Page 503 of Dark Love

“Wear your hair down.” Vex slides his fingers through my hair, carefully taking out the twisty holding my hair.

My hair tumbles to my shoulders.

Um… If I wasn’t already in love with him, I would be now.

“Go get dressed, Dahl.”

Kiss.

No kiss. I want to pout, but there’s a ladder waiting for me downstairs.

Twenty minutes later, I step out of the bedroom to find Vex waiting for me.

A different Vex from the man I saw just twenty minutes ago. He’s in a cream linen suit with a cream shirt and a rose pocket square that matches the florals in my dress too well to be a coincidence. “You changed.”

“I thought if we were taking pictures to remember the day, I might as well match you.”

“Have I told you that I love you?”

“Not in the last few minutes.” He steps forward, holding out a hand for me to take, like he’s escorting me to a ball.

“You can’t say anything else sweet or romantic for a while. Because if you do, I’ll ruin my makeup.”

“So noted. Shall we go take your picture, madam?” Vex picks up a camera from a bookshelf.

“Are you sure about the spy thing?”

“It’s just a camera.”

That’s A Camera. It probably cost more than my first car. “Sure it is.”

“Dahl, you’re a nut.”

“I know I am, but you love me anyway.”

He freezes mid-step, and I run into him.

Uh oh. Please say I didn’t say that out loud. “Picture. We need to go take our pictures. I can’t ruin my makeup.”

“Okay, Dahl.”

***

“Which one should we put in the picture frame?” I swipe through the images on his fancy camera. One simple photograph turned into dozens. “It should be one with the both of us.”

“I like that one.” He points to the first picture where I’m standing on the ladder and he’s on the ground by my side, looking up at me with love shining up in his eyes.

This is the perfect moment I could die right here in his arms, a happy woman. “Is it silly that I want to die right here?”

“What?”

“Not now. But when I die, I want to be right here in this room with your arms wrapped around me.”

“Don’t even joke like that.”

Setting down the camera, I sit up and twist to face him. “I’m serious. When I die, I want to be right here with you. In this spot, remembering this moment.”

“You can’t die. I won’t let you die.”

---