“Your Highness, respectfully, I officially hate you.”
I smile like the devil. “You don’t. You just want to.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” she grumbles under her breath as we trickle up and up, the festival growing smaller and smaller beneath us. “I suppose if you have your princesses on here, I have nothing to be concerned about.”
The wind whips her long bangs and heavy blonde hair backfrom her face, and I get a perfect shot of her profile. She’s easily the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. It sucks to finally admit that to myself, but there it is. She’s fucking stunning and sweet-looking, even if she’s not sweet at all. A total knockout. A heartbreaker.
There’s a snarky side to her that she covers with manners and formality, and it’s annoyingly intriguing. It’s also fun to try to get her to bite instead of curtsy, but right now, she has an unexpected vulnerability that’s not only surprising but oddly irresistible.
“You have nothing to be concerned about. Rides are fun.”
“If you say so. I think it’s the harness. I don’t like being locked in.”
This is the most relaxed and conversational she’s ever been with me.
Maybe I’ve been too hard on her. Maybe I’ve been combining everything Ella with her because they physically have some similarities. Maybe I should trust her the way everyone else seems to.
“Are you ready?” I ask, still watching her instead of the track.
Her eyes close. “I can’t believe I’m afraid. Like it’s actually comical given my life and all I’ve endured. I feel like such a wimp, but holy crap, my heart is going to beat itself out of my chest.”
“Hey!” I remove my hand from the handlebars by my head and cover hers that’s locked in a vise grip around the metal. “It’s fun. I promise. Have fun.”
“Fun.” She tests the word. “There’s a new one for me.”
“Good, because here we go!”
The car goes over the arch, and we race down at top speed, chasing a fierce angle that makes everyone on the ride scream at the top of their lungs, including Marcella. In a flash, we’re heading straight up into the first loop, and sheshifts to grip my hand, holding onto me and the bar for dear life.
“Oh my god!” she screams, but now she’s smiling and laughing, and her eyes are wide with wonder.
It’s a ride. A roller coaster. Nothing major.
But she’s holding my hand and smiling at me, and I saw the look in Bellamy’s eyes. Bellamy likes her. Then again, she liked Charlotte. We all did.
The ride continues until it comes to a fast and sharp end, and she blows out a giant breath. The restraints lift, and I stand, helping her out. Her hand slips from mine almost instantly, and it has me turning back to her.
“Wow. That was something.”
“Fun?” I question.
She tosses me a smile that immediately has me wanting to do that again and again just to get this same smile on her lips.
“Amazing!”
“Yeah.” I take her jaw in my hand, mentally giving myself aWTF, but not stopping either. Her eyes round and her lips part, and I don’t know what I’m doing, but my head is angling toward hers, and I’m staring at her lips like I want to kiss her.
Because I do.
I want to kiss her so fucking badly.
“Marcella!” the girls scream, jarring me away from her. And thank god for that.
That was almost a seriously stupid mistake.
They’re all over her, asking if she loved it and telling her all about the other rides. They make her promise to go on it again after they eat, and we do. This time, she rides with Sabrina, the two of them fast and easy friends, sharing secrets and giggles. But I haven’t been able to take my eyes off her. Or stop watching her. She’s a magnet I’m helpless to resist.
I can’t even explain it. There’s nothing about her that should be this compelling to me. I almost kissed her. I smelledher. I dragged my lips along her cheek. What the fuck is all that?
