Page 66 of Under an Endless Moon

Nah. There wasn’t a thing in this plan that was smart. Because I’d turned down the most reckless path, and I wasn’t sure there was a way to make it back.

TWENTY-ONE

RAVEN

“Oh my God,you’re a lifesaver, Otto,” I squealed as I tossed my Louis Vuitton duffel onto his massive bed. While he was gone, I’d showered, and I’d found a black robe that I was currently wrapped in.

I was in desperate need of my necessities so I could finish getting ready. “Please tell me my red lipstick is in here.”

“Not sure about that, and I sure can’t take credit for this. It was all Charleigh.”

Pleasure rolled through me as I unzipped my baby.

Okay, fine…my bag, but I kind of wanted to cuddle it like an infant.

My heart stretched tight as I opened it.

Charleigh truly was the best bestie ever. She knew exactly what I needed. I dug through, finding at least three changes of clothes, clean underwear, shoes, and my toiletries bag tucked inside.

Tears nearly sprang to my eyes when I saw the notebook stuffed inside at the bottom. The journal that was covered in fake pink fur and held the greatest treasures. The memories that had been branded inside and hadprinted a seal on me.

Plus, the mirror that I always kept at my bedside was carefully wrapped in a hand towel to keep it safe.

Best bestie ever.

Sucking the emotion down, I focused on squealing over the two pairs of shoes she had packed. I grabbed my favorite red Valentino flats and hugged them to my chest.

“She really loves me, doesn’t she?” I sang.

Otto leaned casually against the doorframe of his bedroom, staring over at me. So massive it felt like he was filling up the entire room.

So damned hot in the jeans that clung to his thick, muscled thighs, another plain white tee stretched thin across his mercilessly wide chest.

Grin kissing his delicious lips but that fiery intensity boiling in the depths of that unrelenting gaze.

It was strange looking at him like this after what had happened last night and this morning.

It felt…normal. How we usually were. Though there was an undercurrent that had carved itself deeper. As if a new channel had formed. A new conduit of understanding.

“Don’t think it’s possible for someone not to love you, Raven Tayte.”

I got stuck there.

Gazing at him.

Why did he have to say those things to me? But I swore there was something different about him as he watched me, except I had a bad habit of believing my wildest fantasies would come true. Imagining things were there that were not.

Silence stretched between us. This strange awareness rippled on the waves. Then he suddenly pushed from the jamb. “You’d better get dressed or you’re going to be late.”

He didn’t say anything else before he turned on his heel and headed back out. His heavy boots echoed on the stairs as he ambled down to the main floor, and I quickly changed into a pair of black cropped jeans, a red, frilly sleeveless blouse, and the red Valentinos. I’d already dried my hair and Otto had set out an extra toothbrushfor me, so I quickly applied a little makeup before I grabbed my handbag and walked out.

“Ready.”

Blue eyes the color of a toiling sea raked over me. A heat wave that blasted through me.

I felt lightheaded.

God, I really was losing it.

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