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No man has ever looked at me like that.

“I could spend hours just staring at you,” he says in a husky voice.

“You could do so many other things besides stare at me…”

“Like what, for example?” he whispers in my ear.

“Whatever you want.”

“Anything?”

“Take all of me, Vadim.”

***

Curled up against him on the couch, where he takes up all the room, I make a discovery.

“Where did this scar come from? I’ve never seen it before.”

I run my fingers over the small, raised mark on the inside of his arm. His eyes flick toward it.

“Oh, that? A motorcycle accident, a few years ago. It wasn’t serious.”

For over an hour, we haven’t been able to let go of each other.

“I want to know everything, Vadim. Everything that has happened to you over the last twelve years.”

“Nothing exciting.”

“Liar.”

He smiles up at the ceiling, then turns to me. “I think time stopped when we separated. And that it started again when I found you.”

How does he manage to do that?

Make me fall even deeper. For him. His words, his voice, his skin, his scent, his invisible wounds, and buried secrets. Everything that makes him who he is.

21

Alma

7:15 a.m.

I wake up alone in my bed. No note on the pillow, no message on my phone, nothing. Vadim is gone.

It was too good to be true.

Arriving at work, I find Lily wearing a leopard print jumpsuit and tortoiseshell lace-up shoes. I catch up with my little sister over a coffee, then speak with Simon from the technical department, who confirms they are doing everything they can to handle the crisis.

Leaving my coworker’s office, I finally run into Vadim. Clean-shaven and infuriatingly attractive in a fitted navy sweater, Vadim is in the hallway in the middle of a phone conversation. He spots me, then murmurs a few words, and hangs up before I reach him.

“Alma Lancaster,” he says with a smile. “I had a wonderful night last night. How was yours?”

“Well, I thought mine was wonderful too, but I must have been dreaming, because I woke up alone.”

“I’ll have to leave you with a more lasting memory next time,” he whispers.

“What do you mean, ‘next time’?”