Page 118 of Dark Love

A knock sounds at the door.

Who could that be? I didn’t invite anyone, and Max doesn’t usually show up until after eleven and only when the back light is on.

It must be Hope with some sort of drama. I set my milk on the counter and walk to the door.

What is Vex doing here?

He fills the doorway. On any other man, the custom suit would look debonair. On Vex, it does nothing to hide the lethal power that radiates off his massive body. I could stare at him all day.

“Evening, Dahl.”

“What are you doing here?” I mentally slap a hand over my mouth. You were literally complaining about not seeing him two seconds ago.

“We made plans for tonight.”

“But I canceled them.”

“Then you spent the night in my arms, which means it’s back on.”

A fiery blush spreads up my face.

“So right now, your only choice is where you want to spend the night. In my bed or yours.”

My mouth falls open, and I gape at him for a long while. “I…Um…We can’t…I’m not…No matter how sexy—” Can I just die now?

The naughty smirk that spreads across his face makes him even sexier.

All possibility of speech is lost.

“You don’t need to worry. Even if you ask me to kiss you today, I won’t.”

What? Why? “You won’t?”

“No, Dahl, I won’t. Tonight is all about getting to know each other. Now you can relax and let me in before the ice cream melts.”

“Ice cream?”

Vex lifts his hands that are filled with grocery bags. “We’re having sundaes for dessert.”

Why doesn’t he want to kiss me? I mean, it’s one thing for me to tell him that I don’t want to kiss him, but why is he here if he doesn’t want to kiss me? “We are?”

“As soon as you stop thinking about kissing me and let me inside, I’ll make you dinner. Then we’ll watch a movie and eat our ice cream before bed.”

Why aren’t you thinking about kissing me? “You’ve made a lot of plans.”

“I always have a plan.”

Do any of those plans involve kissing me? “Why don’t you want to kiss me?” Death would have been a smarter choice than the words I just uttered.

Vex practically drops the bags as he takes a step forward until he’s looming over me.

To hide from the intensity of his gaze, I drop my eyes to the ground.

A calloused finger brushes against my chin, then lifts it until my eyes meet his. His eyes burn with an intensity I’ve never seen before. “When I close my eyes, I dream of kissing you. When I open them, all I think about are your lips. Never doubt that I want to kiss you.”

“Then why won’t you?” the foolish question slips out of my mouth.

“Because you were hurt just a short time ago, and you need time.”

---