Page 62 of Naughty Heart

“I just do.”

I was glad he had that level of confidence, but there wasn’t a whole lot there for me to put stock in. “I need more than just three words. What makes you so confident things will work out between us?”

The corners of Malcolm’s mouth tipped up in a smile. For several beats, he didn’t say a word. If it hadn’t been for the look on his face, I would have grown concerned that he’d just been saying whatever felt best in the moment.

Luckily, I would have been wrong. Because when Malcolm finally did speak, he gave me precisely what I needed to want to risk it all.

“These last three weeks have been the best of my life. I especially enjoyed everything over the last week. But it happened for me tonight. I stood at the bottom of that staircase and saw you at the top in this beautiful dress, and I told myself I was going to do whatever it took to have that, to have you, for the rest of my life. And I’d think if there’s anything you’ve learned about me in the last three weeks, it’s that I go after what I want, and I’ll make sure that I get it. I want you, Evelyn. Weeks ago, I never expected I’d be here right now, but I love everything about this. What I do know is that regardless of what happens with Westwood’s, there’s one thing I don’t want to live without, and that’s you. You made me fall for you.”

This was fast.

So fast.

But we’d been spending so much time together.

And we got along great.

And we knew how to tease one another.

And we communicated well.

Maybe I didn’t need to be worried about the time we hadn’t known each other. Maybe I only needed to be concerned with the time we’d had and how it made me feel.

My palm that had been pressed firmly against his chest slid up and around his neck. My fingertips just barely grazed his hair as they pressed in. Then I said, “Earlier tonight, you told me you reserved the right to take me back to the staircase if the party turned out to be a dud. While I believe this party has been anything but a dud, I was kind of hoping you’d take me back to that staircase.”

He cocked a brow, a questioning look in his eyes. “What do you want to do there?”

My hand squeezed the back of his neck. “Well, I was kind of hoping we wouldn’t linger there for too long. I do have that fancy suite you insisted I use to get myself ready in tonight. It might be fun to spend some time in there together, away from the crowd.”

His expression darkened, heat swirling in his stare. One, two, three beats later, he separated his body from mine, took me by the hand, and led me out of the ballroom.

16

EVELYN

My pulse was pounding.

My breaths were coming short and fast.

It was building.

The anticipation. The excitement. The promise of something good, something great.

Malcolm had guided me out of the ballroom before leading me up the grand staircase. I thought he’d continue to move us in the direction of the suite I’d spent the early part of the evening getting ready in, but he didn’t.

He stopped us at the top of that staircase and turned me in his arms. With everyone else back in the ballroom, enjoying the festivities, Malcolm and I were the only two people on the stairs and roaming around the hotel.

And with the way he was looking at me, it was safe to say I was experiencing the most magical moment of my life.

“I feel like it’s only fitting for me to do this here,” he said.

“Do what?”

“Kiss you for the first time.”

Oh, God, did I want that. “You kissed me earlier when you walked up these stairs to meet me here.”

Malcolm let out a laugh. “That’s not the kind of kiss I’m talking about.”