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Her fingers ran over the loose change in her pocket. She tossed the change on the counter and let the music guide her to the floor.

“Join us!” one of the women shouted, pulling Kallie into their circle.

A timid smile crept onto her face as she twirled, swayed, and spun with them, her movements loose from the wine.

This,thiswas what she needed. Music to drown her thoughts and alcohol to sweep her inhibitions away. Laughter filled the room, and Kallie almost jumped at the sound that came from her lips. She couldn’t recall the last time she had laughed, and the noise sounded foreign on her tongue. It filled her with a sort of bliss she never wanted to forget. A moment when she didn’t need to plot or scheme. When she could be a young woman who didn’t care about what was happening around her for a night.

Cigar smoke and whiskey floated around her.

“Care for another, my lady?” a husky voice whispered in her ear.

Kallie tilted her head toward the stranger, eyeing him. And for a moment, her heart flipped, but then her vision adjusted. His hair was not black but the darkest shade of brown she had ever seen, with deep brown eyes to match.

She should say no. This man was a stranger. He wasn’t—

She mentally shook herself from her wandering thoughts and arched a brow at the stranger. Maybe this was what she needed. Yes, she was engaged to the king, but if the king could have his fun, so could she. Maybe this man was just the distraction she needed. A way to forget more than one thing, more than one man.

“And who’s to say I’myourlady?”

The stranger ran a hand along his sharp jawline. “A man can hope, can’t he?”

“Hopeful or wishful thinking?” Tilting her head, she brushed a finger over her lip.

The stranger’s gaze tracked the movement, gaze darkening. His voice lowered as he took a step closer. “I suppose that depends.”

“On?”

His hand slipped along her waist. For a second, she wanted to push his hand away, but she didn’t. Instead swayed to the music.

Fun, this is supposed to be fun.

“You.”

Little did he know, Kallie would swallow him up and spit him out once she was done with him.

He pointed to her drink.

She swirled the last droplet of wine in her glass and threw her arm over his shoulder, her glass loose in her hand. With a finger, she drew a line from his collar down to the center of his shirt. She scraped a nail across the face of the button. “I have a better idea.”

“Oh?” The stranger leaned down, his head hovering near hers, his breath heavy on her neck. “And what’s that?”

She wrapped her hands behind his neck, her gaze sliding over him. And unless she was seeing things, Kallie could have sworn he puffed his chest out as she did. He was not the smoothest man nor the most handsome man she had ever seen or been with, but she refused to think about who owned that title.

Standing on her toes, Kallie pressed a palm against his chest and whispered in his ear.

When she fell back onto her heels, it was impossible to miss the man’s reddened cheeks or the grin flashing across his face.

He peered down at her through a half-cast gaze. “Don’t you want to know my name first?”

Kallie shrugged.Whohe was didn’t matter. Only what he could provide her right now.

“Can I know yours?”

Kallie sighed. It never was easy, was it?

“You can call me Kal—” She snapped her mouth shut, her intention of giving him a false name having slipped away with the wine.

“Kal?” the man asked.