Worth your time

Alec sways with Ryan a little bit, keeping her in his grasp. "Mmm... but if you needed to make sure, that means you were questioning yourself in the first place."

He leans his forehead down to rest against hers. "Is it because I'm a crook and you're a good guy?"

Question lingers in his gaze. Now that portions of his anger had been skimmed off the top, it left room to see deeper, and what was deeper was a desire for understanding this woman who had no reason to care at all, yet had not only tried to get him to feel better about himself, but had apparently begun to fall for him.

"...Or is Reese trying to convince you that I'm not worth your time?"