Page 437 of Dark Love

“Uh-huh.” Dahlia nods. “But I don’t have anything to bribe you with. I’ll think of something and give it to you later.”

I grin down at her because there’s no other choice. No one has made sure I was taken care of since my mot—Don’t think about her. Not now. Not here. “You keep thinking about that, Dahl. I’m sure you’ll come up with something.” I take the ridiculous-looking containers. “See you soon Dahl.”

Bourbon Cookies

Dahlia

Staring at the clock worrying about Vex is going to drive me out of my mind. There are only so many times I can scrub the kitchen counter and make the bed, and I exceeded that number a half an hour ago.

What am I going to do to keep my mind occupied? Work isn’t an option. I’d just make a mess out of that. And there’s no way I could focus on a book, even if it was written by one of my favorite authors.

There has to be something…

Max. Before Vex showed up, I was going to make him cookies, get him slightly drunk, and then ask for advice.

The embarrassment alone from all of that will keep my mind off of Vex and the scary things that might happen after this so-called friendly-ish meeting.

Getting a man drunk to get the answers I want sounds wrong. I’ll only get him slightly drunk.

And warn him first.

That’s completely illogical.

All sense and logic left my brain when I met Vex.

***

This is the craziest thing I’ve ever done.

No, that had to be going to a club alone and getting drugged. This is just a little wild and impetuous. Hopefully, this doesn’t blow up in my face.

Hope opens the door with a huge smile on her face. “Prue! You came over to visit.” Her eyes move down to the plates in my hand. “And you made treats. Dad loves sweets. What are those?”

“Caramel pecan clusters on top of a butter cookie base.”

Her eyes go wide. “Are you sure you aren’t in love with my dad? He’d marry you for those.”

This isn’t an engagement brownie cheesecake, but they are exceptionally good. “I was wondering if your dad was around. I need to talk to him for a moment.”

“Is something wrong? Did someone try to hurt you again?”

She’s so much like her father, overprotective and sweet at the same time. “No, I’m fine. I just had a question I wanted to ask him.”

She raises an eyebrow even as a smile spreads across her face. “DAD! You have company!” Her blond curls bounce. “Can I have one of those?”

“Sure. This plate is for everyone.” I lift the non-alcoholic ones. “Would you bring these in for the rest of your family?”

“Absolutely, so you made a plate just for Dad?”

“Don’t get your hopes up.”

“I’m always filled with hope.” She winks. “You can wait for him in the living room. Or come with me to the kitchen.”

Once I make it into the kitchen, this will end up being a family discussion. I definitely don’t want that. It’s bad enough having to explain my nuttiness to one person. “The living room is fine.”

Her grin gets even wider. “I’ll make sure you two have privacy.” She winks.

Privacy is good, but not in the way she means. “Thank you. I appreciate the fact that there won’t be any ears listening in to our conversation.”

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