“What I did in those woods was because he put his hands on you,” he says. “Because he was trying to hurt you.”
I don’t know what makes me do it. But one second, I’m sitting in his lap, holding his hand, and the next, I’m cupping his face and kissing him.
“Can we please clear the air?” I murmur as I pull back. “I mean, between my disaster of a lunch surprise and not understanding your relationship with Sabine…” I sigh. “Can we do dinner tonight? Just you and me?”
Vaughn’s brow arches. “That sounds suspiciously like a date, princess.”
“And if it is?”
He frowns. “Evelina, I don’t do da?—”
“Then don’tcallit a date,” I grin, biting my lip and poking his firm chest.
He glares at me. But then I see the frost cracking around the edges as his lips curl into a quiet smirk.
I grin. “I’m getting to you, aren’t I?”
Silence followsthe ring of the buzzer as I pull my hand back. I’ve decided to continue on my quest of clearing the air and pay someone a little visit at home before my don't-call-it-a-date with Vaughn.
“Hello?” Sabine’s voice calls through the intercom.
She does stay at Vaughn’s penthouse from time to time. And she really does like his mansion up in the Adirondacks. But shealso has her own place on the Upper West Side now, near the Columbia University campus.
That’s where I am.
“Hey, Sabine?” I clear my throat. “It’s Evie.” I frown. “Um, Evelina? Nikitin?”
The intercom goes silent for a long moment.
“What do you want?”
Well, this is goingawesome.
“I was just in the neighborhood, and?—”
“How did you find out where I live?”
I smile. “Our…mutual friend?”
She sighs heavily.
“Look, I just…” I frown. “I think we got off on the wrong foot?—”
“Is that meant to be a fucking wheelchair joke, asshole?” she snaps.
Shit.
“No!” I blurt. “I’m sorry, terrible choice of words. I’m just…nervous, I think?” I sigh. “Can I come in? I really do just want to talk.”
Another long silence.
“Give me a minute.”
I step away from the intercom, grinning and nervously tapping my foot. Finally, the door buzzes and unlocks, and I step inside.
Sabine’s door is open when I get off the elevator upstairs. I walk into a super cool, artsy space with brick walls, big factory windows, and steps leading up to a lofted area.
“Wow,” I whistle, looking around as I shut the door behind me. “This place is amazing. Thatloft!”
