Page 24 of Once Upon an Enchanted Kiss

“You think?” North would lead her into Woodhaven, his kingdom.

“Maybe west.” She shrugged one shoulder and gave him a broad grin. “Wherever the wind takes me.”

That made him laugh.

There was something endearing and sweet about her. And yet, he sensed she really did want adventure. As though she wanted to be free. Perhaps that was why she ran away from home.

He related to that. He, too, wanted to be free from his life of court and politics. To spend his days hunting and hawking and drinking instead of running a kingdom and…marrying that princess he was supposed to marry.

He thought of the princess and his parents at Myst Hall and wondered if they were missing him. He thought of Charles and Jeffrey and wondered if they were searching for him when they realized he’d stolen into the night like a thief.

“Why did you run away from home?” he asked, peering at her from across the table.

She kept her eyes downcast on the decimated bread before her. She lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “I doubt you would understand.”

“Try me,” he said in an inviting tone. “I’d really like to know.”

She looked up at him through her lashes and his heart stuttered. Such a strange reaction to this girl he just met.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“I wanted a different life than the one my parents wanted for me,” she said at last.

There was something cryptic about the way she said it. As though she were telling him enough truth to appease him. Whatever the reason, she wanted to keep it to herself.

It was yet another thing he related to.

“I feel as though we are kindred spirits,” he said.

Rose tilted her head to one side. “How so?”

“I, too, want a different life than the one my parents have planned for me.”

She stared at him a long moment in silence, then gave a little nod. “Then we appear to understand each other.”

“We do.”

She ate another piece of bread, then the apple pieces, and washed it all down with the small cup of water. She fought off a yawn. She had deep circles under her eyes as though she hadn’t slept.

“It will be light soon,” he said. “We should rest. You take the loft. I’ll sleep in the chair.”

She glanced at the old chair with the frayed upholstery. She frowned, a look of disgust flickering over her face. “In that old thing?”

He saw it was covered in a thick layer of dust. “I’ll clean it before I go to sleep.”

Rose stood, taking their plates and cups away to the small kitchen and placing them on the counter. He noticed she had only eaten a few bites of the bread. Why did he have a sudden urge to make sure she was cared for?

“I’m sure the loft isn’t much better.” As she turned to face him, she caught him staring at her.

Their eyes met again. Deep in her emerald depths, he saw strength and an independent spirit unable to be denied. He saw a wild heart that sought adventure and freedom. He saw a girl who had a thirst for a life she had not yet lived. While he did and lived as he pleased.

Her cheeks warmed. A breath shuddered out of her. He tore his gaze away and turned to the fire, stoking it to keep the flames going and pretending she was nothing but a girl he happened upon. In an abandoned cabin. In the woods. And she was alone.

“I’ll, um, see what’s in the loft,” she said at last, clearly affected by the way he looked at her.

She skittered past him and hurried up the steps, her footfalls loud on the stairs as she made her way to the loft.

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