Chapter 257: Better to play it safe than make things worse.
"Huh?"
Adelyn blinked innocently, while Dylan merely raised a brow.
"Did you like what you saw?" he asked, lazily gesturing toward his well-sculpted body.
She shouldn’t have followed his gaze.
She really shouldn’t have looked again.
She should have denied it immediately and looked him straight in the eyes.
Yet—
Somehow, her gaze betrayed her.
Almost against her own will, her eyes drifted downward once more, lingering over his broad shoulders before slowly tracing the firm lines of his chest. They travelled lower, across his perfectly defined abdomen, where every muscle looked as though it had been sculpted with painstaking precision.
Her expression gradually turned absent-minded.
Almost ... captivated.
Then—
The realization struck her.
Adelyn forcefully blinked, her eyes widening in horror at herself.
"I-I’m sorry, M-Mr. Warren. I didn’t mean to—"
"You didn’t like it?" Dylan interrupted, sounding almost thoughtful.
Adelyn’s head immediately shot up. "No!" she blurted out.
Then she realized how that sounded.
"I—I mean ... yes!"
She froze.
"... No!"
Squeezing her eyes shut, she silently questioned what on earth she was saying.
Taking a deep breath, she hurriedly tried to salvage the situation.
"I mean ... your body is ... great."
The words slipped out before she could stop them. And she froze all over again.
Dylan simply waited.
Calmly.
Patiently.
Entirely unhurried —as though he had all the time in the world.
Thinking she had already embarrassed herself beyond saving, Adelyn decided she might as well explain herself properly.
"I mean, Mr. Warren ... any woman would appreciate a physique like yours. You have a firm chest, perfectly defined abs, well-proportioned muscles ..." She gestured vaguely in the air before adding, far more honestly than she intended, "... a body like yours is practically every fitness enthusiast’s dream."
She swallowed.
"... It’s very ..."
Her eyes unconsciously wandered downward again.
"... well built."
Silence.
Only then did she slowly realize ...
She had just openly complimented every part of his body.
Firm chest.
Perfect abs.
Well-proportioned muscles.
She slowly closed her eyes.
A faint blush spread across her cheeks, creeping all the way to the tips of her ears.
Could her mouth ever stop making things worse?
She almost wished the floor would split open and swallow her whole.
Just as she was wondering whether pretending to faint or something else might salvage what little dignity she had left—
"You mean ..." Dylan’s deep voice drifted leisurely into her ears.
"... my body hasn’t disappointed you?"
He took a slow step toward her.
Light.
Measured.
Precise.
Adelyn’s eyes flew open.
"W-What?"
"The inspection seemed rather thorough," he observed, the corners of his lips lifting ever so slightly. "You looked long enough to comment on my chest..."
His gaze briefly lowered.
"... my abs ..."
Then it returned to meet hers.
"... and even my muscle proportions."
His nne brow lifted up slightly as he continued walking toward her, gradually closing the distance between them before she even realized it.
"I wasn’t aware that I was being evaluated so professionally. If I had known ... I might have considered putting some effort."
Adelyn’s face instantly burned.
"No!"
She waved both hands frantically.
"I wasn’t evaluating you!"
"You weren’t?"
He sounded genuinely curious.
"Then why were you looking so carefully?"
"I ..."
Her lips parted, but no words came.
She couldn’t exactly tell him that she had simply ... forgotten to look away.
Seeing her unable to answer, Dylan nodded thoughtfully to himself before stopping only a step away from her.
"I understand."
He leaned down ever so slightly.
"You ... do?"
Hope flickered across her face as she instinctively leaned backward, trying to preserve the little space still left between them.
"Mm." He looked completely serious. "You were appreciating art."
"..."
"..."
Adelyn stared at him.
One second.
Two seconds.
Then—
Just as the remaining distance between them was about to disappear entirely, she suddenly realized how close he had gotten.
Almost instinctively, she raised her hand and pressed her palm firmly against the center of his chest, stopping him from coming any closer.
"Mr. Warren!" Her face had turned completely crimson. "That wasn’t why I came here."
Dylan lowered his eyes. His gaze settled on the small hand resting against his bare chest.
Adelyn followed his gaze.
Only then did she realize exactly where her hand was.
She instinctively began pulling it away.
Then she remembered why she had placed it there in the first place.
Pressing her lips together, she gave him a small push before quickly taking two steps backward, restoring a safe distance between them.
"I came to ask you about something else."
She took a steadying breath. "So could you please let me focus?"
"Am I making you lose your focus?" He raised another brow.
Adelyn found herself completely speechless.
When had her words started sounding like that?
"No ... you’re not." She paused. "It’s just your ..."
Before she could stop herself, her eyes betrayed her once again, drifting briefly down his body.
Almost immediately, she forced them back up.
The tiny movement lasted only a heartbeat.
Yet the subtle deepening of Dylan’s smile made it obvious he had noticed it.
"It seems," he said slowly, "my body is rather distracting."
"I wasn’t distracted!"
She denied it almost immediately again.
"... I just happened to look."
A quiet chuckle escaped Dylan.
Truthfully, he would have enjoyed teasing her a little longer. But he decided to let her off this time.
Stepping aside, he picked up the bathrobe hanging nearby and slipped it over his shoulders, tying the belt loosely around his waist.
Only then did Adelyn finally remember why she had come in the first place.
She looked back at him.
Dylan adjusted the robe before asking casually, "Is it fine now?"
Adelyn nodded almost immediately without even checking.
She had already realized something.
No matter how properly he dressed, if her thoughts had already decided to spiral into chaos, there was very little she could do about it.
Better to play it safe than make things worse.
Taking another calming breath, she finally returned to the reason she had come.
"Mr. Warren," she asked, "why did you arrange so many clothes for me?"
