Chapter 18
Eighteen
Kaden
I pulled into Val’s driveway, shut off my truck, and sat there for a moment. Why am I so nervous?
Val was unlike any other woman I have ever met. I want to protect her while preying on her. I want to love her while hurting her in ways that would send her into a euphoric bliss. Most importantly, I hope to be able to one day love her in ways she’s never been loved.
Love. It’s too soon. Slow down, Kaden. But I couldn’t help myself. With Isabella I didn’t care about planning a future beyond what I wanted. I wish I would have put two and two together before. But Val… she made me excited about the possibilities and what-ifs. I just hoped our date went well.
I need to shift my focus to the here and now.
As I got out of my car and walked up to her front door.
I could see her rushing around the house through the pane of glass aligning the doorway.
She really needed to hang curtains or get some of the paper to make it look like you have stained glass or frosted windows to put up for a bit of privacy.
The last thing she needed was to have some creep peeping in on her.
Which is exactly what I’m doing. Crap. I cleared my throat and knocked on her door.
“Oh shoot!” I heard Val call out from the other side of the threshold. “I’m coming, sorry!”
I laughed as I listened to her scrambling around inside. “It’s okay,” I said. hoping it was loud enough for her to hear.
The door creaked open. “I’m sorry, where are my manners?” Val’s smile was innocent. “Would you like to come inside?”
“Sure.” I stepped in and looked around. She was a simple woman. Her house didn’t have furniture from one end to another. An aroma of cinnamon rolls waltzed through the air and tickled my senses. “It smells good, were you baking?”
Val cackled, and it was the cutest thing ever. “No, I don’t really bake.” She paused, like she was worried her confession would turn me away from her. “It is a new candle, though. It smells exactly like the real thing.”
“Yes it does.” She escorted me over to the couch, instructing me to sit while she finished getting ready. Then she took off to what I could only assume was her room.
A few minutes passed and I could hear Val struggling and stumbling around. “Is everything okay in there?” I inquired, and waited for her response.
“It’s just these stupid shoes,” she huffed as she stepped out of her room in a gorgeous black dress.It was above her knees with a small slit at the thigh and a plunging neckline, deep enough I could see the tattoo she had going just under her breast.
I stood there in awe. “Wow. Val, you look beautiful.”
Her cheeks flushed a deep shade of crimson as she looked at the floor and dropped her shoes and stepped into them. “I love these heels so much but I can never get them buckled easily.
Instinctively, I patted my hand against my knee and she slowly walked over and raised her leg, placing her foot on my lap so I could take care of the clasp.
As I buckled her shoe, our eyes met briefly.
She was looking at me with adoration and it gave me chills.
If she kept it up, we were both going to be in trouble.