Page 55 of Shadow's Surrender
“Are you an only child?” she asked.
A small pause, then, “Yeah.”
“Do your parents live here?”
A longer pause. “They’re dead.”
Okay … I wasn’t expectingthat. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It must be hard.”
Shadow’s face tightened, the carved planes hard and closed. “It’s whatever.” Something told her not to pursue the conversation any further. “So, are you gonna take the apartment?” he asked, changing the subject.
“I wasn’t sure, but after all we’ve talked about, I’m going to do it. I have some money socked away.” Scarlett didn’t want to tell him that she had a very nice trust fund her paternal grandparents had left her. She never took from it, preferring to let it grow for the future.
“The one at the Belvedere?”
“I don’t think so. The one I really liked was at Lanai Towers, but you told me you wouldn’t come see me there. Do you want to talk about that?”
“No.”
She caught the haunted look that flashed in his eyes. “Okay, but when you want to, I’m here. I’m a really good listener.”
A smile ghosted his lips. “I’ll remember that.”
“The second contender is on Greenwood Boulevard. There’s a top floor condo that has the most amazing view.”
“Sounds great.”
“It is. My friend Kiara absolutely loves it. I think you will too.”
“Good to know since I’ll be spending time with you at your place.” He winked at her and she pushed forward and collapsed against him, peppering his throat, jaw, cheeks, and forehead with kisses. He laughed. “What the fuck did I say, baby?”
Then he caught her face between his hands and kissed her, fierce and deep, his tongue pushing inside, twining with hers. They clung to each other so tightly that two heartbeats became one as the rest of the world faded away, if only for a moment.
Her ringing phone brought Scarlett abruptly back to reality, and grumbling under her breath, she pulled away and dug it out of her pocket. Warren’s name blinked across the screen, and she threw her phone across the blanket.
Shadow chuckled, then rose to his feet. “You ready to go?”
“Not really, but I guess we can’t stay here forever.” She took his hand and he helped her up.
They walked back, hand in hand, to the motorcycle—both of them lost in their thoughts.
As Scarlett held Shadow tightly over the bumpy roads, she leaned her face against his back.I’m so falling for him. He wants us to be exclusive. If he only wanted to have sex, he wouldn’t care, would he? Stop it. Just enjoy the moment. Stop analyzing every damn thing.
When they got to the old highway, she relaxed a bit and enjoyed the landscape as it blurred past them.
By the time they returned to Pinewood Springs, the sky was a burnished copper, tinted with rose and dusky purple.
“Do you wanna go out to dinner on Friday?” he asked as he held open her car door.
“I’d love to.”
“Have you been to Steelers?”
“No.”
“Burgers are good—nachos are kickass.”
“Sounds great. I can meet you there.”
