Page 33 of Meet Me in the Dark: The Complete Series

"Goodnight, Law."

I stare after him as he walks out the door without a single glance back at me. Then I'm left alone at a table filled with food for two, wondering if he left because he really got all he came for tonight, or because he was scared to stay longer? Scared to fall asleep with me again?

I reach down and get my phone out of my bag and see that it's only seven. I've got a lot of time on my hands before I get tired enough to climb into bed.

I walk around the room, the living room, small seating area, and end up in the bedroom, opening the sliding door that leads to the balcony. The air has a bit of a bite to it now with the sun having gone down, but I stand there for a little while anyway, letting my thoughts drift away with the gentle breeze. Or trying to. It's not working.

As I'm coming back into the room, my phone rings from the where I left it on the bed.

"Hey, Lexa," I answer, falling onto the bed to stare up at the ceiling.

"Imagine my surprise when I get to my best friend's apartment so she doesn't have to spend this Wednesday night all alone, but I find all of the lights off and no one home."

"Oh, uh, I'm at a hotel."

"On a Wednesday?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," she says with way too much excitement. "So this is a weekday thing now, huh? Did he ask you or you asked him to come?"

"He asked me. But I think you're reading way more into it than you should."

"I'm pretty sure I'm not. Clearly, this means he can't get enough of you."

"You mean, enough of what we do together."

"Is that what you guys did tonight?"

"Not... exactly."

"Then that's not all he wanted you there for."

"He had dinner ready, in the room when I got here." I do not mention the cake. It feels a little too personal to. Lexa screams as soon as I'm done speaking anyway.

"Oh, hell yeah. He's falling in love with you. Mission Pretty Woman is in progress."

I burst out laughing. "There is no love going around Lexa. How the hell can you be such a romantic when you won't even let any guy within ten feet of you?"

"Don't try to switch the focus to me, Sophie. You're so sure he's not falling in love, but are you?"

Her question silences my laughter in an instant. And Lexa's gasp fills the silence.

"You are."

"No. Not love. More like… I feel much more for him than I know I should be feeling. I really don't know anything about him to love him. I know his freaking name, that he’s rich, and that he likes to meet up with women he pays for sex on Saturdays."

"Sounds like enough to love someone to me." She chuckles.

I roll my eyes. "Definitely not. Tonight felt different, but at the end of the night, I'm reminded of how this all started, and I'm left asking myself if he expects me to charge him more for any extra nights."

"Shit, I would."

"Lexa, be serious for five seconds."

"I am being serious. So, why not just ask him, if you feel like things are changing, ask him if they are."

"I don't want to, honestly."

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