AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Good, then I’ll be sure to do it more often,” she quips, throwing me another glare when I step up next to her, matching her stride.
I can’t help but tilt my head back on a laugh that I simply cannot suppress. This girl. I swear to God I don’t know what I’m going to do with her. One minute she’s seconds from tears, the next she’s faking anger. I’m almost afraid to see what comes next and yet oddly excited at the same time.
“Stop laughing at me.” She tries to fight her smile as she bumps her shoulder gently into mine.
“I can’t help it. You’re funny,” I deadpan.
Her lip twitches once before her own sweet laughter fills the air.
“You are not at all what I expected, Kane Thaler.”
“I’m hoping that’s a good thing,” I say, dropping my arm around her shoulder before tucking her into my side.
I don’t even mean to do it; it just happens so naturally. One minute I’m walking next to her, the next I’m pulling her to me. And once she’s there, the fuck if I’m letting her go.
“The jury is still out on that one.” She smiles up at me and I swear it takes everything in me not to lean down and press my lips against hers.
“Is that so?” I say instead, flipping my gaze back up to watch where we’re going. Mainly because I know with complete certainty that if she keeps looking at me Iwillmost definitely kiss her.
“It is.” I feel her nod.
“Anything I can do to help my odds?” I joke.
“I’ll let you know if anything comes to mind.” I can hear the smile in her voice but I keep my eyes focused forward. “Damn, I really was going in the wrong direction,” she adds when the apartment building we’re staying at comes into view. “Here I thought maybe you were just trying to screw with me.”
“I would never do that.” I drop my arm from her shoulder, throwing her a wink before climbing the front steps. I pull open the front door, holding it for Elara until she steps past me into the foyer of the building.
“Did I ever tell you how much I despise stairs?” She looks up at the narrow staircase in front of us.
“I could always carry you,” I offer with a wide smile on my face.
“You’re so much more like him than I realized.” I can tell the moment it leaves her mouth she wants to take it back, but before I can even think to respond she quickly adds, “Race you to the top.”
With that she takes off up the stairs so fast she’s already half way up the first set before I’ve even moved an inch.
It takes me no time to catch her. Her five-four frame is no match for my six foot one. My legs are long enough to easily take two steps at a time and I quickly pass her with very little effort.
“No fair,” she yells after me. “You’re legs are way longer than mine.”
“You’re the one that challenged me, remember?” I laugh, slowing down enough that I don’t get too ahead of her. “Perhaps you should have thought it through,” I call behind me.
“Again, ass,” she yells through the stairwell, her footsteps not coming as quickly as before.
“You gonna make it?” I stop at the top of the sixth floor landing and look over the railing. She’s still a good floor and a half down.
“Does your offer to carry me still stand?” She stops for a brief moment, taking a deep breath before continuing her climb up.
“That depends, would it help my case?” I holler down to her.
“With the way my legs are burning I would say most definitely,” she says breathlessly.
Clearly she doesn’t actually think I will do this, because when I appear in front of her, hoisting her into my arms and cradling her to my chest, she cries out in surprise.
“Kane. I didn’t think you were serious,” she objects as I head back up the stairs I just came down.
“I’m pretty sure I told you, El, I won’t ever lie to you. I said I would carry you and carry you I will.” I catch her smile out of the corner of my eye but I keep my focus on the stairs, not wanting to trip with her in my arms.
“How about now?” I ask, depositing her on her feet in front of the apartment seconds later.
“How about now?” She looks up, eyebrows drawn together.
“Jury still out?”
The smile that stretches across her face damn near does me in.
“Getting close I think.” She winks, shimmying past me into the apartment.
And if I didn’t know it before, I sure as hell know it now. I am in some serious trouble…
