Hottest Mess (SIN 2)

I clutch my phone tighter and tell myself not to think about it. I have a plan, after all, and worrying about Dallas's machinations isn't part of it. Instead, I need to call Henry Darcy. That's the next step, and that's what I do.

And even though I'm tempted to hang up after the first ring because I'm just feeling so damn shaky, I force myself to hold on, then ask the woman who answers if I can speak to him. And then I hear myself saying, "Mr. Darcy, this is Jane Martin, Eli Sykes's daughter and Dallas's sister. I was hoping you had a moment to chat?"

He's surprised to hear from me, of course, but when I tell him that I want to talk about his daughters' kidnapping, he says that he probably should have expected my call. After all, the press has been covering my books lately, and gossip about the casting for the movie of The Price of Ransom has been all over social media.

"I've heard about the title of your upcoming book," he says. "I saw you on Evening Edge last Saturday."

"Code Name: Deliverance," I say. "I guess I should start by saying thank you. It's a great title, and it pretty much came from you."

Darcy had told Bill about the vigilante group that had orchestrated his daughters' rescue. And in the telling, he'd also mentioned that he'd heard something he probably shouldn't--the internal name that the group used. Deliverance.

"That's actually why I'm calling," I say. "I was hoping to interview you for the book. Get a few details about how it worked. My thesis is all about the aftereffects of vigilante involvement, of course, but I think that providing the reader with an overview of the process, contact protocols, that sort of thing would really help the book as a whole. Do you think we could meet?"

Thankfully, he agrees. Unfortunately, he can't do it today. But I get him on my calendar for a lunch in just a few days and consider myself lucky.

I'm basking in the pleasure of a mission accomplished as I grab my phone and start toward the stairs to change for my class. I'm halfway up when it rings, and I pause to look at caller ID.

Dallas.

I consider not answering--after all, if Dallas needed a break to get his shit together, I ought to help him stick to that.

But the truth is that I don't have the willpower. Not where Dallas is concerned, and so I hit the button and answer the call.

"You call it the dark?" Dallas says without even waiting for me to speak. "I call it hell. A pit. A chamber of horrors. And I hate myself for wanting to go there with you." His voice is hard. Unflinching. And almost monotone in its precision.

"I told you, Dallas. I'm there for you however you need me to be. All you have to do is believe me."

"I do." His tone has softened, and I hear a touch of gentleness. "And we'll go there. But not yet. Not the first thing."

I'm actually smiling a little when I say, "Well, it would hardly be the first thing ..."

I'm not even sure he's heard me, because he presses on so quickly. "I want to go out on a date. I want something normal."

I frown, not sure that this is a good step. "Nothing between us is normal, Dallas. And maybe that's okay."

"Maybe," he concedes. "But I want it anyway. I want hand-holding and stolen kisses and candlelight." There's a beat, and in the silence I feel as though I'm floating simply from the impact of his words. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Oh." The question takes me off guard, and my head is suddenly flooded with all sorts of reasons why I should tell him I'm busy. I'd have to miss my class. I need to finish writing this scene. He tossed me out of his house, so maybe I should reject him as well, if for no other reason than to be contrary.

But then I think about the sensation of his skin against mine. Of how much I want his kiss. Of how I want to see his features lit by the glow of a candle.

And I think about how safe I feel just being near him.

"I don't know," I finally say. "What am I doing tonight?"

"Going out with me. I'll pick you up at seven. Dinner. A movie. Maybe drinks after."

I'm grinning like an idiot, but my smile soon dies. "A real date? In public? Dallas, are you insane? You know we can't. What if people figure it out?"

"Trust me," he says.

And because I do, I say, "All right."

Dinner and a Movie

Honestly, you'd think I'd never been on a date before.

I take a long bath with lavender scented bath salts, taking my time to soak and shave and generally relax. After I get out and towel off, I use some of the luxurious body butter that Stacey gave me for Christmas last year, rubbing it in so that my legs and arms are soft and subtly scented.