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The room was softly lit from a light coming from the bathroom, and I could see his dark, steady eyes. They didn’t hold any of the heat from earlier, only calmness. Steadiness.
“They are. When I undress a woman, I want her conscious and enjoying it.”
I flushed, thinking of what that would be like, him helping me out of my dress.
“Oh…I guess… I should thank you,” I blurted out and instantly regretted it. “Sorry. That came out all wrong. I didn’t mean...well, not the way it sounded.”
The corner of his mouth tipped up as he rose up onto his elbow. He was still in his dress shirt, tie gone. The top few buttons were undone and the sleeves rolled up. “Don’t apologize. You’re just getting your bearings after a few hours of restless sleep.”
Did he just say I’d been here for a few hours?
The feel of the sheet in my fingers was soft, the air cool. “What time is it?”
Dane glanced at the night stand behind him. I didn’t see a clock or anything, so it had to be his phone that he checked. “A little after one. You should try to get some rest.”
Oh my god, one in the morning? I’d been here for almost half the night. Then I remembered how they’d pressed for me to stay with them so I wouldn’t be alone. The three of us had talked in the living room for well over an hour. They’d sandwiched me between them as we sat on the sofa all but tucked comfortably between them. They’d made me laugh. Put me at ease and then set me aflame when they told me how badly they wanted to take turns fucking me. To take me at the same time. But that I needed to make the first move. No, not that. They’d said I’d be begging for it. Damn, that was hot. Conceited. Cocky. Dominating. And even after all that, they’d done nothing but tell me stories about high school. The combination—sweet and sexy—had gotten me to calm down better than a Xanax.
And being with them, that part hadn’t been a dream.
My breath caught in my throat. My mind started to race. It was almost impossible not to switch back and forth from sultry imaginings about how Dane and Leo would share me, to the image of that man’s face.
A man was dead, and I’d seen him in that freezer. Those empty eyes. And his cold, stiff body.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” I whispered out on a shallow exhale and felt my eyes fill with tears. I’d never allowed another soul to see one fall down my face. I pushed through, persevered at any cost.
“It’ll be okay,” Dane told me, cupping my cheek, the swipe of his thumb brushing the tear away.
I shook my head, my hair sliding over my neck. “No. It won’t. I saw him and I can’t un-see it. I can’t shut it out. That’s all I want,” I whimpered, instantly hating the sound of my voice. So weak. So unlike me. “For it to have never happened…I just want to forget.”
It was unreasonable to ask the universe for a re-do. A second chance, one where I’d turn back time so I had never stepped foot in that garage. Why would a woman like Mrs. O’Sullivan want stupid leftovers anyway since she’d told me she had a cook who made all the meals? It wasn’t as if she’d ever picked up a pan or turned on the stove in her professional kitchen.
Sitting up, Dane wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side. He felt so good, so warm and comforting considering how big and strong he was. And the arm that banded around my waist? All corded muscle and remarkable gentleness.
“You hardly know me, Harper, and I get that you’re used to doing it all on your own. But you need to believe me when I tell you it’s going to be okay,” he said, kissing the top of my head. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I’m not going anywhere.”
Again I was torn, but God, I was also starting to believe him. To trust him. Was it weak of me to want to hang onto his every word? To take some comfort in his suggestion that I wasn’t facing this all by myself? I could start a business from scratch, fight tooth and nail for every new client, work hours—no, weeks—on new dishes to set my company apart. All of that I could do. No problem. A little sweat equity paid off.
But this? A dead body and the mafia? I had no clue what I was doing, and that scared the shit out of me.
My logical side was so quiet now, giving itself over to the part of me that found solace in leaning on this man for emotional support and help just as much as I allowed my body to physically lean into him right now. And when I tilted my head up toward him and met his eyes, the look he gave me told me he’d do anything, everything in his power to help me get through this.
“Do you? Do you believe me?” he asked, eyes piercing right through me and
seeming to reflect the lust that lurked within me. The tone of the question sounded more like a demand, a summon, challenge. Normally, I didn’t respond well to ultimatums, but this was no normal night, and Dane was no run-of-the-mill man. My guess was that I’d eventually be able to say the same of Leo.
Where was he?
Looking away, I nodded. My mouth wasn’t ready to form words yet. It was sure to betray the sexual storm brewing in me, the same way my eyes had just done. Then he took my chin between his thumb and index finger and brought his lips to mine.
That kiss.
The softness of his lips.
The lightness of his touch.
The electricity that charged the air coursed through my nervous system. It concentrated at my nipples, my core, and a spot between my legs. It was all I could feel, all my mind could wrap itself around, and more intense than I’d ever thought possible.
He parted my mouth with his tongue and slid his hand up into my hair, gripping my scalp as he deepened into our kiss. I didn’t care about anything else, not even that I’d eventually need to breathe.
