The challenge. I could’ve closed the remaining distance.

I wanted to.

God, I wanted to.

Instead, I straightened. "No."

That clearly wasn't the answer she'd expected. "Why not?"

"Because your body telling me something isn't the same as you telling me."

Silence. The teasing disappeared from her face for half a heartbeat. Something softer replaced it. Something I wasn't certain she wanted me to see.

Then Robin recovered. "Very noble."

"Don't sound so disappointed."

"I am not disappointed."

"No?"

"No."

I allowed myself the smallest smile. "Then stop smelling like you are."

Her mouth fell open and I discovered there were apparently limits even to Robin of Locksley's audacity.

"Bisbane."

There was enough warning in my name to send wiser men running. Unfortunately, I was beginning to enjoy being threatened by her.

"Robin."

She stared at me, and I stared back.

Neither of us moved.

She was studying me just as openly, and I let her, because a woman looking that closely is a woman who has stopped running.

"Why do you do it?" I asked.

"Do what?"

"Risk your neck, over and over, for people who cannot protect you in return. Not one of those villagers could stand between you and a rope. They'd weep at your hanging and go home hungry all the same." I set my hands flat on the desk. "You're spending a life that will never be repaid."

She bristled like a cat going up a size, and the ease went out of her posture.

"That's the difference between you and me."

"Which is?"

"You think helping someone is supposed to earn you something."

Something in me hardened before I could stop it, and my voice came out colder than I intended. "You don't know anything about me."

"I know who pays you."