that I asked, but it was a question that had sat in the back of my mind, since receiving his invitation.
He could be so still; his hands weren’t in his pockets or crossed over his chest. He stood almost like a statue, even breathing seemed to be done sparingly. I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things, and considering our surroundings I could be, or if this man did everything deliberately. It wasn’t just my heart that pulsed thinking about him letting go, watching as everything he held under such tight control was freed. It would be an unbelievable sight.
“I suspect you spend so much time giving a voice to those who no longer have one that you forget your own,” he said softly. “And I saw that dress and knew I needed to see you in it.” Those words said as if they were dragged over sandpaper. I drew my lower lip into my mouth because I was so fucking turned on.
His gaze dropped to my mouth, heat flashing in his eyes, before they lifted back to mine.
“You make me forget where I am,” I whispered.
Never in my life had someone looked at me like he was. He wasn’t so still now, as he fisted his hands. His features sharpened as that control, he kept under tight rein, was pushing at the cage to break free. “You make me want to forget,” he rasped, and though he didn’t move, it was like being surrounded by him, when he added, “But I’m not a prince, I’m the villain.” And for a second, I saw just how much he believed that, before he finished, “Enjoy your evening. Levy will see you home when you’re ready.”
He turned to go, and the words tumbled out of my mouth. “I didn’t think you were a prince, but I do think you’re beautiful.” He looked back, that knot at his jaw as he clenched it was the only visible reaction to my words. I wanted to kiss him, but my feet wouldn’t move, held spellbound by that dark gaze. Seconds passed before he broke the connection and walked away, the night closing around him, until he blended into it. Took me much longer to follow after him because I thought he was fascinating before, but now…what skeletons hid in his closet? I didn’t go back to the party but out the front door. Levy was waiting for me, and somehow, I knew he would be because Kade Wakefield read me like a book, the first person who ever did. Settling back on the seat, I watched the scenery change, but my thoughts were on Kade, learning his story and wanting it to be him to tell me.
I stood at the corner by my apartment on Saturday and wasn’t sure how to get back into real life. Last night, even not lasting as long as I would have liked, had been every bit as magical as I’d hoped. I hadn’t been able to pull my thoughts from Kade because he felt it, too. He didn’t want to feel it, that was pretty clear, but he did. What was in his past that was so terrible he thought himself a villain? I had no doubt that to accomplish all he had so young, he’d had to cross the line, but the man he was now was no villain, and I doubted he ever had been.
I was edgy, had a constant humming in my blood, knowing that man was out there and was as curious about me as I was about him. I hit Fifth Avenue and saw Amar, my gyro connection. It was almost without thought when I ordered two. I wasn’t even sure that Kade was working, but I caught a cab to his building. By the time I reached his floor, I was having second thoughts and then I saw the woman. She looked to be in her fifties, dressed in jeans and a tee. But she was working, which meant he was, too. I got butterflies in my stomach. Never in my life had someone stirred that feeling in me, but around Kade, I had them all the time.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
“I was hoping to see Kade, if he has time.”
“Miss Donahue, yes?”
I was excited for about two seconds and then remembered she had seen Zac and me into Kade’s office that first day. Working for a man like Kade, knowing names was likely a job requirement.
“Yes, Molly.”
“One second,” she said, then