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Her golden curls are swept to the side in a half updo that allows them to cascade over one shoulder, and it seems as though she’s almost glowing she’s so beautiful.
“Nice,” I say as she reaches the bottom step, giving her an obvious once-over with my eyes.
“You like it?” Anya gives me a spin, and my gut tightens as I realize the simple front is hiding a tantalizing back that fully exposes her skin from the top of her neck down to her adorable back dimples. Only a thin strap laces back and forth across the expanse to ensure a snug fit.
“Definitely,” I say as I pull her into my arms, crushing her against me and arching her back as I kiss her to prove how much I appreciate her new dress.
She releases a breathless laugh when I finally release her once again.
“You ready for our date do-over?” I never told her what her surprise was supposed to be on our date when she got kidnapped, and I’m excited to see her reaction tonight when she finally finds out. And to ensure nothing goes wrong this time, I chose to pick her up myself.
“More than,” she says with a playful smile.
I have to admit, I like this new side of her, one where she’s smiling and witty. I could get used to the sound of her laugh.
Putting my hand on the small of her back, I guide her through the front doors of her building and out to my waiting Maserati.
“Before you get in, I have something for you,” I say, pausing by the back door of my car.
“Nicolo, you didn’t have to,” she says, surprised.
“This time, I really think I did,” I counter as I lean into the back seat and retrieve the new coat I bought her to replace the worn peacoat she was wearing that got ruined. Standing, I reveal the top-of-the-line REDValentino coat, holding it so she can put it on.
“It’s beautiful,” she gasps, sliding into the warm layers of fabric and admiring the quality of the wool. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
We head to Cité for a culinary treat before the show, and I’m surprised when we step out of the elevators and a wave of memories crash over me. This is the same place I took Anya after our shopping date, and I haven’t been here since. We hadn’t stayed long enough to eat the meal. And I’d been so furious with her that I’d manhandled her into the elevator on our way to Incognito.
I glance at Anya to gauge her reaction to the familiar location, and her eyes linger on our table from our first date. A jumble of emotions flickers across her face, ending with a question that she keeps locked inside. And I’m dying to know what it is.
As the host seats us at a table on the far side of the room than we were before, closer to the pianist who plays a gentle melody for the dinner guests, I order a bottle of sauvignon blanc. My eyes linger on Anya’s face as she looks out over the city, then turns her attention to the musician seated at the white baby grand piano.
“What are you thinking?” I ask as soon as we’re left alone.
Anya’s blue eyes meet mine, and I see the question still lingering there. “You said this was a date do-over, and I had assumed it was the date we were originally going to do last weekend, before….” She trails off, not wanting to breathe life into that hellish night again.
I cock my head, not sure where she’s going with this.
“Did I misunderstand? Are we redoing our first date?”
I can hear the underlying worry in her tone, and an unexpected twinge of guilt tightens my belly. I fight to keep the emotion from my face, giving her a smile instead.
“No, your first thought was right. We’re doing the date I had intended for us last weekend. Only… I picked this restaurant over Oriole this time,” I admit. When it came down to it, I didn’t want to sully the night with memories of what had happened last weekend. But I hadn’t considered that bringing her here might be a bad reminder for her.
Anya’s shoulders relax, dropping ever so slightly as a smile returns to her face. She clearly has some lingering pain over our first night together, and I focus back on it now to consider what I might have done to hurt her so badly. Sure, I’d been rough with her, but our attraction had sprung from a contentious beginning. And I’m confident it wasn’t her first time with a man, so it’s not like I took her virginity that forcefully. For a moment, I wonder if I pushed it too far, if I hurt her then. She’d pissed me off bad enough that I hadn’t been too concerned about it at the time, but even when I was punishing her, she clearly liked it. She came from being spanked, for fuck’s sake. Not every girl can do that, but damn was it hot.But if it’s not that, then what?I can only think of one other explanation.
Before I can ask, our waiter arrives to serve us each a glass of chilled white wine. I give him our order at the same time and wait until he’s gone before I pose my question.
“Anya, on our first date, did I scare you?”
She seems taken aback by my question as her eyes widen and her lips part. She licks them nervously. “Um.” An uncomfortable giggle bursts from her, and I know that no matter what she says next, I must have hit pretty close to home with my guess. “To be honest, you absolutely terrified me.”
I did not expect that. “There’s no way. I spent so long trying to make sense of you, but you just seemed like an impenetrable wall, a force to be reckoned with. I didn’t think you were afraid of anything.”
Anya blushes. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You should. Your feisty side is sexy as hell.” Reaching across the table, I take her hand. “I don’t want you to be scared of me.” That might be the first and only time I’ve said those words, and I mean them with a sincerity I hadn’t known I’d felt.
