Page 52 of Dark Love

I could wake up and find myself in my lovely bed in my house in my safe little neighborhood.

But my life doesn’t work like that. At least no one caught that on camera for the world to see. “Thank you, I can get up now.”

Even though the words I whispered were barely a breath, Vex steps to the side with his hand held out to me. The second our hands meet, some of the stress melts away. He lifts me to my feet while I hang on to the coat for dear life.

Vex tucks my hand through his arm and waits for me to get my feet under me. “Where do you want to start?”

“Wait, I get to pick?”

“Dahlia.” He practically rolls his eyes in a sexy crime lord kind of way.

A new outfit is all I can think about. Something that I won’t flash the entire world in.

But it’s late. And if I know anything about men, they need to eat or they get grumpy. We need to get a snack at least to tide us over. That pastry shop will do. Vex seemed to enjoy his cookies. “Are you coffee picky?”

He turns to me with a raised eyebrow.

“What? People like all these fancy coffees.”

“I don’t drink coffee.”

What? “But you look like a black coffee type?”

“Black coffee has a type?” The corner of his lip turns up.

“Of course, it does.” Everyone knows the type of coffee you drink says a lot about who you are. “Black coffee says you’re strong enough to handle the bitter and determined to get your caffeine boost.”

“And how do you drink your coffee?” His eyes twinkle as he stares down at me, completely ignoring the people walking past us.

“I don’t. Coffee tastes nasty. There isn’t enough sugar in the world to make it taste like anything but burnt dirt. Why would I voluntarily drink burnt dirt when I can get my caffeine fix other ways?”

“Burnt dirt. What is your caffeine of choice?”

“Chocolate. I don’t need much caffeine. You probably don’t defile your body or something like that.”

“Defile my body.” Vex burst out laughing.

The smile that tags along with that laughter completely changes his face. My heart flutters.

“Dahlia, I’ve been defiling my body since I was a teenager.”

I don’t want to know. I don’t want to know. “What did you do?”

Vex tucks my hand in the crook of his arm as he starts walking towards the pastry shop. “What didn’t I do is a better question. Before you can ask, the only answer is drugs. I did and tried everything possible except drugs.”

Should it surprise me more that he didn’t try drugs or that he’s so honest about it? “You don’t smell like cigarettes.”

“That vicedidn’t stick.”

And what others did? More than the fact that I don’t have the nerve to know is the fact, I’m not sure I want to. Vex isn’t the man I’ve seen these last few days, and I need to remember that.

Wait… “Why didn’t you ask me about my vices?”

“There’s no need. You don’t have any.”

“Excuse me, I have vices. No one is perfect.”

“Chocolate and purses don’t count as vices.”

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