Page 46 of Fallen Angel

“What are you doing?” he says.

“I’ve been thinking about you, too,” she says, and realizes it’s true. She breathes in the unfamiliar scent of him, resting her cheek on his shoulder. With her body pressed against his, she can feel that he’s hard.

“Are you going to quit?” he says, his voice husky.

“Maybe.”

“Well, you’d better go sit down until you decide.”

She doesn’t sit down. In that moment, she’s liberated from the misbelief that she’d never be attracted to anyone but Alec. The idea that if she didn’t find a way to make her relationship with him work she’d never be happy was just a myth she told herself. Standing there, holding Gavin Stone, she suspects she could be happy with another man—even if just for one night. And she needs, for many reasons, to know what that would feel like.

“I quit,” she whispers, kissing his neck. Then, like a sleeping prince in a fairy tale brought to life by her touch, he presses his mouth against hers.

Gavin pulls her closer, his hands roaming slowly to her ass. It’s been so long since she kissed a man other than Alec. Her stomach feels like she’s on a roller coaster free fall.

They kiss like teenagers until Gavin pulls back. She’s breathing fast, from the kissing, but also from the feeling she’s just crossed some sort of point of no return in her relationship.

He leads her by the hand to the leather couch. Lord, he’s handsome. His eyes and his full lips and his thick head of hair. Had this somehow not registered before?

She sits next to him, trying to regulate her heartbeat. The intense way he’s looking at her doesn’t help. But she can tell he’s about to say something serious, and she tells herself to start thinking with her head and not her pussy. This whole thing is crazy.

“As much as I want you right now—and believe me, I can’t remember ever wanting anyone more—I’m afraid this is a bad idea,” he says.

He rakes his hand through his hair. He has the big strong wrists of an athlete. She wonders if he played a sport in college. There’s so much she doesn’t know about him.

“I get it,” she says. The truth is, in that moment, she doesn’t agree. Not at all.

They lock eyes, and she leans in and kisses him and he pulls her to him with an urgency that contradicts his objections. She climbs on top of him, straddling him, making contact with his erection. His hands wind through her hair, and their mouths clash together, teeth against teeth. She wants to put her hands in his pants, to feed his cock into herself.

Her phone rings, an unwelcome intrusion of reality.

“I should get that,” she says, jumping up to get her bag. It’s got to be Alec, imploring her to come home.

But the call isn’t from Alec. It’s Bette.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Mallory says quickly. “Because I’m actually—”

“No, of course it’s not okay! Did you just quit the Blue Angel?”

Mallory can’t believe it: She knows the burlesque world is small and gossipy, but this is outrageous.

“I can’t talk about it right now.”

“Me neither—I’m heading into the subway,” Bette says. “So meet me at the address I’m going to text you.”

There’s no way she’s making another stop tonight. She needs to get home, even if that means dealing with the pain and awkwardness of facing Alec.

“I should go,” she tells Gavin.

“Of course. It’s late,” he says

“But I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Mallory …”

“Because I need to work. So until I find another job, I’ll be here. At my desk. To work.”

He nods. “Fair enough.”