Page 28 of Damaged Prince
This man has no right looking this good. It’s distracting.
He shifts in his seat, angling his body to face me, and clears his throat.
“I have been.” He nods slowly, answering my question.
“Why?”
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“You could have called or texted.”
His brow raises. “You have me blocked.”
Fuck. I do.
“Okay, but couldn’t it have waited until tomorrow?”
“No.” His eyes darken. “It really couldn’t.”
My body flushes, and with each passing second that his eyes are on me, I grow more and more uneasy.
Licking my lips, I try not to let it show how he’s getting to me.
“Still.” I shove my hands into the pockets of my hoodie, shifting from foot to foot as everything inside me tells me to run far away, because whatever his reason for being here, I’m not sure I’m ready to hear it. “You bought a dance?”
That's the part that has me confused. Private dances aren’t cheap. He has money, yes, but why would he spend that much on me?
Anger fills me because why the fuck is he at a strip club, getting private dances? How could he do that to Laney?
He looks away, and if I didn’t know any better, I could swear the man was...blushing?No. It has to be the lighting because there's no way Kai, of all men, would blush. That was my job.
Kai gets to his feet, forcing me to take a step back. “I–” Before he can finish what he was about to say, I’m grabbing him by the arm and pulling him out of the bar.
He’s bigger and stronger than me, but right now, I’m so pissed I’m able to shove him up against the wall as fury rushes through my veins. “What the fuck!” I hiss, stepping closer to him. My nostrils flare as my breathing quickens. “How could you do this to Laney? A fucking strip joint? For fuck sakes, Kai. Laney deserves better than this.”
“She knows.” His deep voice rumbles, his dark, stormy eyes staring back at me.
“What?” I blink at him, stunned. “She knows?”
He nods his head slowly. “She knows how I feel about you.”
My eyes widen, lips parting. “How you... feel? What?”How he feels about me?What the fuck does that mean? He shouldn’t feel anything towards me.
“I told her a bit about our past.” My stomach sinks as my heart starts to kick into overdrive. “Not about that,” he states firmly. “I would never betray you like that, Eli.” His voice is lower now, softer.
My breathing comes in short, shallow pants, my mind spinning, not sure what to say.What is going on?
“I’m so confused,” I whisper, looking down at the ground before bringing my eyes back up to meet his. “What is going on?”
“I’m not one to play games or to beat around the bush. So, let me know if I’m overstepping and I’ll take a back off. But I want to get everything out on the table, right here, right now, so there’s no confusion between us.”
“O-okay...” I lick my lips, feeling a little dizzy.
Kai pushes off the wall, getting to his full height. He’s taller than me, but just enough to give off this looming presence when we are standing chest to chest.
Tilting my head back, I stare up at him, caught in his stormy eyes. There’s a voice in the back of my mind telling me to flee, to run and hide, to protect myself. But my body doesn’t move.There’s something about Kai that consumes my body, making me want to give myself to him.
“The year we talked online was one of the best years of my life,” he starts. He reaches a hand up, his fingers brushing against my forehead. My eyes flutter shut for just a moment before I force them open. How can such a simple touch take hold of my body and feel so damn powerful?
