He froze halfway, his eyes taking in the loose ropes on the floor, and the bare skin of my shoulder where the dress slipped down again.

For a second, he didn't move. Instead, he just stood there, shaking his head in disbelief while staring at me like he was trying to decide if he should scold me or laugh at me.

"Relax," I said quickly, straightening up trying to fix my sleeve back into place. "I wasn't running away."

That was the worst, most obvious lie I'd ever heard in my life, even ...