His eyebrow lifted.
"Embarrassing?"
"Yes."
I answered seriously.
"It looks like you practiced it in front of a mirror."
He paused, then let out a low laugh.
"You're different,"
he said.
"Most women don't say things like that to me."
"Most women probably hope you'll look their way again tomorrow,"
I replied.
"I just want you to stop following me tonight."
He looked at me for a long moment.
Not threatening. Not impatient.
He took a single step closer.
Confidence.
Leisure.
As if this entire situation were a game he was enjoying.
"I don't usually get turned down like this,"
he said.
"I don't usually have to dodge men who flirt like it's a sport,"
I shot back.
"Then I suppose this is a first for both of us."
His smile widened.
Ah.
He likes this.
"Careful,"
he said.
"You're making me sound terribly predictable."
"That's right,"
I said lightly.
"Charming, curious, and easily bored."
His gaze sharpened just slightly.
"Bored?"
"Yes."
I nodded.
"You saw something unusual, and now you're poking it to see if it reacts."
"It is reacting,"
he said.
I shrugged.
"Unfortunately."
He tilted his head, studying me.
"You don't seem afraid of me."
"I am,"
I said honestly.
"Just not in the way you want."
That stopped him.
Honesty tends to do that.
He shook his head and smiled softly.
"You're trouble."
"I hear that a lot."
Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the fence.
We stood there.
Deliberately slowly, he reached out
slow enough that I could stop him if I wanted to.
I did.
"Ah,"
he said.
"So touching is still off-limits."
"Curiosity and physical contact don't go together,"
I replied.
"It's a bad habit."
He didn't look offended.
If anything, he looked amused as he withdrew his hand.
"For someone who warns people about their own death,
you're not what I expected."
"For a prince, you're exactly what I expected,"
I countered.
"Overconfident, overly relaxed,
and very aware that you can escape most consequences."
His gaze darkened.
Not anger thoughtfulness.
"You think I don't take anything seriously?"
"I think,"
I said, stepping back toward the path,
"that when you don't understand something, you start by flirting with it."
This time, his smile came slower.
"Maybe,"
he admitted.
"But you figured me out."
"I see everything,"
I said.
"That's the problem."
Faint footsteps echoed in the distance.
Claude straightened.
"We'll meet again,"
he said as if it were obvious.
I waved lazily.
"Next time without the stalking."
He laughed and turned away.
Ah.
So she's the duke's daughter my father mentioned.
As he walked, he reconsidered her a little more carefully.
"Good night,"
he said over his shoulder.
"Chaos."
Only after he had completely disappeared
did I let my smile fade.
He was interested.
Not obsessed.
That was enough.
I wasn't interested in him anymore.
I was interested in the future.
And in how the hell I was supposed to stop that damned future.
I'd moved too fast.
Pushed too early.
I kept my expression calm, pleasant, unremarkable.
If Landon found out about this,
he would never call me well behaved.
Just thinking about it sent a chill through me.
I didn't want what would come after.
Only after I was certain he was gone
did I steady my breathing and think again.
It was probably
the stupidest thought I'd ever had.
It passed through my mind briefly, but
what did I have to lose?
"Wait!"
I shouted as I ran after him.
By the time I caught up, I was out of breath.
He turned to me, clearly confused.
"Marry me,"
I said.
"…What?"