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Chapter One
They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions
I don’t know if the fool’s errand I was on counted as good intentions, but I was pretty sure there was a chance it ht to hell Handbasket included
It had been almost six ht with him Six nore the reason for his request Half a year for him to prod and tease and constantly remind
He wanted a night to prove there was more between us than just friendship or a wildly unprofessional work relationship Neither of us knehat that was, but he was bound and determined to find out
I, on the other hand, wanted to keep disregarding the chemistry because I didn’t think there was room in my life for another man Not with tolf soul h without throwing a vampire into the mix
That was then
Noas a olf queen, but I no longer had any soulday, and the other couldn’t bear to look atat me like I’d betrayed him…that ripped my heart to shreds in a way I didn’t think I’d ever be able to heal I’d always known I loved Des, he clai the sucker I was, I believed him
He’d neededconvenient, and he chose to fight over territory instead of being there for me when I needed hi in the open-concept loft of a va it be known he wanted to be with me
And I was lost
Holden stared at ood look at hied into his apartment He wore perfectly tailored jeans and a white dress shirt with all the buttons undone, exposing a sculpted plane of pale, muscular abdomen
I sed hard, and it didn’t escape aze drifted tothe fact he foundI wondered--now that I was here--if he was planning to bite me the same way he had in countless dreams
"I…" My voice trailed off as I tore my focus away from him and let myself take in the roo time, and I was often impressed by the stark, minimalistic cleanliness of the place
Hardwood covered the floors, and against the far as a bank of floor-to-ceiling s I’d never asked what he covered the the day, or if he left theht behind the Japanese paper-screen walls at the back of the apartment
"Secret" My name sounded different than it ever had before, at least fro or sarcasm The way he said it made the small hairs on my arms rise
It proved to be harder not to look at hiaze found the mostly nude Mapplethorpe portrait of Holden on the far wall, feoods I felt my cheeks flush, and when I turned away from it, he was still there, in person, more attractive than any portrait
"I don’t knohat I’ here," I confessed
He took a step closer, and the hunter’s instinct in me told me to back away, but I didn’t listen
"Sure you do"
Shaking my head, I added, "I shouldn’t be here"
"But you are" The obvious having been stated, Holden took the final step to close the space between us A moment earlier I’d been sure there were miles of floor to keep him at a nice, safe distance Now his hands were tentatively reaching for ers twined with my own, I let out a shuddery breath I hadn’t knoas holding
"What are you doing?" I whispered
His grip tightened, and he pulled ainst his I didn’t usually run hot, and Holden was roo up the closer I got to him
"What do you need?" he asked
What did I need? What kind of question was that? I tugged ers free of his, and my focus locked on the pearl-colored buttons of his shirt He aze, but I still couldn’t look at hi it between er
I could think of a dozen things I needed, none of which Holden could give to me But I’d been drawn to his I once did I’dthe price for it
And if Des to believe he was--I needed to forget what it meant to love hi would be to feel so else
"I need a distraction," I said