Page 28 of Tainted Love

6:55, says the clock. Any minute now, I’ll hear a knock on the door and Dante Hart will be on the other side of it. He’ll say hello and tell me how beautiful I look and I’ll drop to my knees like a good girl and unzip his—

Jesus Christ, Lucy…

“It’s just dinner,” I say to myself in the mirror.

I grab a pair of strappy, black heels to slip into before making my way out to the living room.

“Oh— god!”

My heart leaps into my throat.

Dante fucking Hart is in my goddamn living room, sitting in my fucking chair.

“Good evening, Ms. Vaughn,” he says, calm as ever.

“What the hell are you doing here?!”

“Seven o’clock, right?” he asks, glancing at his watch. “I’m a little early.”

“What are you doing in my apartment?!”

He gestures over his shoulder. “The door was open.”

I shake my head. “No, it wasn’t!”

“Yes, it was.”

“I’m a single girl living alone in Chicago. I don’t leave my door open!” I point to the door, completely dumbfounded. “How the hell did you get through the chain?”

Dante grins and stands up from the chair. “Relax. I’m not going to hurt you.”

And just like that, my pulse normalizes as he glides across the floor toward me. He wears a suit, one much crisper than what he wore yesterday. Even his black coat looks pressed. He shaved, too…

“You look very nice,” he says. His deep voice echoes in my ears as if we were standing in the center of a cave.

“Oh…” I look down at my own body, glancing from my breasts down to my shoes. “Thank you. I wasn’t sure where we were going, so…”

“It’s perfect.”

I smile. I can’t help it. “Good.”

“Shall we?”

He turns around and walks to the door, but he doesn’t open it. His eyes take a long sweep of me from head to toe and I swear I catch his pupils dilating in his wicked blue irises from all the way back here.

I grab my clutch off the counter and join him by the door.

He waits, standing still as a board while I stare back at him. Several seconds pass as his eyes wander my face and I fidget in my shoes.

“Mr. Hart?”

“I’m sorry…” he whispers, his lips curling. “May I kiss you?”

I laugh. “You’re asking permission now?”

“Please.”

“Um…” My cheeks bleed red. “Yeah, I guess.”

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