Immediately after school, I plotted and planned for the night. Once I had everything in place, I made my way over to her. There was a slim chance she would give me the time of day willingly, but I was prepared for that, too.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as soon as she opened the door with a bored expression. “I told you I didn’t want to see you.” I fought the smile that tugged at my lips. The rapidly beating pulse in her neck and the way she squeezed her thighs together told me she was feeling anything but indifferent to my presence.

“I’m here for the scenery,” I said, letting my eyes trail up and down her form. She wore those tiny pink shorts of hers with the stupid fucking teddy bears. I hated them because they made her long legs look so damn hot and those dancing teddy bears were mocking me. They got to be where I wanted to be… wrapped around her legs and digging deep.

“Why are you wearing a tie?”

The tie was Dash’s idea, and I took his word for it being the charmer he is.

“Shut up. You coming with me or not?” Why the fuck are you asking her? My demon on my shoulder snapped and hissed at me. I was tempted to drag her out of her house and lock her away where no one would ever find us like the caveman she always accused me of being.

“Not.” She moved to close the door, but I quickly kicked my foot out to stop it from shutting. “Move it or lose it,” she growled.

So cute. Her growl was nothing compared to my roar, and she knew it, but I couldn’t blame her for trying.

“Stop your shit, and go throw on a dress or whatever will give me easy access, and get your ass out here.”

I bit the inside of my cheek when she unexpectedly stomped her foot down on mine and then kicked me in the shin. “Fuck!” I jumped back and tried my best not to cry like a bitch. “Monroe—” I started forward to grab her but was cut off by the hard barrier placed in front of me.

Did she just slam the door in my face?

Game on.

I typed out a quick text and made myself comfortable against the railing on her front porch. I didn’t have to wait long. She flew out the same door she had slammed in my face moments ago and charged straight into my space.

Her chest heaved with her labored breaths as she murdered me with her eyes. “Where do you get off, Masters?” she growled.

Masters? Cute. So she wanted to be tough? I pushed my chest into hers and moved her back the few paces I needed to have her pinned against the door. “I haven’t but I plan to.”

“You come off any more like a pig and you might start to smell like one. Go—” My hand was around her throat before she could finish her statement. I quickly bit her lip, not caring about how rough I treated her. “Keiran…”

Her words trailed off when I tipped her head back to expose her neck to me. I spread hard nips all over her neck, being sure to leave a mark. “Keiran, stop,” she moaned and pulled me closer.

“No,” I growled against her neck. “I fucking missed you. I missed this. I missed tasting you.”

“Why are you doing this to me?” she whined with lust in her voice.

“Open the door, baby. Let me in, or I swear I’m going to fuck you hard right here for all the neighbors to see.”

“Oh, God.” The door opened quickly, and I had to anchor her to me to keep us from falling inside. I stole her lips in a kiss finally while I backed her through the door. I kicked the door shut and picked her up, carrying her through the hall and into the living room where I set her on her feet. It was as far as I needed to go for what I needed to do. “I’m not supposed to be doing this. I’m not supposed to give in to you.”

“You already have. Many times. What’s one more?”

“My life,” she whispered desperately while looking up at me.

“Not this time.” I sealed my vow with a kiss that threatened to steal my soul and hers. Fuck. What was she doing to me? I wasn’t supposed to care about hearts and minds and vows—much less admit I had either.

“Why are you here, Keiran? Seriously.” She pulled away from me to hug herself around her waist and fuck if I didn’t feel jealous of her arms.

“It’s Valentine’s day.”

“And? You don’t care about that stuff. You have no reason to.”

“But something tells me you do and every reason I have is standing right in front of me.”

“So what? This is supposed to be your grand gesture?”

“If dinner and a fucking movie are what you call a grand gesture, then I guess so,” I snapped. The more time she spent staring at me with a hard, distant look in her eyes, the more my confidence began to fade. The thought of her rejecting me irritated me—not that I could blame her if she did. This tug of war game between her and I had gone on for far too long.

“If this is your way of getting me into bed again, let me just warn you that you aren’t heading in the right direction.”

“Fuck.” I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. “I’m not used to this. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”

She walked up to me, wrapped her arms around my neck, and whispered, “You can start my asking me to dinner properly.”

“Properly, huh? How would I do that?”

“You could say… ‘Lake will you go out with me?’”

“But I already know you will.”

Her arms left my neck before she turned around and headed for the stairs. “I’ll see you around. You can let yourself out.”

I felt the move before I could rethink and swept her up in my arms. “Don’t test my fucking patience.”

I bound up the stairs and headed straight for her bedroom where I dumped her on her bed.

I dropped my bag and quickly pulled out a long box. Her expression was fierce but still so damn cute as she shot daggers at me. I actually felt nervous when I extended it to her. She looked from it to me, but still didn’t move to take it.

“Don’t be a pain in my ass. Take the box. There is nothing in there that can hurt you.”

“Are you asking me to trust you?”

I realized I had no right to ask it of her, but I didn’t realize until recently just how much I needed it. “Yes.”

Her eyes watched mine for signs of insincerity while I held her gaze openly. I saw the decision in her eyes a split second before she slowly took the box from my grasp. Her fingers peeled back the box while I watched on silently. The paper was discarded, and when she saw what was inside, she stilled.

“Shoes? You got me shoes?” I hid the smile that tugged at my lips from the sound of disbelief and the look of disappointment. I had no clue what she would have hoped was inside, but I did know one thing now… she wanted more.

“Do you like them?”

“Yes. They are beautiful, but why all the fussing and threatening for shoes?”  The suede heels were nude in color with a white heel that was just the right height. The top of the shoes fastened into perfect bows.

“I want you to wear them for me on our date tonight.”

“Back to that, are we?”

I took a deep breath and released it. “One way or another you are going on this date with me, so tell me what I need to do to make it okay with you?”

Her annoyed expression transformed into interest as she seemed to mull it over. When a sly grin appeared, I felt the stirrings of dread. I always seemed to forget this wasn’t the same girl I tortured mercilessly in the hallways of our school.

“Is this my glass slipper?”

“If I say yes, will you go out with me?”

“You could ask me—”

“I did—”

“On your knees.”

The gleam in her eye told me she found it funny, but I knew she was serious. She wanted me to beg.

Like hell I would beg.

But I knew another way to make her agree.

I sunk to my knees without argument while holding her gaze. She wore a satisfied smirk that quickly disappeared when I gripped her around her hips and yanked her forward.

For once, she didn’t talk. Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip as she stared down at me. Desire mingled with nervousness in her eyes, and I could tell she wanted what was about to happen. It’s been way too fucking long.