If he'd been wise, he wouldn't have spoken to her. If he'd been wary, he wouldn't have spoken to her. But he is neither. Honestly, what kind of spy doesn't pay attention to his surroundings? Especially to the point where he simply blunders into the radius of someone he'd like to actively avoid? Because he knows he cannot trust himself around her, knows that to be around her is nothing but pain...

But he sees a pair of feet, and he doesn't think anything of it, and so he wanders too close. And by the time he realizes, he's at a distance where it would be painfully awkward to wander away again. So instead, he stands, trying to pause for long enough that it appears he was simply admiring the magnolia before going to move on again.