I turn and walk into the night.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
VIVIAN
I smile into the darkness.At the glow from my phone’s incoming call illuminating my bedroom. It’s a few minutes past midnight, and Jace has never called this late.
“Hey,” I answer.
“Hey,” he whispers back. “You alone?”
“Not anymore, thankfully.” I squeeze my pillow. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
There’s something about lying in bed and hearing his husky voice in the darkness that has my body more awake than ever.
“I’m okay.” I speak in a normal tone, though my heart melts and races at the same time. How is that possible? “He’s not even here. He rarely is. And I make him sleep in another room. Also, I have a padlock on my bedroom door.”
“Damn, Viv, that’s dangerous. What if there’s a fire?”
I roll onto my back.
Iron gas lamps flicker outside, casting a glow on the ceiling. The silhouettes of the palms lining the cobblestone street below my bedroom windows sway, their shadows dancing above me.
They match my heart, dancing because Jace cares. He always cares, and after today, flirting in the darkroom, he’s calling me.
It’s new and tempting and breathtaking. We both feel it—the air is always electric between us, but now it’s arcing with high-voltage tension.
Adding to the heat? I always sleep naked, and this feels like Jace is in bed with me.
“Thank you for worrying, but trust me”—I sigh—“I’d rather burn in hellfire than let him ever touch me again.”
“We’re going to get you out. Just give us time, and I swear, Viv, you’ll be free.”
He sounds like a Navy SEAL, all stealth and sexy. Or a firefighter, all hot and hunky. And after today, I’m suddenly emboldened, casting all concerns aside.
“Who are you really, Jace? You and everyone today? And don’t say you’re just friends because I know the feeling when it’s much more.”
Like me and you; we’re more.
I felt it with everyone today; it was more than work. I was overwhelmed in the best way, sensing that I belonged with them. Feeling like the magnetism between Jace and me matched the bond of every couple in the room.
Even Michael Cummings and his hot paralegal, Ruby. He couldn’t hide his love for her. He looked like inked ice, melting in her presence.
Jace sighs heavily. “I don’t want to ever lie to you, Viv. That’s not the kind of man I am. But I want to get yououtof danger, notaddto it. Not now. So there are some questions I can’t answer yet, not to deceive you, but to protect you. I hope you understand and?—”
“I understand.”
“You sure? Because I mean it. I’ll never lie to you, or hurt you, or?—”
“Jace, I know who you are.” I brush my fingertips down my belly. “You’re the man who wears fine dark suits, even in thesummer, while he reads alien romance books at the door of a sex shop. On your days off, when we’re photophiles on the beach, you wear vintage T-shirts from every John Hughes teen romance movie ever made.
“You sometimes have a black eye or bruises on your knuckles, but you always have a tissue in your pocket for me. You do pushups while you sing women’s R&B, and my favorite is when you think no one’s watching, you dance around the showroom. By the way, great tango with a woman’s silk robe.”
He laughs, sending sweet vibrations between my thighs. “What can I say? I got a thing for romance, Alicia Keys, and silky robes.”
“Really?” I’m flirting on the happiest edge, and I’m not stopping. “What else are you into?”
