Page 99

And second, Cas is going to lose his damn mind when he sees me.

Not that he knows how much all his string-pulling has paid off yet. I shooed him out of the bedroom while I got dressed, some stupid, sentimental part of me committed to the idea of not letting him see until everything was perfect.

And now—knowing I look about as perfect as I’m ever going to—I leave the bedroom with breathless, anticipatory energypulsing along every nerve-ending, radiating through my whole body.

Again, I don’t know why.

This isn’t a date and the two of us aren’t… anything. There’s no reason I should be walking so slowly down the second-floor hallway, pausing just out of sight of the top of the stairs, listening to the soft cadence of Cas’s voice as he speaks on the phone where he’s waiting in the foyer.

With all of that in mind, I need to snap the fuck out of it. I give my head a shake and step forward to the top of the stairs.

Cas has his back to me but, like he can sense my presence, he turns immediately. He murmurs some last comment into the phone before hanging up and tucking it into the inner chest pocket of his jacket. As he does, his hand lingers there, pressed lightly to his heart.

He doesn’t take his eyes off me for a moment as I start down the stairs.

And… god.God.

I really shouldn’t be enjoying this so much.

I shouldn’t be enjoying the way his eyes go wide as they take me in. It shouldn’t send a pulse of wicked satisfaction all the way to the tips of my toes as I stop on the last step and hold out my hand to him.

“Have I told you that you’re exquisite?” he asks before taking my hand in his and pressing a kiss to the backs of my fingers.

“You might have mentioned it a time or two.” My voice comes out a little breathless, and my stomach flutters with fizzy, buoyant happiness as he helps me down to the foyer floor and spins me in a slow circle.

The dress I’m wearing is black and daring. It drapes open to the small of my back, and the neckline dips deep down my sternum. The straps holding it up are delicate, and the slit that runs to the center of my thigh almost gives the illusion that thedress bares more than it covers. It’s not exactly practical for this time of year, but I know Cas will offer me his jacket later tonight if I’m too cold.

The cut of the dress and the way I had my hair styled also have one more very deliberate effect.

And Cas takes note of it immediately.

His gaze fixes on the vivid scarlet mark at the side of my throat that’s on proud, shameless display tonight. The instant he sees it, his crimson eyes darken with hunger, though he manages to keep himself in check as he meets my eye with a warm, approving glint in his.

“Shall we?” he asks, nodding toward the door.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

“And ruin the surprise?” His lips turn up in a devastatingly handsome smirk, and I am so, so screwed.

My heart and stomach and entire freaking body do that strange swooping thing again, and a single thought flashes through my mind—all-encompassing and absolute.

I’ve fallen for Cas.

Whether my brain wants to use theLword or not, I’m self-aware enough to know I’m completely and utterly fucked.

I’ve fallen for his natural charm and easy humor, with the way he insists on taking care of me and the glimpses he’s given me of the soft, tender core of his being, a core I’d be willing to bet everything I have he doesn’t let many others see.

I’m head over heels for Casimir, and I have no idea if he feels anywhere near the same, or if all of this is as doomed as it was seven years ago.

But tonight’s not the night to ask the question that needs asking.

Tonight is enchanted; I can feel it in the air. Between the way he’s still looking at me and the sparkling promise of the evening ahead, magick or alchemy or whatever the hell else it might bepulses shimmering and incandescent between us. I’m not going to ruin it by asking a question whose answer I might not like.

No, I’m going to live in this one enchanted moment as long as I can.

“Alright,” I say, letting Cas lead me toward the door. “But whatever it is, it better be good.”

“I promise it will be.”