“You changed me the moment I laid eyes on you,” he murmurs. “I’m taking you out.”
A smile lights me up. “Out—now?”
He smirks. “Unless you’ve got other plans? Like maybe drag you inside and fuck you until we’re both raw and wrecked and hungry for more … so, yeah, out. In public, where I’ll have to play nice and, at least pretend to be civilized.”
My heartbeat gets as frantic as his. “Are you serious?”
He stares darkly at me. “Deadly. Go get ready. I’m going to treat you like the queen you are.”
7
LEX
You’re making another mistake.
I ignore the warning bells screaming through me.
Focus instead on how drop-dead gorgeous Rose looks as I lead her into my garage. She’s wearing a flowing blue dress that hugs suggestively—but subtly—to her curvy form. She’s unbraided her hair, let it flow to her shoulders.
Light makeup draws out her natural beauty instead of replacing it.
I open the door to my dark car, windows tinted. She steps inside, brushing my arm.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” she says. “I never go out this late.”
I smile. A real one. Not forced. Not savage.
Something like happiness sparks in my cold chest.
“You deserve it,” I tell her. “Hell, Rose, you deserve the world.”
She touches my arm. “How can you say that when you hardly know me?”
“The truth? I feel like I know you better than I’ve ever known any woman. One day with you is like a year with anybody else.”
As I drive out of the neighborhood and toward the city, I notice she’s gone quiet. Wringing her hands in her lap.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Nothing,” she murmurs.
I place one hand on her leg. Slip beneath her dress and squeeze her naked thigh. My dick pulses. She touches my wrist like she’s unsure whether she wants to urge me higher or tell me to stop.
“Is Daddy going to have tomakeyou tell me?”
“Other women,” she says quietly. “But it’s silly. I’ve got no right to ask.”
“Other women don’t exist to me,” I growl. “Only you, Rose. Nobody else matters. Look at me like I’m nuts if you want. I know it’s only been a couple days. But I mean it. You’re everything to me.”
“But how?” she says, her smile a prize I’ll never stop trying to win.
“Your determination to fulfill your mom’s final wishes. Your beauty. Your stubbornness to stand up to the property developer. To do the right thing instead of taking the easy path. You’re inspirational.”
Her smile widens. My cold armor cracks even more. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me for telling the truth.”
I should listento the caution inside me. Take her someplace quiet where nobody will notice us. But she deserves better than that.
