Page 59 of Miss Understood

We forget about the job offer and the awkwardness of our situation. We simply eat, drink, and fall into natural conversation.

“So, I told my father finally,” Luce says after swallowing a bite.

“How did he take it?” Knowing how my own parents reacted, I can’t imagine it went well.

Luce sits up and rolls her shoulders hack. “His exact words were: ‘If he fucks with my baby girl, he’s answering to Marvin.’”

“Who’s Marvin?”

“His shotgun,” she says with a lifted eyebrow.

“Got it.” I swallow a long drink of water. Luce has told me enough about her dad and three brothers that I imagine he’s serious.

“He wants us out there for Christmas. I know that’s a long way away still, but Dad’s trying to get on my calendar before it fills up. And…you know, I know we talked about this ending after the case, so don’t worry; I didn’t make any promises.” Luce looks a little flustered.

I rest my hand over hers. “If that’s what you want, we’ll go for Christmas.”

Her eyes widen in surprise. We’ve avoided any discussion that involves what happens to our relationship once the case is over. And even if we don’t discuss it now, I hope us being on this date tells her I want something more than six weeks. I want anything she’ll give me.

“It would be nice to take a trip back home, or just get a vacation. It’s been so long.” Luce rolls her eyes like the thought of it exhausts her.

“Where would you go?” I ask her.

“Realistically or anywhere?”

“How about…” I scrunch my face. “Anywhere.”

I’m too curious not to ask. I’d like to know all her dreams—and make them come true if I could.

“Probably the Maldives, stay in one of those huts out on the water. I mean, the beaches alone…” Her eyes roll back like she’s having an orgasm at the thought of it. “Paradise. Have you ever been?”

I shake my head. “No, but if that’s your reaction just thinking about it, it just moved up my list of places I need to visit.”

Luce laughs, and it’s one of the most beautiful sounds I’ve ever heard.

“I’m going to hold you to that, Mr. Davis.” She pins me with a dark smile.

“You do that.”

Do anything you want, because I am yours.

By the time we get home, the weight of her job offer is off my chest, and all I can think about is how Luce is in my home.Ourhome. A space I never intended to share with anyone, but she fits in perfectly.

“Drink?” I offer, but she shakes her head.

Those magnetic eyes hold me in place as she skims her fingers along the kitchen island, her tongue running over her cherry-red lips like torture.

I now realize that, married or not, a month ago wasn’t the first time I noticed her like this. It was that first day, when she stepped out of the elevator in those skyscrapers she calls high heels, owning the air in the room and in my lungs. And it wasn’t just her beauty that struck me, although that didn’t go unappreciated—it was the words spilling from her mouth. So confident, strong, sure.

Even if I wasn’t ready to admit it, she’s had me for two years.

“What are you thinking about, Mr. Davis?” Her tone is playful as she looks at me with darkened eyes.

“You.”

The corner of her mouth ticks up into a smile, and she slowly walks the full length of the room back to me. Her fingers trace the marble countertop as she approaches, and I imagine how they feel running up my dick. She stops in front of me, skimming the line of my lapel with only a fraction of space between us.

“Thank you for the date, Mr. Davis. I had a lovely time.”

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