Where the Sun Hides (Seasons of Betrayal #1)(42)

Violet pretended like he hadn’t said that. “Stop deflecting. Why won’t you tell me what it means?”

“It’s not that I won’t. It means you’re a beauty, or beautiful. Take it either way, depending on how it’s used and said.”

Oh.

Violet hadn’t thought it would mean that. “And the other thing?”

Kaz eyed her from the side. “I didn’t—”

“You did. Before you put your hands around my throat.”

His lip curled up at the side as he said, “Can I just apologize for that one without an explanation?”

“Not now.”

Kaz sighed heavily. “Bitch.”

Violet tried not to glare—she really did.

And failed.

“I’m sorry,” Kaz said quickly.

Violet wasn’t sure it helped. “So basically you called me a spoiled, rich bitch.”

“And now I’m taking you out to eat. Do you see how these things work out?”

“You called me a bitch and then you kissed me,” she muttered.

“You’re not making this easy right now,” he replied.

“No one ever said I was easy, Kaz.”

Kaz laughed, deep and heady. “Fair enough. I am sorry.”

“I’m not sure that’s enough …”

“What do you want, then?” he asked, resting his elbows on the table as he leaned toward her. “What can I do to make it up to you?”

She matched his posture. “What are you offering?”

Kaz smiled and the sight of it, so brilliant and open, made her return it. “Ah, there’s the Gallucci in you.”

Usually there was some derision to his tone whenever he made reference to her family’s name, but this time, it sounded almost complimentary.

Violet tapped her chin with a nail, pretending to think over her answer though there was really only one thing she wanted. “How about another kiss, but without the bitch this time?”

A surprise burst of laughter left him, but it was over in a second as his face turned serious. Curling a hand around the side of her face, he pulled her closer, his face just a breath away. She waited, more than a little ready for what he would do next, but he didn’t come any closer.

Then, he whispered, “Take what you want.”

A flood of heat swept through her at his words, but she didn’t waste a second thinking on his words—she just did exactly what he said.

This time, it was her kissing him, pressing closer, wanting to eliminate all the space between them. Despite how hard the rest of him was, his lips were soft, but unyielding. For a time, she was the one in charge, taking what she wanted, but very soon, he was taking over, tilting her head to the side as he deepened the kiss, putting her exactly as he wanted her.

His other arm slipped around her waist, drifting beneath the edge of her shirt, the heat of his palm almost shocking. In one firm pull, he had her closer as their lips found a familiar rhythm that shouldn’t have been familiar at all. His fingers pressed into her skin, teasing and promising at the same time. She hummed a contented sound against his mouth.

Kaz smirked, pulling away slightly. “Was that what you were looking for?”

“Better without the bitch.”

He lifted a brow. “Why do I hear a but in there?”

Violet shrugged. “But your hands. On my throat. I liked your hands the last time, too.”

Kaz’s grin spread a little wider, and he shook his head. “Killing me here.”

She wasn’t trying to.

His tone had deepened with a huskiness that made her mouth dry. She was not alone in this strange attraction. Not in the least.

Violet needed a second to breathe, never mind the ache between her thighs. “How did the birthday party go?”

“That’s what you want to talk about right now?”

“Distance?”

He seemed to get what she said, and what she didn’t. “My sisters loved the clothes. Thank you for that, again.”

“Sixteen-year-olds are not so hard to figure out.”

“These ones can be,” he said, laughing.

Violet cleared her throat, still hyperaware of his hand on her back and how close he was to her. “All right. Enough.”

Kaz’s brow dropped in his confusion. “Enough of what?”

“Distance.”

She leaned forward, and kissed him again.





Kaz liked bending rules, but never outright breaking them—he thrilled in it—but as he exited the diner with Violet on his arm with every intention of taking her back to his place, there was no doubt that he wasn’t bending a rule, but obliterating the f*cking thing.

But he didn’t care. It was the last thing on his mind as he opened the passenger door and helped her into his truck. He was, however, wondering how they had got to this point, or rather how he had gotten here.

When he had set out for her place, ready to do murder, he hadn’t for a second thought they would end up here.

Nor had he imagined that he would have kissed her. Not once, not even twice, but a number of times that had all blended into one.

There was just something about her … something he hadn’t expected from a girl like her. Kaz had had his fair share of spoiled, rich girls, and had grown bored with them fairly quickly after only a couple of weeks. They were all the same: immature, weak, and only valuing what a person would buy or give them.