Page 33 of Modern Romance November 2024 5-8

Sahir had told her only a little, yet it was by far more than he had ever told anyone.

He looked down at her. ‘Do you find that people talk to you, Violet?’

‘All the time. Clients at work, people on buses... I’m the one they sit next to...’

‘Taxi drivers?’ he added.

‘Oh, yes.’ She smiled, and her eyes were misty, her next words soft. ‘Not so much you, though.’

‘You have no idea...’ Sahir said.

He was beyond private—no one knew his thoughts—and he tried to pull back control, lighten the topic.

‘Let’s work on your online bio. How about “gorgeous”?’ he started.

But the thought of helping her meet another man didn’t lift his mood, so instead he gave up on conversation and lightly kissed her pale shoulder. Then he opened his mouth. As his tongue met her flesh she exhaled sharply, and he lifted his head as she jolted.

‘Okay?’ he checked, a little bemused by her reaction, and was pleased to find she was smiling.

‘Don’t stop,’ she told him.

So he got back to the shoulder he’d made wet.

‘I actually got a shiver down my spine,’ she told him. ‘I never really got what that meant before.’

‘Good,’ he said, and his lips moved along her collarbone to her neck, then up to her gorgeous mouth.

Violet stopped him, as if she had something she thought she really ought to say. ‘If I’m honest, I think you’d skip past my bio.’

‘How come?’

‘Because I’ve never...beenwith anyone.’

‘Sorry?’

‘I’ve barely kissed, let alone slept with anyone.’

Sahir met her eyes. Yes, there were so many parts to Violet—but he had a rather urgent question.

‘You didn’t put that on your bio?’

‘Of course not!’

‘Because you’d get every—’ He stopped himself.

‘I do know!’ she shrilled, all indignant.

And then he saw her pink cheeks, and she hid her head in his chest as they continued their dance.

‘Dreadful, isn’t it?’ She sighed.

‘Of course not,’ he said.

‘Then why are you holding me like it’s a duty dance now?’

‘I’m not,’ he refuted, even though she’d made a very good point.

‘If my date hadn’t been so mean...’

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