Page 30 of King of My Heart

“Exactly,” I said, my voice rougher than I intended. “I managed to talk to the girls and ensure they were okay. Luckily, they didn’t let Henry get to them physically. Still, they didn’t deserve that. No one does. Henry’s always been like that. Entitled, rude, small-minded. He only gets away with it because no one sees who he really is. But I do.”

“Is that why he’s so scared of you? Because if he messes with anyone ever again, you’ll call him out on it?”

“I won’t just call him out on it. I will personally break every single bone in his lanky body.”

She didn’t flinch at the harshness of my words. No, she looked like she would join me instantly if that ever happened.

“Honestly, I had a bad feeling about him from the beginning. He was too…flirty.” She paused and tilted her head. “I officially dislike him, too.”

I smirked, glancing at her. “Glad to have you on my side.”

“Always,” she said, her voice light, but the word hung between us like it meant more than just this conversation.

We walked in silence for a while after that, and we got closer to where she was staying. I never liked this campground. It was pretty safe around here, but I hated the idea of Darwynn staying in this tiny house alone. She didn’t seem to mind, though. She liked the calm. The quiet.

The automatic light turned on when we reached the small porch. She stopped and turned to me, tilting her head back to look up at me. She wasn’t small—about five-four. I was just a giant.

“So,” she said softly, pursing her lips as she eyed me closely. “Thank you for walking me home.”

“Anytime.”

I kept my eyes on her, taking in every single freckle on the right side of her face. I usually wasn’t curious or interested in knowing more about a woman, but with Darwynn, things were a little different.

It probably was the fact that she was my damn son’s ex-girlfriend.

It sure as fuck didn’t matter, though.

“What’s up with your freckles?” It sounded like an insult, but she didn’t take it like one.

She laughed, throwing her head back and exposing her delicate neck.

Fuck…

When her eyes met mine again, she said, “I wish I knew, but I guess it’s just genetics.”

“Do your parents have freckles?” I asked.

“No…but my grandmother did. So maybe I got them from her,” she said, her smile gentle. “You got some freckles too.”

“That’s sun damage.”

“Right.” She looked amused, and I huffed.

“Go inside now. It’s late.”

“Yes, sir,” she muttered under her breath.

I raised a brow. “Sir?”

There was a teasing gleam in her different-colored eyes. “Does it bother you when I call you that?”

No, it fucking made my dick twitch.

I didn’t answer her. Instead, I kept my eyes closely on her face as she calculated her next move, and my body tensed when she stepped toward me. Her arms wrapped around my neck as her body pushed into mine, and I steadied us both as I rested my hand on her lower back.

She was tiny.

At least, against me, she was.

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