By the time the opposite side of it opened at the top floor, I was a shaking mess.
I didn’t know why.
But coming there felt like taking a leap.
Stepping out on a limb.
On faith.
Landing on this shimmery, fluttery feeling that promised Kale was intended to be something special to me.
Even if it might be dangerous.
I advanced into the quiet, dimly lit hall. Choking on my nerves, I turned right, passing the first apartment and heading to the second and only other one on the floor.
I paused, gathered my wits, and shifted the box to my hip before gently rapping on his door.
Two seconds later, it flew open. The sight of Kale standing there made me take a stumbling step back.
The man so beautiful.
So tall and commanding.
Jeans snug and his T-shirt tight.
Arrogant.
And somehow so fundamentally sweet.
It was written all over him when his confused gaze bounced around me, searching the hall for my son. “Where’s Evan?” he asked when his attention landed back on me.
“He’s spending the night at a friend’s,” I answered, the words rough as they pulled from my throbbing throat.
Kale’s expression transformed, disappointment melting to something severe when he realized I was alone.
Seductive.
“Ah, my princess has made it to the tower. All by herself. Awfully brave.”
A shy, affected smile tweaked the edge of my lips, and I peeked up at him. This man.
He made me feel . . . different.
More beautiful than I had in a long, long time.
Wanted in a way that was right and not filled with cruel intentions.
I did my best to play along with his ribbing, widened my eyes. “Um . . . I think you might have this backward. Isn’t it the knight who’s supposed to save the princess who’s locked in the tower?”
He grinned that grin that made me weak in the knees. “Who said I’m not about to lock her up and keep her here forever?”
My tummy tightened, affection pulsing from within while I tried to maintain the playfulness this boy exuded. “Should I be scared? Here you promised you weren’t stalking me. And I thought you claimed to be the one who wanted to save me? I’m confused.”
“Yet, here you are, standing at my door, searching for a way to break into my castle and looking like that while you do it.”
His gaze swept me from head to toe.
It elicited a rush of heat that climbed into the thrumming air. Awareness spun like an exotic dance, twisting through the motes that floated in the rays of sunlight that speared through his door and lit him up from behind.
A spotlight.
Undoubtedly, that was where he belonged.
Everything about him was distracting. That body and those eyes and his giving, beautiful heart.
That was the part that had me snared. Happy to get caught up in his trap.
“Touché.” It played from my mouth on a flimsy, shuddered breath.
He edged forward, voice growing darker. “And don’t you worry yourself, Princess, I’m all about the saving. Why don’t you come inside, and I’ll show you exactly what that’s like? I think you might have been misinformed.”
That well of desire in my belly sloshed, threatening to overflow. A few fat droplets splashed out like a drenching tease, fuel for the ache that begged for more at the juncture between my thighs.
Because he was right. All these years, I had been brutally misinformed. He’d showed me just how much so that first night out on the balcony. Again, last night. And I had no idea how much more of that education I could take before I completely belonged to him.
Before he owned me in every way.
He felt so much bigger than my tiny world. As if he were expanding it. Filling it with possibility.
So obscenely tall. Overpowering in his casual, confident way. Lean muscle that bristled when he worked with those big, big hands.
Lips full and soft and lush.
So lush my mouth watered standing there looking up at his provocative face.
I’d been right at the beginning.
The man was discord.
Chaos with an easy, arrogant smile.
A perfect, controlled disorder.
I could almost feel that broken heart already making its first, tiny crack.
A splinter that creaked through me like a warning.
Because I could resist a pretty face.
But it was the tenderness and care lined beneath his gorgeous exterior that made him truly dangerous. What had drawn me to him all along.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I think you already showed me plenty last night.”
Kale pressed his hands to either side of the doorjamb, leaned in close, and whispered, “Oh, Shortcake, that was me barely getting started.”
Tingles spread. A flash fire of need that raced through my veins.
That was the thing about Kale Bryant. He knew exactly how to get to me.
I pushed the box his direction. “Here are the lollipops. Thank you so much for helping with them. I wish I could express just how much that means to me.”