I hopped out of the truck, walked around and opened the passenger door. She struggled some to get out of the seat and had to yank hard to get the train of her dress out of the truck. Again she tottered forward. This time I caught her against my chest.

She peered up at me from beneath heavy black lashes. “I’m a disgrace to the princess uniform. But you are every bit the prince.” She steadied herself and stepped away from me. Total disappointment. She braced one hand against me as she yanked off her plastic slippers.

We walked up the steps to the front door. I faced her, and she closed her eyes for a kiss. There was nothing I wanted more than to kiss her, but this wasn’t the night. I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. She looked up at me with round green eyes. Her luscious mouth turned down in a frown.

I gazed down at her and brushed my thumb across her bottom lip. “I’m dying to kiss you, and I will kiss you  . . . soon, but I want you to remember it. Is it all right if I call you?”

“I think I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.” She walked to the door and pressed the keypad. She glanced back at me over her shoulder and flashed a smile that I’d already memorized. “Later, Charming.” She slipped inside.

I pulled out my phone on the way to the truck and dialed her number.

It took her a few rings to answer. “Hello?”

“Charming here. You should have dinner with me tomorrow night. Ball gown and plastic slippers optional.”

Her laugh was just as cute through the phone.

“Have to check my royal appointment calendar.” She paused. “Is seven o’clock too late? I’ve got stuff to do after work.”

“Stuff?”

“Yep, princess stuff. O.K.. That’s getting old. I can be ready at seven, but if that’s too late—”

“Seven it is. Good night, Kensington.”

“Good night, Cole.”

Chapter 9

Kensington

I looked back at the little girl on the pony. She was grinning so widely, I could see every tooth in her mouth, or at least the ones that the tooth fairy hadn’t run off with. “Ready, Darcy?” I asked.

Most of the time, Darcy was locked up in her own world, but when she climbed up on Archie’s back, the rest of the world opened up to her. I spent three afternoons a week helping my friend, Trish, run a riding program for special needs kids. Trish had taught me to ride horses when I was barely tall enough to reach the stirrups. Darcy and I had bonded only with the magical help of Archie, the Shetland pony.

I started to jog, and Archie picked up a slow trot. Darcy was belted onto the saddle but she had great balance. She clutched the reins and kept a broad smile plastered on her face. Occasionally, she’d let loose with a giggle or happy sigh.

I smiled back at her. “You’re smiling so wide, Darcy. You look just like a grinning Jack-o-Lantern.”

She made a point of widening her smile even more, letting me know she liked the comparison. According to her mom, eight-year-old Darcy could put together a five hundred piece jigsaw puzzle in an hour. And that was just one of her amazing talents.

I slowed the pony to a walk and led him around the pen two more times. Darcy’s mom was looking at her watch, which meant it was time to end the ride. After this, Darcy would be whisked away to her violin lesson. She had trouble communicating and forming relationships with people, but when tucked back into her own quiet world, Darcy could do just about anything and do it better than most adults.

Darcy was very insistent about climbing off the pony by herself. I held Archie steady, and she swung her little leg over and slid down to the ground. We walked Archie back to the barn. Darcy lifted her arms, which meant I could give her a hug. Some days she wasn’t in the mood, but this afternoon she’d been in a particularly friendly mood. We hugged and she let me hold her for longer than usual. Then, without another word, she followed her continually rushing mom to their car.

Trish came out of the empty horse stall she’d converted into an office. “You mentioned you had a date tonight. Is it Nate?”

Her reminder brought back the slight case of nerves I’d been feeling off and on all day. “It’s not Nate. His name is Cole.”

Trish grabbed a brush for Archie’s tail. “Tell me. Give this old married woman a little something to fantasize about. Is he handsome?”

“He’s definitely easy on the eyes. Probably a little rowdy and tattooed for my dad’s liking, but that’s all right. It’ll probably never get to the parent introduction stage. Oh, and this part will probably cause you to go all groupie crazy, since I know you love Black Thunder.”

Trish looked around Archie’s butt at me. “What do you mean? Are you going to one of their concerts?” She put her hands on her hips. “How did I not hear about them having a concert? I thought they were semi-retired.”

“Whoa there, relax lady, I was just going to mention that Cole, the guy I’m going out with, is Nicky King’s son.”

Trish’s mouth dropped open. “Get. Out. Of. Here.”

“That’s why I’m not counting on this as being anything more than a flashing flirt. He’s really charming and hot and funny. But I highly doubt he ever dates any girl longer than his attention span will allow.” I lifted Archie’s foot and cleaned his hoof. “Anyhow, it’s just one date.” I lowered the pony’s foot to the ground. “So, don’t bother asking for backstage passes. Didn’t you tell me you and your friends once got caught trying to break into the band’s dressing rooms?”

“Ah yes, those were the days.” Trish dragged the brush through the pony’s tail. “The security guard carted us out on his golf cart. I was on the backseat, and when he came to a stop, I jumped off and ran out to the stadium to watch the show.”

“You hardcore rowdy. If I ever go to jail, I sure hope you’re my cellmate.”

I finished up with Archie and Trish returned to the office. She popped her head out before I left. “Have fun tonight, and I’ll want all the details.”

My phone buzzed as I headed to the car. It was a text from Nate. He’d left the party early and I’d stayed behind, but it hadn’t stopped him from texting twice to ask what I was doing tonight. “Want to go to a movie?”

I decided to be blunt. “I’ve got a date.”

His text came back as I climbed into the driver’s seat. “Are you still mad at me, baby?”

I shook my head with a laugh as I texted back. “How does my date have anything to do with you? I’m not mad.” I nearly finished it with the part about not caring enough about him to be mad, but I held back.

The phone rang and I sighed in frustration. But as I glanced at the screen, I saw it was Cole. I felt a flash of disappointment thinking he was calling to cancel. There was a lot of clamor in the background, voices, hammering, truck engines. “Hey, sorry about the noise. I’m on the construction site,” Cole spoke loudly into the phone. “Just checking that we’re still on for tonight. I sort of took advantage of your state of tequila-ness to ask you out. So I thought I’d make sure.”

I caught a glimpse of myself in the rearview and realized I was smiling. I’d been doing that a lot since I’d met the man. “I’m not sure if there is such thing as a state of tequila-ness, but I was definitely drunk. I’m still planning on it. Unless you need to cancel.”

“Nope, I will see you at seven. Oh, and Kensington, I’m looking really forward to it.”

“Yeah, me too. See you soon.” I hung up, and there it was, the smile, still stuck on my face, just like Darcy’ permanent grin when she was in the saddle. Now my only real worry was setting myself up for disappointment because while the rest of my life always ran pretty darn smoothly, the romance end of it was always like opening up a beautifully wrapped gift and finding a new pair of socks. The only good thing was that I was growing used to finding the socks.