“I was born to be King,” he said, his voice so full of laughter that I wondered he could speak past his humor.
I snorted before I could catch myself and, because he had my arms pinned so I couldn’t cover my mouth in shocked horror at my uncharacteristic display of rudeness, I widened my eyes at him. “Sorry, that was rude.”
“That was honest, babe. Don’t worry, I dig it. Besides, you don’t know me yet but soon as you do, you’ll get it, my name and how it fits like a fuckin’ glove.” He grinned at me as he spoke, as he pressed himself even closer so that we were plastered together from thigh to chest.
“Um, King, you’re a little close given that I literally just met you,” I muttered.
I tried to shift away but the movement just made my breasts brush back and forth over his hard chest. His eyes darkened at my wiggling and one hand slid from my shoulder, past the outer edge of my breasts to curl around my hip.
“Like the feel of you against me.”
I’d never met such a brazen man in my life. People weren’t allowed to touch strangers like that, to say whatever crossed their mind. There were rules in modern society. But it seemed King Kyle Garro was cool with breaking them.
“Do you have no shame?” I asked.
He took in my tilted head, the earnest set of my features and didn’t bother to keep himself from laughing at me. “Nah, never seemed like a great thing to have.”
Well, I couldn’t argue with that.
“That’s fair,” I said.
His gorgeous, crystal clear eyes sparkled like they were faceted. “Yeah.”
We stared at each other for a long time. He pressed so close to me that I could feel his heart beating. His pulse was a slow, hard drumbeat, whereas mine pattered wildly in my chest. He held me tightly, stared at me intimately as if he had a right to me, and more, as if he had been holding me and staring at me all our lives.
It was disconcerting only a bit more than it was enthralling and both emotions overwhelmed me.
“Are we going to do this all night? I’ve got colleagues inside waiting for me,” I finally said, going for sassy but failing because my voice was breathy.
He grinned at me and up close to it like I was, it almost knocked me out with its perfection. I’d never seen such a beautiful smile, not even in a movie or a magazine.
“Could do this all night, for sure, but I’d rather have your fine ass on the back of my bike. Let me take you for a ride.”
“A ride?”
He chuckled, but I caught the flash of erotic excitement in his eyes. “Yeah, a ride on my bike. It’s a good night for it. You ever been up the Sea to Sky?”
He was referring to the Sea to Sky highway that started at the border to the United States, ran through Vancouver, Entrance, Whistler and all the way up to Lillooet. It was one of the most beautiful drives in the world, threading as it did all the way up the coast of British Columbia before it disappeared into the mountains. I’d followed it up to Entrance where it settled just north of Vancouver, but I’d yet to drive any further.
So, I said, “No.”
“You ever been on the back of a bike?”
“No.”
This time a grin so wicked that my heart lost a beat to its beauty. “Lookin’ forward to breakin’ your cherry, babe.”
He laughed at my scowl as he unpeeled himself from me and then me from the wall. I was opening my mouth to scold him when he reached out to smooth a hank of golden brown hair back from my face.
“Got a lot of hair, babe,” he said.
“Ugh, yeah,” I answered.
“Looks good.”
“Um, thanks,” I murmured, caught up in the warmth of his small grin.
“Right, you go in there, tell your girls that you’re heading out and I’ll meet you out front in five.”
“Ah…” I hummed, uncomfortable with the entire situation now that his delicious body wasn’t pressed up against mine and his yummy hormones weren’t messing with my brain.
“No ‘ah’ about it. Get in there, get set and let’s fuckin’ go. Meet you out front in five, babe, yeah?” he ordered, leaning forward to grab the back of my neck and bring me close so that we were nearly nose to nose again.
I made the mistake of inhaling, taking in a deep lungful of that heady fresh laundry and male musk scent of his.
“Yeah,” I agreed.
He squeezed my neck, grinned into my face and stepped away so quickly that I nearly fell forward. He was laughing softly, hands in his pockets, as he walked away around the corner. I blinked after him for a minute, chewing my bottom lip and worrying.