Page 123 of The Bridges I've Burned

“Of things we’re eventually going to do together.”

Eventually? It was one word, but it brought so much hope with it.

“Okay.”

I slipped my phone into my pocket and reached for her. She curled her arms around my neck and let out a contented sigh.

“I believe we are on our own for the rest of the night.”

My eyes darkened as my grip tightened around her. “The whole night? Damn, what will we do with ourselves?”

“Karaoke bar?” she mused.

“No.” I shook my head. “Never again. My ears won’t survive. But I wouldn’t mind going out.”

Her brow rose. “Really? After being winked at by the coffee shop owner, you want to go back out into society?”

I shrugged. “We’re only going to be here a few more days, and I want to take you out on a date. They’ll gossip regardless.”

She stilled in my arms, and I realized what I’d said. Our time was running woefully short.

“About that…” I should just tell her. Fuck the contract. Fuck everything. All that mattered was her.

She placed her hand on my chest. “I don’t want to talk about it right now,” she told me. “I know we need to—and soon.” Really soon. “But right now, I just want to enjoy an evening out. And then maybe an even better evening in.” Her eyes sparkled with mischief.

I wanted to argue with her.

I wanted to make her listen because if I didn’t do this right now, I wasn’t sure I’d have the courage later.

But instead, I just nodded and swallowed down my secret in silence.

“What’s your favorite color?” I asked her as we waited for our food.

We’d decided to go back to Portofino since neither of us had really gotten the chance to eat much the night of the engagement party. The place was fairly busy tonight, and we were lucky to have gotten a table.

Although was it really luck when you knew the owners?

“You can ask me anything in the world, and you go with what’s your favorite color?” A hint of amusement crossed her face.

The low lighting and the intimate setting made Portofino a perfect date spot. Our table was situated in a corner, giving us the illusion of privacy.

I shrugged. “I want to know everything about you. Besides, it’s an important thing to know about a person. What if your favorite color is sad beige? I can’t marry a monster, Elena. Think of the children. Kids need color in their lives.”

She snorted out a laugh, shaking her head. I couldn’t take it anymore. I reached out and took her hand in mine.

So much better.

“Says the man who dresses in all black.”

“I wore gray yesterday,” I scoffed. “And that Led Zeppelin shirt I had on the other day totally had a rainbow on it.”

“Well, to answer your very important question”—she grinned—“I guess I’d say it’s red. It makes me feel powerful. But I do look pretty damn good in black.”

“Yeah, you do,” I agreed, remembering her pinned against that mirror in that black satin gown. Fucking imprinted in my brain. “I think you look pretty damn amazing in every color, Louie.” I made a point to drag my eyes over the bodice of her green dress.

I was really looking forward to taking that off later.

But to be fair, there wasn’t a single article of Elena’s wardrobe I hadn’t enjoyed taking off of her. Or ripping off her. Or dragging off with my teeth…

---