Page 464 of Dark Love

Vex walks over and takes the cup out of my hand, setting it on the bar.

The intensity of his gaze makes my heart thrum.

He slides a hand up into my hair.

This is it. He’s going to kiss me.

My breath catches in the back of my throat.

“Good morning, Dahl.”

Good morning. But all I can do is think the words since there’s no way I’m going to start breathing let alone speaking until he kisses me.

His hands slip away. “We’ve already started on the sugar this morning, I see.”

If he had to talk to Hope, he’d understand the need for sugar and caffeine.

“Breakfast it is.” Vex walks over to the fridge.

He didn’t kiss me. It would be wrong to pout like Hope did when I disappointed her, but that doesn’t make me want to do it any less.

The man in front of me pulls out an arm full of vegetables to stuff in my omelet.

He loves me. And I don’t want to spend the rest of my day worrying about how he’s going to respond to the Adonis issue. “I love you.”

Vex freezes for a moment.

“We need to talk.”

The silence is deafening as Vex stands there staring into the fridge.

Say something. Say anything. I scoot up onto the barstool in case my legs give out during this ‘discussion’.

He brings his armload to the bar, grabbing a knife and cutting board on the way. “Start discussing. But don’t think you’re getting out of eating your vegetables.”

How did I fall in love with the sweetest man ever? Instead of talking, or maybe to avoid talking, I stare at him as he chops the scallions.

“You know you need to actually speak if we’re going to have a discussion.”

“Can I just stare at you, and we can pretend we talked?”

“Dahl.”

Fine. Whatever. “So I did something stupid. Then I asked Max for help, because he’s a man like you are, to get out of it.”

The knife stops for a second. “And what did he suggest?”

I lean forward on the bar. “Max laughed. Don’t smile. It wasn’t funny.”

“What’s your problem?”

How do I even say this? “Where are we in this getting-to-know-you phase of our relationship?”

“Dahl, you’re procrastinating.”

Ugh. Maybe I am. “I like my job.”

“Good to know.” His eyes narrow.

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