Black

around me, judging by Dante’s look when Shae and I walk into Vault after the cake tasting. We’re hand in hand, laughing.

“You two look awfully cheerful.”

“Who wouldn’t be?” Shae collapses onto a barstool. “We just stuffed our faces with some of the best cake I’ve ever had.” She smiles and hands Dante a purple box. “We brought you some samples.”

He opens it and takes a bite of the red velvet first, then works his way through the rest of the samples.

“Oh, God,” he moans. “They’re all good. Which one did you guys choose?”

“All of them,” Shae says excitedly. “We couldn’t pick just one. So instead of a cake, we’re going to have tiers of assorted cupcakes.”

Dante nods, swallowing his bite. “Sounds great. Where are we with the rest of the plans?”

I walk around the bar, grabbing a water from the cooler. I offer it to Shae, but she shakes her head. I take a drink as she explains what all she has done for the party thus far.

“Everything is ready to go. I gave your menu choices to the caterer, and he offered to let us come for a tasting prior to the party. If I can coordinate time with one of you in the next few days, we can do that.”

“I trust you,” Dante says, waving her off.

Her eyes shift to mine, and I lift my hands. “I’m all yours. Name the time and place.”

Shae smiles and gives me a heated look. Goddamn, she’s so beautiful I can’t help but walk around the bar and get one more taste of her sweet lips. The faint taste of chocolate frosting lingers on her mouth, and I groan.

Dante starts coughing, and I grab another bottle of water, passing it to him.

Twisting the top, he takes a swig. “Thanks.”

“Sorry,” Shae says, sheepishly. “Didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“It’s gonna take a lot more than that to make me uncomfortable, sweetheart.” Dante clears his throat and levels me with a steely look, one that tells me we’ll be talking later.

“What else have you got?” he asks.

“Nothing. Everything else is good to go,” Shae reports. “Invoices should be coming in soon, and I’ll forward those to you when the time comes.”

“Just have all the bills sent to Rex.” Dante smiles mischievously.

“Speaking of bills,” Shae adds, “you still owe me a shit ton of books.”

Dante’s laugh booms through the room. He lifts his hand, and Shae gives him a high five.

What am I missing? “What do you mean I owe you a ton of books?”

“Dante said if I pull this party off, you’ll fill my Kindle with all the romance novels my little heart desires.”

“Did he?” I look to Dante, who shrugs and turns toward his office.

“She’s your girl. I figure if you’ll be the one reaping the benefits of all the romance novels she reads, you should be the one to buy her the books.” He disappears around the corner.

“Romance novels?”

She crinkles her nose. “Did I forget to mention that I love to read?”

“Romance?”

“And erotica,” she adds.

Erotica. Moving closer, I erase what little distance is between us. Shae’s body relaxes against mine.