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That was all I said, and it was clear it wasn’t enough to communicate all that I had hoped to communicate, because confusion washed over Kane’s face. A moment later, he asked, “For what?”
Once again, I realized how much I was a woman who relied on planning, because the second he asked his question, I recognized that I wasn’t prepared to respond. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to answer him. I did. Nobody deserved to know more than Kane how what he’d done affected me, but needing to put it all into words was forcing a lot of emotions to bubble to the surface.
I took in a deep breath as I felt the tears well in my eyes. “Thank you for giving me such a beautiful day today. Everything about it was wonderful, and I can’t remember the last time I felt as happy as I did today.”
As soon as I got the last word out, a tear escaped and rolled down my cheek.
Kane’s features softened, and his entire expression warmed. I couldn’t miss the way his eyes followed the tear that spilled down the side of my face, and it wasn’t more than a few seconds later when he reached his arm out to me and said, “Come here, princess.”
I closed my eyes.
There was that, too.
Something about him calling me princess felt unbelievably special. I could have only hoped to have a man like Kane as my prince.
Maybe that wouldn’t ever happen, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t have whatever he was going to give me. So, I didn’t hesitate to crawl across the couch and move toward him.
The moment I was close enough to touch, Kane hauled me up against him, my body instantly colliding with his solid torso. I loved the way it felt to be in his arms, even if I was a mix of warmth, happiness, and nerves.
“Today was one of the best days I’ve had in a very long time, too,” he told me once his arms were wrapped firmly around my body.
He could have been making it up. He could have just been saying what he thought I wanted or needed to hear in that moment, but I didn’t think that was the case. If Kane hadn’t liked me, even just a little bit, he never would have asked me to spend the day with him today.
That had to count for something.
That had to mean something.
For a little while, I allowed myself to just soak it all up. Everything from the fun and laughs we had together today to the comfort and security I felt being there in his arms. One thing became abundantly clear to me.
I tipped my chin up, so I could look at his face.
Feeling my eyes on him, Kane looked down at me and asked, “What is it?”
“I’m glad.”
“About what?”
A smile was tugging at the corners of my mouth as I fought against the tears threatening to make an appearance again. “I’m glad not only that I came to Steel Ridge to get what I needed at Harper Security Ops, but also because in coming here, and ultimately there, I found you.”
His eyes roamed frantically over my face for a few seconds. When they finally started to settle, I noticed how he struggled to keep them on my eyes. Evidently, they were frequently distracted by my mouth.
And as his fingers on the hand that was curled around my opposite shoulder pressed in, I felt the shift.
Things were about to change between us. I knew it, and there was nothing I wanted more. No matter how much I knew I wanted what I believed he wanted too, I couldn’t deny that I was an even bigger mess of nerves. My belly was trembling as I took in the intense look in those sparkling eyes of his.
“Ellery?” he said, his voice a much deeper rumble than usual.
“Yeah?” I whispered.
He swallowed hard before he asked, “Would it be alright if I kissed you?”
Did I say he was gentleman?
It was such a simple question, and yet, it had rendered me speechless. I didn’t know this level of respect. I hadn’t ever experienced anything like Kane in so many ways already, but this was just another level.
I’d been stunned speechless, and unfortunately, that meant Kane was left hanging on to every last bit of self-control he had. But no matter how long it took me, Kane didn’t just go ahead with what he wanted to do. He held himself back and waited.
And I still couldn’t manage to find my words.
