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„What?” she gasps, her eyes wide with disappointment. „Did I do something wrong?”
I don’t respond to her, but lift my hand up to her face and brush along her soft cheek with the tip of my finger, until I reach the outlines of the mask that covers the area around her eyes.
That’s when I hear it. A rumble, coming from somewhere down below—her tummy.
„Are you hungry?” I implore. „Did you not eat anything before coming here?”
She sucks in a sharp breath of air and averts her gaze before she shakes her head.
„No, I…I was too nervous to eat,” she admits, still not looking at me. „But I’m fine, really.”
„No, you’re not,” I say. „And you shouldn’t be drinking champagne on an empty stomach.”
She chuckles. „I can handle more than you’d think.”
So cute, so young, and so eager to prove a point, when there’s no need for it.
„Be that as it may, your body is telling you that you need to take care of it,” I say. „Or rather, I need to take care of it.”
She casts me a puzzled look.
„You’re my responsibility, little flower,” I tell her. „And I promised to take care of you tonight, didn’t I?”
She nods. „Yes, but I thought…”
Her eyes trail through the room behind my back, a sense of unease written across her pretty face.
„Come,” I say, taking a step back and offering her my hand. „Let me take care of my little flower.”
She hesitates, before she drops her tiny hand into mine, and lets me guide her out of the room.
Chapter 5
Claire
My core is still twirling with desire by the time we take our seats in an upscale Chinese restaurant, after he escorted me out of The Velvet Rooms—and I feel the heavy weight of shame pushing down on me.
I’ve felt like a complete loser since he led me down the stairs and all the way to the changing rooms, where he announced that we would be leaving the venue.
I thought it was over at that point. I thought he was done with me before it even began, and I felt a heavy lump in my throat as I removed the mask from my face and got dressed into my casual everyday clothes.
Now I’m sitting opposite to him in a light blouse and dark denim jeans. Luckily, I was smart enough to pick one of my nicer outfits, even though I didn’t know whether he’d see me in anything but lingerie tonight.
But now we’re here, out in the world, dressed like normal people out on a normal date.
Except that nothing about this is normal. I still don’t know the name of the man who is sitting across from me, seemingly ordering everything on the menu as he talks to the waitress in what I assume to be Chinese.
He changed into a black cashmere sweater and dark jeans, and left his tuxedo at the club, a service that is reserved for the VIP patrons of the Velvet Rooms. He looks just as dazzling in casual clothes as he did in the tux. His mesmerizing green eyes are even more intimidating without the black frame of his mask, and I can’t help but marvel at his perfect appearance.
„You speak Chinese,” I say, after the waitress took our order and left.
„Mandarin,” he corrects.
„Sure, Mandarin.” I playfully roll my eyes at him, and he chuckles.
„Sorry for being a smart ass, I can’t help it sometimes,” he says. His smile is so endearing that I almost feel dizzy for a moment when he grins at me.
„So, where did you learn to speakMandarin?” I ask.
