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I am horrible. Still, I offer a small smile, and for a while, I will try. No more battles, I would lose the moment he undresses me with his eyes alone.
“Thank you for the studio. It’s beautiful.”
I kiss his lips.
He cups my face as if to make sure he has all my attention. “I mean it, everything. Just name it and it’s yours.”
But not my freedom.
“I will put you in contact with someone to sell your jewelry.”
Please, heart, don’t go soft on me. I swallow the thick lump of feelings he ignites in me, shoving them back down.
Still, giddiness tugs at the corners of my mouth. “You really don’t have to.”
Leaning on his palm, he places a lingering kiss on my lips, and tingles erupt. I don’t know who’s seducing who.
“Let’s go out to dinner tonight.”
I glimpse into his eyes, the hardness disappearing for something softer, warmer. This side of him is more dangerous than anything else.
He kisses me one more time. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”
Words stick in my throat so I offer a small nod.
He disappears into the walk-in closet, and I go into the bathroom. I grip the sink, raising my chin, questioning myself about what I am doing. But the disturbing part is, I like it, and I am curious too. A combination that eradicates all risks and rationality.
I spend the day in my small studio, glancing every now and then at the clock. With every hour, excitement spreads through me. I am so utterly screwed.
Cato comes home and finds me in the bedroom, wearing a burgundy satin dress with spaghetti straps and a slit straight up to my thigh, with my black hair falling in curls down my back. His eyes sweep over me and that flirtatious and charming expression he wears has a direct link to every cord in my heart.
“You’re the epitome of beauty.”
Warmth hits my cheeks, feeling beyond beautiful under his gaze––treasured, trying not to blush at his compliment.
“Come on.” His large hand engulfs my smaller one, and for some heavenly moments, he’s not my enemy standing in the way of my freedom, but the man I crave with insatiable and irrefutable desire.
In the parking lot, I peer around. “Where are the guards?”
“You’re not fond of them, are you?”
“It feels like I’m expecting someone to jump me when they’re around.”
He chuckles and lifts my hand to his lips. “Tonight, it’s just the two of us.”
I force the onslaught of emotions back in, but damn, he makes it hard.
“Let’s make a deal. Whenever we have our date nights, it’s just the two of us.”
“Is this a date?”
“We should have had a lot of those. So, to make up for lost time, every week, we’ll go on one.”
While my heart deflates, my lips twist in a rueful smile. I will never have this again after I betray him, so I swallow it and live in the moment with him. But I am safe. My heart will know better than to fall for him.
The car halts in front of a building so tall that I don’t even see where it ends in the sky. A valet greets us, and Cato tosses him the keys. During the elevator ride, he tucks me to his side. I peer up at him, totally relaxed, and a heavy dose of regret assaults me.
Inside, we are led to a table in the corner, no one around in our vicinity, but a band playing in the background and the city’s lights flashing through the windows.
