Page 14
One word. No explanation. And it’s the hottest thing anyone has ever said to me.
“Fine,” I say. “I won’t ask.”
His thumb strokes once across the inside of my wrist, and he lets me go.
“You can still walk out that door, dolcezza.” His voice goes low and rough. “There’s a car downstairs. Your night’s pay is yours either way. I’ll see to it.”
A beat.
“But if you stay, I’m going to want to see all of you.” His eyes drop to my mouth, then come back up, slow. “Starting with your face.”
Heat rolls through me so fast my knees almost go.
I believe him. The exit is real.
And the exit being real is exactly what makes me not want to take it.
His fingers find the ribbon at the back of my head and stop there.
“Let me see you.” A beat, his thumb resting on the knot. “Yes?”
“And if I say no?”
“Then it stays on.” No hesitation. “And I spend the rest of my life wondering.”
“Good. Wonder for a minute.”
A sound rumbles out of his chest, low and dark, barely there, more felt than heard, and it goes through me like a hand sliding up my thigh.
I make him wait. Three heartbeats. Four. Long enough to watch his jaw tighten under the edge of the mask.
Then I nod.
The rabbit mask slides away. Cool air on my cheeks. Nowhere left to hide.
He looks at me for a long time. I don’t duck my head. I don’t fill the silence with a joke. I lift my chin and let him look, every second of it.
“Bellissima,” he says, low, like it’s a fact someone should have told him sooner. “They hid this behind a rabbit mask. Someone should be shot for that.”
A beat, and his voice goes darker. “Then again, I’m glad they did. Not one man in that room got to see you like this.” His gaze moves over my face like he’s claiming it. “If one had, I’d have to take his eyes.”
His knuckles brush my cheek, slow, barely touching, like he’s learning the shape of it. No smirk under the mask. No angle. Nothing in his voice that wants anything back. He means it.
Something cracks open in my chest. Not lust. Worse.
Men have told me I’m hot. Told me I’d be pretty if I lost a little weight. Told me I clean up nice. Nobody has ever looked at my face like it was the whole point.
My eyes sting, and I’m furious about it. I am not going to cry in front of a man whose name I don’t even know.
“There you are,” he says quietly, like he heard every word I didn’t say.
“This is wildly unfair, you know.” My voice comes out shakier than I want it to. “You get my whole face, and I don’t even get a peek.”
His mouth brushes my temple. “I never said I play fair, Bella.”
His breath is warm against my temple, and the words sink into me, low and slow, until every inch of my skin is listening. My nipples tighten under the silk. My pulse throbs between my thighs, heavy and impatient. I’m done waiting.
I rise up on my toes.
