"Dangerous question."
"You said anything."
"I think about how you taste." His voice drops. "I think about what sounds you'd make if I touched you the way I want to. I think about stripping away all that modest armor you wear and finding out if the rest of you is as responsive as your body was when I had you over my lap."
I can't breathe. "Dante?—"
"You wanted to know." His hand slides higher on my thigh. "I think about you constantly. When I should be working. When I'm trying to sleep. When you're in the next room and I'm trying to convince myself to stay away." His eyes are dark, intense. "I think about what it would feel like to stop pretending this is just business."
"It is just business."
"Is it?" He's close enough now that I can feel his breath. "Then why is your heart racing? Why are you leaning toward me instead of away?"
"I'm not?—"
"You are." His hand cups my face. "And I know I shouldn’t care. Should maintain distance. Should remember this is temporary." His thumb traces my lower lip. "But I don't. I can't."
"We can't do this." But I'm not moving away. Not pushing his hand from my face. "This isn't part of the arrangement?—"
"Fuck the arrangement." He's so close now our lips are almost touching. "Tell me you don't want this. Tell me you don't think about it too."
I should. I should tell him exactly that.
But I can't.
Because it would be a lie.
"I—"
"We're here," Tony announces from the front seat.
Dante and I spring apart like teenagers caught by parents.
The gates of his estate are opening. The house looming ahead, all lit windows and cold perfection.
The moment is broken.
"We should..." I trail off, not sure how to finish.
"Yeah." Dante runs a hand through his hair, looking as off-balance as I feel. "We should."
Tony parks, then a second later he opens my door. I climb out on shaky legs, hyperaware of Dante behind me.
Inside, we pause at the base of the stairs.
"Bianca," he says.
I turn.
" The party. This thing between us—we need to figure it out."
"There's nothing to figure out."
"Yes, there is." He moves closer. "Because whatever this is, it's not just business anymore. And we both know it."
He's right.
I hate that he's right.
