In his kind of business, places like that were out of the question. If he couldn’t have a reinforced house with gates and guards, then he had to live at the top of a high-rise building with coded elevators that made it hard as hell for The Silent Triad’s enemies to reach him.
“Wow, look at your view,” she gasped when they entered his penthouse. She walked straight past the marble-top kitchen, built-in bar, linear electric fireplace, and all the other shit the real estate agent had insisted made this place so special to take in the nighttime view of the Hudson under city lights.
Phantom stopped at the edge of the sheepskin rug and drank in the sight.
Yeah, his place was totally opposite from hers. Yet, she looked completely at home with her long ponytail and evening gown, framed by the most spectacular view money could buy in New York City.
Okay, enough of that.
He forced his eyes away from the goddess standing at his window and said, “I can show you to your room, but first let me do something, okay?”
“Sure. Is it okay if I make use of the facilities?”
Goddesses. Just like us when it comes time to take a whizz.
“Yeah, go for it. First door on the left, back where we walked in.”
He entered the kitchen and watched her walked away out of the side of his eyes. Her hip swayed gracefully under the elegant gown, giving him some not-so-refined thoughts about all the curves he’d find if he took that dress off of her.
Dangerous road, man, a voice inside of him warned. You promised her a safe space. Bring it back.
He concentrated on the task at hand. Lucky for him, he found all the things he needed in the Scavolini cabinets above the marbled counters and in the drawer with all the take-out menus.
By the time she returned to the living room, he had her surprise all ready: A glass of wine in one hand and a Chocolate Hostess Cupcake with a lit birthday candle in the other.
It wasn’t much—just the best he could do at the last moment. But she clapped both hands over her mouth like she’d won the lottery as he began singing, “Happy Birthday To You.”
“Sorry that douchebag forgot your birthday,” he told her after he was through. “But trust an expert, a hostess cupcake and a glass of wine will solve anything after a long day. Now come on, blow out this candle.”
She lowered her hands from her mouth, blinked like she was in some sort of daze.
But then she blew out the candle and smiled up at him, a beam of Southern sunshine in his cold, dark penthouse.
“Did you make a wish?” he asked.
She stared at him with the strangest expression on her face. Then suddenly, she grabbed him by the lapels of his suit…
And kissed him.
6
OLIVIA
I kissed him. I pressed my lips to his and clumsily shoved my tongue in his mouth, and he….he tasted the opposite of every guy I’d kissed before him, like danger, violence, and cold wind.
He pulled back, ripping his lips away from mine. “Hold on. Stop.”
Mortification—the kind that unrolls a set of blueprints inside your stomach with plans to build a forever home in the part of your brain where you keep all your cringiest memories—that kind of complete and utter mortification exploded inside of me.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I said, letting go of his lapels. “I shouldn’t have kissed you like that. Of course, you don’t want that from me. You were just being nice and truly thoughtful. Maybe it was the processed sugar—it’s been so long since I had it. I think it went straight to my head without me even having to taste it. Made me do something really stupid….”
I trailed off because what else could I say? I mean, I could throw all the Chocolate Hostess Cupcakes I wanted under the bus, but there was no real explanation for my serious lapse in judgment.
“Are you done?” he asked.
“Yes—I’m sorry,” I added one more time. “But yes, I’m done.”
He set the wine down on a nearby table. “Good. Then let me finish.”
Okay, that would be a no. There was no way my heart could withstand whatever he was about to say next.
“You know what, I’m just going to walk to my friend Eric’s place,” I told him, backing away. “I’m sure an evening stroll to the Lower East Side will be refreshing after everything that happened tonight. Thank you for your generous offer to host me.”
I headed for the door—only to have him jump in front of me.
He raised both hands.
“Listen, I’m trying not to be that scary fuck. But you are making this shit real hard right now. Especially after that kiss. Can you just hold off on leaving until I say my piece?”
