“I’m not sad,” I said. “I’m… nervous.”
“About?”
“Reaching Exalos.” I released a shaky breath. “I’m nervous about opening the café. What if the people there don’t like me? What if I mess up?”
“You won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you’re you.” His expression was the kindest I’d ever seen from him, not an ounce of sarcasm or cockiness. “You work hard and have passion for what you do. And you make decent coffee, I guess.”
I snorted.
“We’re complete opposites.” Rowan examined his nails. To keep from looking at me? “You live in the light, and I come from the dark. You’re everything good in this world, and I’m the vermin that creates a stain upon it. With my magic, that’s all I can ever be.”
“Don’t say that. You may have dark magic, but that doesn’t mean you have to do bad things with it”
“And if I want to do bad things?”
I stared at him. “You don’t.”
“How can you be so sure? You said so yourself. I’m an army of red flags. An Evan-napping bandit.”
“Thief, not bandit.”
Rowan grinned and placed a hand to his chest. “Did you hear that, little treasure? The knock right here?” He tapped the spot. “All because of you.”
“I still think you need to get that checked out. Could be a serious heart condition. Like it grew three sizes or something.”He wouldn’t understand the Grinch reference, but it was close to Christmas, and I couldn’t help myself.
“Oh, something grew just now.” Rowan dropped both feet back to the floor and leaned forward in the seat. “But it wasn’t my heart.”
“Pervert.”
He laughed and came closer. My breath caught as he knelt on the floor in front of my seat and pushed my legs open, settling between them. Gold and shades of light orange wove through his irises, and when the sun came through the window and shone on them, there looked to be fire in the depths.
Fitting. Maddox was my ocean. Lake was my night sky. Briar grounded me to the earth. And now Rowan was a blazing inferno, his flames licking at my skin, begging to seep deeper into me. I wanted them to. Craved the burn.
“What are you doing to me, little treasure?” Rowan slid his hands up my thighs and dropped his forehead to my chest. “You’ve burrowed deep inside me, and I can’t cut you out no matter how hard I try.”
“What if I don’t want you to cut me out?” I cradled his head, certain he could hear the wild beating of my heart.
He stayed against me for several seconds, silent and unmoving, before pulling away and returning to the darkened corner. Without saying a word, he tossed me a final glance and let the shadows swallow him whole.
Sighing, I pulled Mister Hop from the satchel and curled up, closing my eyes. Lake’s scent clung to the fabric of the cloth bunny, and I pushed my face deeper into it.
These damn men would be the death of me.
***
We reached Exalos by midafternoon. The sun shone bright as Callum helped me from the carriage. My butt and legs were sore from the long and bumpy ride, and my cinnamon roll of a knight pressed his lips together as I walked like I had something stuck up my ass.
“Not a word,” I mumbled at him.
He lost composure and let that grin run free.
“Welcome to Exalos,” a girl greeted me with a curtsey. Her strawberry blond hair was pulled back in a low bun, and a pink dress with a flower pattern covered her petite frame. “My name’s Gertrude.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Evan.” I glanced behind her at the two-story building. It sat in the center of the plaza, with a quaint courtyard on one side. The swooping trees, burst of color from flower beds, and stone benches gave it a whimsical look. “Wow.”
