Page 24 of King of Pride

She continued staring at the house, her patience wearing thinner by the minute.

Then she noticed a shadow fall across the snow beside her.

Someone had stopped next to her.

Rose slowly lifted her head.

Her breath caught.

Maverick stood beside her.

Chapter 4 I Will Marry Him

His tall frame seemed even more imposing against the snowy evening, his shadow stretching across the ground. An oversized coat hung from his broad shoulders, and beneath it, he wore a perfectly tailored suit. He had clearly changed since the previous night. His dark hair was neatly swept back, every strand perfectly in place, making him look completely different from the man she'd left behind that morning.

Rose, meanwhile, was still standing there in the same clothes she'd worn to the party.

The contrast was almost humiliating.

She stared at him in shock, her mouth falling open for a moment before she finally found her voice.

“What are you doing here?”

Her gaze darted toward the house, then back to him.

“It was just one night. It's already over. I already left.”

She spoke faster when he didn't answer.

“What do you want? Money?”

The edge of panic creeping into her voice betrayed her bravado. Maverick had always had a way of making her nervous, but seeing him standing in front of her again—here, of all places—sent an entirely different kind of shiver through her.

He simply looked at her.

His gaze dropped to her arms, which she had wrapped tightly around herself in an attempt to keep warm.

Something in his expression changed.

Without saying a word, Maverick reached up and removed the coat from his shoulders.

Before Rose could react, he draped it around her.

The heavy coat enveloped her completely, falling almost to the ground around her and trapping the warmth of his body against her. Rose instinctively pulled it closer around herself.

She looked up at him, startled.

Maverick still said nothing.

Instead, he bent down and lifted her effortlessly into his arms.

Rose's eyes widened.

“What are you doing?”

“Do you want to freeze to death?” he asked, his voice low and stern. “What are you doing standing out here dressed like this?”

Rose immediately began to panic.