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He still h
eld my hand, but any gentleness, and care, had disappeared. He must have realized that he was still touching me, touching a liar, because he dropped me instantly.
I'd kept my distance before, worried about his reaction. Now that the truth was out there, he looked ready to commit murder. If I was smart, I'd take that as my cue to vacate the building before he called the cops or worse. But I didn't want to run. I wanted to tell him everything. I wanted to tell him that I didn't want to write the story anymore. That there was no story that was worth losing this chance at building what we both so clearly wanted.
Something real.
So even though his face was flush with anger, no, fury, and the scowl on his lips told me to not say another word, I couldn't help it.
"Desmond, you have to let me explain-"
"Explain what?" he ripped in darkly. "That Mary was right about you being a fraud? That I was right to be suspicious?" He didn't wait nor want an answer, rising to his feet in a seamless, angry jolt. "Is Sophia even your name?"
"Yes!" I exclaimed, clutching the slice of truth I had shared. "Sophia Slater." As soon as I said my last name an alarm went off in my head. Peter had set up an interview with him for tomorrow. I held my breath, hoping that Peter hadn't mentioned my name. I hadn't known who he was then, but Desmond didn't know that, and why would he believe me?
The disgust that whipped across his face was all the answer I needed.
"Jesus Christ, you work for The Dish? Were you going to make some big reveal at the restaurant tomorrow? Cement my incredible stupidity?"
"It's not like that!" I squeaked pathetically. This dress, my hair, not wearing a mask—I'd expected this all to go a completely different way. I was the stupid one; no matter who he was behind the mask, of course he'd feel betrayed, because that was exactly what I'd done.
I couldn't stop the apologies from flowing from my lips. They turned me inside out along with the tears that weaved down my cheeks. "If you could just let me explain-"
I paused, expecting him to interrupt me, tell me not to waste my breath. But he just stood there, chest heaving up and down. His eyes pierced right through my heart. This was the only chance I'd get to make myself heard.
I had a feeling that tonight would be the last time I ever saw Desmond O'Connell.
Even though I wanted to reach up and take his face in my hands, make him look into my eyes and see that I cared about him, I stayed on the couch.
I swept my hair into a low bun at the nape of my neck and let go of the spiral, sighing as it unraveled and the dark curtain swept down my back. I wiped away my tears and I unpacked all the shit, all the things that I kept bundled up and safe inside my head.
"Writing is my passion, Desmond. And what I do from 9 to 5?" I shuddered with disgust. "It doesn't qualify. I'm not complaining, because who wouldn't want to go to red carpet events and parties and rub shoulders, however briefly, with famous people? They-" I blinked up at him, beautiful even though he was furious. "You, have this magnetic pull. And just being in your orbit is powerful and amazing and overwhelming. But the real story is beneath all that. The sex, the intrigue, the taboo—that's what I wanted to explore. And when I started at Hush, that's what I wanted. To tell that story. And then I met you and that first night you showed me there was so much more. That there were pieces of myself that were undiscovered.
“I wanted to be Sin. I couldn't focus on writing that story because I knew it meant that I'd have to let you go." I balled my first, the ivy green material of my dress bunching like the sheets that I wished we were tangled up in. "It's clear that we have chemistry in the bedroom, but I want to explore if this can be-" I shook my head, refusing to mince this next piece. All or nothing. "I know this could be something incredible, Desmond." I slipped to the edge of the couch, wishing that I could see something in his face beyond the anger, but that was all there was. Maybe all that was left.
If that was true, there was nothing left to lose.
I did something pretty insane. And now that he knew I wasn't a sub, I hoped my boldness would be easier to swallow.
I pulled my body from the couch and erased the distance between us in a single step. I wrapped one arm around his neck. A test arm. If he growled, I'd retreat. But his jaw twitched instead, the tenseness in his shoulders slackening ever so slightly. I added my second, then I raised on my tiptoes and pressed my lips against his. Softly at first. Tentatively brushing my lips across his stern ones. Then he parted his lips and moaned into my mouth.
I forced my tongue against his, dominating him this time. Hoping that he felt my desire, my need. I wanted him to feel the spark that I knew wasn't in my head. The spark I hoped my lie hadn't extinguished.
When the kiss ended, he lingered, his fingertips intertwined in my hair. I opened my eyes and looked into his and the look he gave me...it made me want to crawl under a rock and die.
"I hope you enjoyed that, because it's the last kiss you're ever getting from me." He pulled away from me, already gone even though we were still in the same room. "Leave, Miss Slater, before I call security."
Chapter Two: Desmond
"Let the record state that I think this is a horrible idea."
My sister was fifty miles away, visiting our mother (which was a fact she'd reminded me of at less three times in the past five minutes), but I could see the stubborn jut of her lips and her eyes narrowing to tiny emerald slits just as clearly as if she was in the passenger seat beside me.
"Duly noted," I sighed, clenching and unclenching my hand on the wheel. Mallory was right, though I'd never admit that to her because I'd never hear the end of it.
I could still see Sophia's pale blue eyes glittering up at me, asking me to believe the impossible. She was a reporter, who snuck in under the radar with the intent of exposing Hush to the world, but she expected me to forget all that and trust that her feelings for me were real?
"Des, she's a con artist," Mallory groaned like she was explaining something that shouldn't need explaining. "This chick has been lying to you since you two met and you're going to give her what she wants?"
