His Reverie (Reverie #1)(25)

She slowly shakes her head, a little smile curling her dark pink lips. Damn, just seeing that smile sends a surge of want through me. The urge to grab her and give her a real kiss threatens to take over me. “I was coming out here to do exactly what you’re doing.”

“Clean the stables?”

Her smile grows. “Groom the horses.”

“Ah.” Heaven forbid Princess Reverie gets her hands dirty. That was kind of a crappy thought but there it is. She is a princess. And I’m the lowly grunt who works for her daddy the king. “Well, I beat you to it.”

“Yeah, you did. Looks like they like you too.”

More than you like me, I want to say to her but don’t. Instead I don’t answer her at all and start putting everything away instead. The brush I used, the broom and the shovel and the buckets and all the miscellaneous cleaning supplies. I keep myself busy, not wanting to look at her, talk to her, get distracted by her. Don’t want to get my hopes up either because that’s the biggest waste of my time ever. I’m done chasing after Reverie.

Maybe Krista’s right after all. Maybe no one else really does get me but her. Maybe Krista’s all I deserve.

“Are you mad at me?” Reverie asks after almost five minutes of stone cold silence on my end.

I pause and hitch up my damn shorts again, noticing how her gaze drops to my hips then jerks back up to my face. I refuse to read anything into that. She’s not checking out my underwear or my naked chest or any of that. More like she’s scandalized that I’m wearing hardly any clothes. I’m probably freaking her out completely. “Why would I be mad at you?” My voice comes out colder than I mean it to and I clear my throat, feeling like a jerk.

She clasps her hands together in front of her and sways to and fro like a little girl caught doing something bad and trying to sweet talk her way out of it. “I ran away from you the other night.”

My heart leaps to my throat. Well, look at her just coming right out with it. I’m shocked. “Yeah, you did.” I decide to be just as straightforward as she is. “I get why though.”

She blinks. “You do?”

“Sure.” I shrug but don’t say anything else. What could I say? Sorry for pushing myself on you and giving you a two second kiss? That just sounds…ridiculous.

Reverie starts walking toward me, making me nervous. This girl gets too close to me and I don’t know what I might do. “I don’t know why I did it,” she blurts, then presses her lips together.

“Did what?” I frown and back away a step, wishing I had a towel or something to wipe away the sweat on my forehead. I must smell ripe. And I’m all dirty and shirtless and if anyone walked in on us right now, my job would be toast.

“Why I ran away.” Another step toward me, close enough that I can smell her now. Sweet and innocent and so damn seductive I wish I could bury my nose in her hair or her neck and discover exactly where that delicious smell is coming from. “It was dumb.”

“Dumb?” I’m not quite sure what we’re talking about. I’ve lost track. Just having her come closer and closer is sending me into the land of stupid. Zapping brain cells left and right with her pretty looks and determined glare.

“I shouldn’t have run from you,” she admits softly as she bends her head, her hair falling forward to conceal her. Like she doesn’t want to face me.

“Hey, if I did something I shouldn’t have done, I get it,” I say, trying to play this off. “Because that kiss…it wasn’t a big deal you know? It lasted what? Two seconds?”

Reverie lifts her head, her eyes clashing with mine. “No big deal?”

I shrug, nervousness filling me, making my stomach cramp. She looks mad again. “It was just a little kiss,” I offer weakly.

“Just a little kiss.” She makes a face. “Why’d you do it then?”

“Why did I kiss you?”

“Yes, why?” She points a finger at me. “And don’t you dare say it’s because you felt sorry for me. That would be the absolute worst thing ever for you to say.”

“That wasn’t the reason,” I say, my voice low. One of the horses gently neighs as if encouraging me to go on. “That wasn’t the reason at all.”

“Then why?”

I rest my hand on my hips, hating that we’re having this serious conversation in the middle of the stables, me wearing hardly anything and stinking to high heaven and her perfectly dressed, perfectly beautiful, just flat out…perfect. “You said you thought I liked you.”

Her cheeks color the faintest pink and she nods. Doesn’t say a word.

“You also said that you liked me,” I add.

Now her cheeks blaze red. She nibbles her lower lip but still doesn’t say anything.

“And you seemed sort of worked up over it.” When she parts her lips to surely offer a protest I cut her off. “So I wanted to show you that I…felt the same way.”

She clamps her lips shut. Then parts them again, her tongue darting out for a quick lick.

She is straight up killing me and doesn’t have a clue.

“You feel the same way?” Her voice is the barest of whispers. “I-I don’t believe you.”

“Hey, you’re the one who ran,” I point out. “Not me.”