Page 17 of King

ELLA

Ella sat on the floor of the firehouse storage room, surrounded by boxes of canned goods and non-perishable items, carefully sorting through the donations for the upcoming food drive. She had already organized most of the items into neat stacks, but there was still a long way to go.

Not that she minded.

She liked it here. She liked that she was doing something that mattered. Something that would make a difference. Make the world a better place.

She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, sighing as she reached for another can of green beans.Maybe she should take a break soon. She’d been working all morning. Mostly because she was trying to keep her mind busy so she didn’t think too hard about the date she was going on with King on Friday. Because if she thought about it too hard, she would overthink it, and she didn’t want to do that. She liked King. A lot. Which was both exciting and terrifying.

Before she had time for a break, a familiar shadow appeared over her.

“Drink your water.”

Ella blinked, looking up.

King stood in the doorway, arms crossed, watching her like a man whoknewhe was in charge, even though she hadn’t exactly agreed to that. Yet.

She arched a brow, tilting her head. “Excuse me?”

King pointed to the unopened bottle of water sitting on the table beside her. “Water. Drink it.”

Ella scoffed, picking up another can to stack instead. “You’re not the boss of me.”

The second the words left her mouth, she realized her mistake.

King’s smirk was instant, slow and dangerous, his dark eyes flashing with something downrightwicked.

“Dollface,” he drawled, stepping forward, crouching in front of her so they were almost at eye-level. “You keep challenging me like that and I’m gonna have to do something about it.”

Ella’s breath hitched.

Heat crept up her neck, her fingers tightening around the can in her hands. She knew he was teasing her, but that look, the one that said he wasveryaware of how flustered she was, made her stomach flip in a way she didn’t know how to handle.

So, naturally, she went on the defense.

She lifted her chin. “Oh yeah? Like what?”

King didn’t break eye contact. Didn’tblink.

And then, ever so casually, he reached over, grabbed the water bottle, unscrewed the cap, and held it out to her.

“Drink,” he said, voice deep andcertain. “Now.”

Ella narrowed her eyes. “Youwouldmake a terrible waiter.”

King huffed out a low chuckle, shaking his head. “Little girl, you’re really testing me today.”

She grinned, grabbing the bottle, but not before muttering, “Bossy.”

King heard it.

She knew he had.

Because as she took a sip, just enough to appease him, he leaned in slightly, voice dropping so low it sent a shiver down her spine.

“You don’t even know what bossy looks like yet. But you will.”

Ella choked.

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