So of course I walked my ass right to her house.

Kat glanced up when I reached the steps to the porch, her gaze widening when she spotted me.

“Hey,” I said, sliding my phone in my pocket.

She didn’t immediately respond. Oh no, she was too busy checking me out, which pleased me to hell. Her gaze dropped, wandering over my bare chest and stomach. Her throat worked as she looked away, cheeks turning pink, and she tilted her head to the side and gave a little shake. “Hey.”

Leaning against the railing, I folded my arms. “You reading?”

Her hands tightened around the edges of the book. “You running?”

“Was,” I corrected.

“Funny,” she said, pulling the book to her chest. The cast on her arm stood out starkly. “I was reading.”

“Seems like you’re always reading.”

Her nose wrinkled. Cute. “How would you know?”

I lifted a shoulder. “I’m surprised Dee isn’t with you.”

“She’s with her…her boyfriend.” The corners of her lips slipped down. “You know, I had no idea she had a boyfriend until today. She never mentioned him before.”

That made me laugh. “That will do wonders for Adam’s self-esteem.”

“Right?” Her grin was a flash and it was fleeting. “It’s weird.”

“What is?”

She cuddled the book closer, like it was a security blanket. “I’ve spent all this time with Dee and I had no idea she was seeing someone. She never mentioned it. It’s just weird.”

“Then maybe you’re not as good of friends as you think.”

Her eyes narrowed as she cut me a look. “Wow. That was nice of you to say.”

I shrugged again. “Just pointing out the obvious.”

“How about you go point out the obvious elsewhere,” she snapped, lowering her book. “I’m busy.”

A grin appeared on my lips. The claws were out. “Reading does not equate to being busy, Kitten.”

The bow-shaped lips parted. “You did not just say that.”

My grin spread.

“That is… It’s sacrilegious.”

I chuckled as I unfolded my arms. “I don’t think that’s what that word means.”

“It is to book lovers all around the world!” Kat narrowed her eyes. “You don’t understand.”

“Nope.” I lifted myself up and sat on the railing.

She sighed. “And you are also not going anywhere.”

“Nope.”

Looking down at her book, she slowly pulled a bookmark out of the front and marked the page she’d been reading. Kat closed the book and lowered it to her lap. She stared at it like it would somehow make me disappear. Not likely.

“So…” I drew the word out, turning my head to hide my grin when she sighed loudly. “How’s your blog going? Still talking about cats or something?”

“Cats? I don’t talk about cats. I talk about books.”

I totally knew that. “Huh. I thought you spent all that time on the Internet talking about cats.”

“Whatever.”

“It makes sense.” I looked at her then.

Her gray eyes sparked. “I cannot wait to hear this explanation. And if you can’t tell, that was sarcasm.”

“I thought it sounded like excitement, but anyway, spending all day on the Internet talking about cats is kind of like preparing to become the crazy cat lady when you’re older.”

The skin around her mouth tightened. “I would throw this book at you, but I respect the book too much to do that.”

Tipping my head back, I laughed.

“Only you would find that funny.”

“It is funny.” Lowering my chin, I saw her fighting a grin. Our gazes collided and held. Silence stretched out between us, thickening the already sultry air.

“So.” She drew the word out this time, and I raised my brows as she looked away. “That girl who was at the diner. Ash? She was really…lovely.”

“Uh-huh.” Another feminine minefield. These girls were crafty as hell.

She pushed the swing with her toes. “You two are seeing each other?”

“We used to date.” I tilted my head, curious by the direction of the conversation. “And I’m sure Dee pointed out the fact that we used to date. She would’ve been all about clarifying that.”

Her cheeks darkened in color, and I knew I had been right. “Ash didn’t act like things were in the past.”

“That’s on her.”

Kat eyed me. “And that’s all you have to say?”

“Yeah.” I lifted a brow. “Why would I have to say anything else? Especially to you.” I was teasing her, but I was so bad at it, so out of practice, it totally came out dickish. I knew it, but this conversation was quickly turning into a train wreck I was powerless to stop watching.

Her shoulders stiffened and her expression turned impassive. “Why are you over here, Daemon?”

Damn. That was a good question. And one I’d been asking myself over and over since she first moved in.

She continued, her gray eyes cold. “Because if you’ve come over just to be ignorant, you can turn back around.”

I felt myself smile, and I was sure that confirmed just how twisted I was. “But I don’t want to turn back around.”

“Too bad,” she replied, sliding off the swing. “You know what, you can just sit out here and be a jackass with no audience. How about that?”

Kat started past me, and I pushed off the railing and was in front of her before she could even take a breath. Damn, I hadn’t meant to move so quickly. She jerked back, pressing the book to her chest. “Holy crap, how do you move so fast?”

“I don’t move that fast.” I looked down at her. She barely reached my chest, but her personality, her attitude, was so much taller. That piece of hair was loose again, brushing her cheek. “Are you still nervous about school?”

Her brows furrowed. “What?”

I decided to ask the question slowly. “Are. You. Still—”

“No. I heard you.” She shifted her weight to her other foot. “But why…why do you care? Why would you—?”

That piece of hair was getting to me, so I reached up and caught it between my fingers. The texture was soft as silk. Her breath caught, and my gaze flicked to Kat’s. Up close, those eyes were really amazing, a startling shade of gray, and the pupils were black and large. Carefully, so I didn’t brush the skin of her cheek, I tucked the piece of hair back behind her ear. The swelling in her eye really had gone down, and the skin had mostly healed from the night she’d been attacked, but the patch was pinker than the rest, as if her arm wasn’t enough of a reminder.

In a second, I saw her once more, lying on the road, not moving and absolutely helpless. My chest tightened painfully. I pushed the image aside, wondering when I would stop seeing it.

Kat appeared to be holding her breath. Her question cycled around my thoughts. Why do you care? I shouldn’t. I didn’t.

“Daemon?” she whispered.

The sound of my name, spoken without rancor, was a rarity, and it had an electrifying effect. Those pretty pink lips spoke my name perfectly. I wanted to know what my name tasted like on her lips and tongue. Had I thought about kissing her before? I must’ve, because the sudden need, the almost overwhelming desire to claim her mouth didn’t surprise me.

Would she let me kiss her?

Probably not.

Should I kiss her?

Probably not.

If I went ahead and did it, would it blow up in my face?

Yep.

I dropped my hand and took a step back. When I dragged in the next breath I really didn’t need, the scent of peaches and…and vanilla surrounded me.

I didn’t say anything as I turned around and walked off the porch. And Kat didn’t stop me. I didn’t look back, but I also didn’t hear a door close. I knew she was standing there, watching me.

And I also knew that there was a part of me that cared.

Later that night, long after Dee was home and asleep, I sat in bed with my laptop open. My finger drifted along the touch pad as I scrolled through the blog.

Katy’s Krazy Book Obsession.

I laughed under my breath.

Good name.

This wasn’t the first time I’d checked it out. The night Dee had returned from the colony, I’d been taking a look at it. Since then, Kat had added ten more reviews. How in the world had she read that many books in that short period of time? Plus she did these other things. Something called Teaser Tuesdays, which were really just a few lines from some book she was reading. There was In My Mailbox, where she filmed herself talking about the books she had either bought, borrowed, or received from a publisher.