The Reluctant Romantics Box Set (The Fall, The Mind, The Heart)

a smirk.

I just gave him my best ‘you’re full of shit’ by eye.

I took a sip of my wine, finishing my glass, and pointed to my order on the menu, catching him eyeing me through his tumbler of scotch.

“You’re a beautiful woman, Dallas.”

I choked slightly on my mouth full of fermented grape and thanked him as I recovered.

“You are…so damn beautiful,” he said more to himself than me. I stared at him, unable to keep my chest from rising and falling rapidly. My thighs clenched with the way he looked at me, like he wanted to take me right there. I couldn’t stop staring back. Everything I had dreamt about for the last seven years was sitting across from me at the table, looking at me as if he was thirsty and I was the very last drink of water.

You hate him.

“Stop it,” I said dismissively as our plates were put in front of us. I finished my steak at neck breaking speed and watched him scoff at my blatant disregard for the proper fork and the art of chewing.

“I remember Rose eating like this, but you?”

“Yeah, yeah.” I ignored him as I devoured the rest of my plate and ordered a huge piece of seductive chocolate cake for dessert. We made small talk, mostly leading to dead ends. I fumbled with a few words under his gaze as I caught it throughout the meal. Dean’s eyes were a clear blue. Much like Josh’s, they had an effect on me. Yet Dean’s did things far worse to me. After a few years apart from Dean, I was almost sure I had romanticized so much about our past; staring at him now across the table, I knew I had not imagined a thing. And he was no longer living in a foreign land I could never reach. He was within my grasp and looking at me like he used to. I was sure I was doing the same.

He was engaged, and, oh, Dallas, he tore your fucking heart out.

“Dean, this was wonderful, thank you. You can drop me off at my car.”

“Ready for bed?” His gaze was hot on mine as he took in my neck and bare shoulders.

“Still a smooth talker.” I winked. “I’m sure the three of us would be a little uncomfortable in your bed. You know, you, me, Helena—” I held my tongue as his stare grew a little colder.

His expression didn’t waver and I felt myself sinking in my seat.

“I’d have to have you all to myself,” he said, his eyes lingering on my lips as I spoke.

“You have had me all to yourself,” I said as the heat in my lower half rose to an immeasurable temperature.

Oh God, this was a mistake, a huge mistake.

Things had gone from casual to dangerous again in a matter of seconds. I would never get used to this. To the way he made me feel. I drank in his sharp features, his chiseled chin, and perfect full lips. His paralyzing eyes were accented by dark black lashes and his smooth black hair made them stand out.

Was he always this gorgeous? Yes, God, yes he was.

I remembered the feel of his lips on mine, his tongue, and the weight of him as he took me—

“And then you dumped me,” he said, dragging the dead horse to the table. He had said it in a way where it could be construed as a joke, but I knew better.

Shit.

“I think your memory may be a little foggy. That really isn’t how it happened. Besides, you had it coming,” I said, trying to tread lightly. “You put me through hell in high school and made sure no one would date me.”

“That was just so Jon Reiner couldn’t pop your cherry.” I laughed at his absurd statement and he joined in.

I leaned in to whisper, “How could you get my cherry if you never dated it in high school?”

“I figured I had some time, but you turned into such a hoe.”

I laughed again and so did he.

“One guy. I slept with one guy in high school. Let it go. God, you are such a hypocrite, and if it makes you feel any better, Reiner was a disaster.”

I looked at the man across from me, replaying the night I had boldly put the moves on him at his frat party. It had been incredible. All those years of pent up sexual frustration unraveled around us as we explored each other, repeatedly. I had replayed that night over and over in my head throughout the years. That night had changed everything.