When it was time for her to leave, she’d learned to bury the past. As she moved through life, she focused on living in the moment. Though her job kept her busy, loneliness crept in. That was the hardest thing about her life… until now. She could feel the power and the fury and the darkness of Gabriel Santini slithering into her consciousness, her heart… maybe even her soul.
If I dream about you, I’m screwed.
“Dreaming is the one place where we are truly free,” he said.
“How did you hear that?”
“I’m right here,” he replied. “How could I miss it?”
“I didn’t say it out loud.”
“You did,” he replied.
Was she dropping her guard around him? She needed to stay on point. One misstep and that was it. Gabriel Santini had been an assignment from Yuri Bulgrov. She’d been in his Milan villa, searching his possessions for a thumb drive.
If he knew…
A shiver skirted through her and she trembled.
The song ended, a slow one began. “One more,” he whispered. “I like this, with you. We seem normal.”
“Normal would bore us.”
He smiled. Her heart skipped a beat. He was sick handsome. Too handsome really.
As they moved as one on the dance floor, she pressed closer, appreciating his hard body, his musky scent, the possessive way he held her in his arms. Her gaze drifted to the couples dancing all around them. What secrets did they keep? What information did they withhold from each other?
She saw a middle-aged couple dancing nearby and thought of her mom and dad. She missed them. That ache in her heartnever went away. Was she losing precious time with them for the sake of her career?
He peered down at her.
“Did I say something else out loud?” she whispered.
“No, but your back tensed.” He caressed it.
And that’s when she realized she was wearing a baggy sweatshirt.
“I look terrible.”
“Are you saying that for you… or for me?”
She arched an eyebrow. He had a point. If hewasa nobody, it shouldn’t matter.
“You’re a beautiful, brave, smart, sexy woman?—”
“No lines?—”
“You know it’s the truth,” he said. “You don’t need to hear that from me.”
“Women always need to hear that from their man.”
“Am I your man?”
“This is just a little New Year’s Eve fun.”
“Then, it shouldn’t matter how you look,” he replied.
But it did. She was with a Santini and she looked ridiculous.
