Page 5 of Twilight Sins

Her throat bobs as she swallows. She gestures back and forth between us. “This. Dates. Blind dates, rather. It’s—the whole thing is just really awkward for me. As I’m sure you can tell. But I’m in a What the hell kind of mood, so even though I’m absolutely gonna give Kayla another earful when I get home, I’m just… winging it, I guess. I’m Luna, by the way. I should’ve said that first.”

A blind date. I understand now: she thinks I’m the person she’s here to see. The thought is hilarious in its own right. Men like me don’t do “blind dates.” We don’t do “dates” at all. We see, we crave, we conquer.

But this one… Something about her suggests that she’s never come within a country fucking mile of a man like me. Something about her suggests she wouldn’t know what the hell to do with me now that she’s here.

And something in me really, really likes the idea of showing her just how far she can bend before she breaks.

Maybe, unlike the vodka, it’ll take my mind off the memories.

So I stand and hold out my hand for her to shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Luna. Take a seat.”

3

LUNA

My name in his mouth does something weird to me. When he says “Luna” with those proud, sinful lips and the slightest hint of a smirk, it’s like he’s tasting me. All of me. Like every single important detail of my life, my past, and my future is all bound up in those two syllables.

Eerie.

But like the feeling from outside, it passes quickly. He blinks and that smirk twitches just a bit wider into something resembling a smile—at least as much as this man ever smiles; he seems to have a face built exclusively for smoldering.

And just like that, I feel like I can finally smile back.

“That was a rough start,” I say with a nervous laugh. I go to unsling my purse from my shoulder and promptly get the strap caught on a flanged piece of the chair’s armrest.

“Here, let me.” He reaches across and gracefully untangles it, then loops it on a hidden hook beneath the edge of the table.

“How chivalrous.” I sink shakily into my seat. “You must do a lot of these.”

“No, actually. You are my first and last.”

“Ouch!” I press a hand over my chest melodramatically. “I’ve barely sat down and you’re already swearing off dating forever?”

“Or maybe I’m just presuming that you and I are fated to be together,” he replies with more of that amused smirk.

I snort. “Even if I believed in that kind of thing—which I don’t—something tells me you definitely don’t.”

“Oh?” He arches a brow. “What else do you think you know about me, solnyshka?”

Tapping a finger on my lip, I look him over. His suit is impeccable—black as night, with a cream-colored shirt, top few buttons open, enough of his lightly-haired chest visible to see that he’s obviously fit. He’s got a two-hundred-dollar haircut and a twenty-thousand-dollar watch.

He screams wealthy.

He screams arrogant.

He screams I will break your heart and forget you ever existed.

“I think that there’s no way in hell this is your first blind date, that’s for sure.”

“You’d be surprised. Men in my position don’t usually make time for distractions like this.”

Laughing, I say, “First, I’m the woman who made you quit dating, and now, I’m a ‘distraction’? Keep up that stream of compliments and you might even get lucky.”

“I don’t need to compliment you to get lucky.”

I roll my eyes. “I take back what I said about the chivalry. Your arrogant score is quickly taking the lead.”

He leans back in his seat, head tilted to the side as he regards me. “Pity. I was just starting to picture the wedding. I was thinking beach.”

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