Page 146 of By His Vow

She raises a brow, but the soft smile playing on her lips lets me know that I’ve got her.

“Be a good girl, Tate,” I say, remembering how her entire expression softened when I used her nickname earlier. “And I might make it worth your while.”

I move toward the door before she gets a chance to respond.

“You’ve said that before, and I don’t remember it being anywhere near worth it.”

“Well, maybe tonight will be your lucky night.” And mine.

I close the door softly behind me before getting dressed and leaving my outfit of choice for her laid out on the bed as promised.

Honestly, I’m not expecting to see her wearing it when she walks out of the bedroom in the near future. It’s why I place two other options in the closet and then take her suitcase with me into the living area to ensure the only way she can truly defy me is to come out naked—and I can say for sure that I would not be complaining about that.

I might have been the one to plan this night, but even still, I’m surprised by it when I emerge from the bedroom and look around.

I shake my head in disbelief. How did my life go from a new woman every night of the week to having only one in my head, only one that my body is interested in?

Okay, yeah, part of tonight is about getting her into bed, but I don’t need to be going to these levels. She’s offered herself up to me more than once now. I’m the one that’s holding back.

I’ve no idea when hell froze over, but apparently, it has, because I’m standing here surrounded by more romance than I knew existed just because I want to make her smile. Because I want her to look at me and see more than her brother’s annoying friend, the man she has to marry.

I want her to see me for me. Not KC, the player. Not Mr, Callahan, the businessman. I want her to see Kingston, the man who can’t stop thinking about her, the man who wants to make this year we have together as enjoyable and as easy as possible.

Hell, who am I kidding? I want her to see that and so much more. Just like I do when I look at her.

“Are you happy, sir?” the young woman who has assisted me with this asks.

“Yeah, it looks incredible,” I say.

“The food is in the oven. It’ll be ready in about forty minutes.”

“Thank you.”

“I hope you have a wonderful night.”

She fusses with a few final things before she bids me farewell and disappears.

Nerves flutter in my stomach as I look around the room and then focus on the bedroom door.

Tatum is…bewildering. Sometimes I can predict exactly how she’ll react to things; other times, I get it very, very wrong. Last night was a case in point.

I never in a million years would have thought she’d run because I didn’t propose and she didn’t know how to feel about it.

I also didn’t expect her to fall into my arms and shatter while allowing me to hold her together.

After a few minutes, there is noise on the other side of the cabin, letting me know that Tatum is out of the bath.

It only makes the flutters in my stomach worse.

I’ve never doubted myself and my decisions before, but there is something about Tatum that makes me feel like a teenage boy who has no idea how to talk to a girl again.

I waste the next forty minutes pacing back and forth through the cabin as our dinner bakes in the oven. It smells incredible, and my stomach growls loudly every few minutes.

I stare at the clock on the wall, watching every minute pass slowly and painfully.

She’s going to torture me by making me wait again, I’ve no doubt.

Fuck. This was a stupid idea.