“Dance with me,” she whispers, her eyes filled with something that has me breathing a little harder, my heart beating a little wilder. “I dare you to dance with me, Lex.”
I grin at her and shrug out of my shirt fully before reaching for my phone. Raya’s eyes widen just a touch as music begins to play, and she smiles when I offer her my hand. The way she can’t quite keep her eyes off my bare chest makes me feel like I’m on top of the world, and for once, I cast aside my usual desire for control, opting for spontaneity instead. It’s the first time in years I’ve done anything like this, and I forgot how good it can feel to let go, to see where the night takes us without fixed plans to guide us.
I’ve watched her all night, and I haven’t noticed even the slightest hint of insincerity. She doesn’t seem impressed with the splendor of my penthouse as much as the view and my abs, and fuck if it doesn’t give me hope. If she truly is who she’s pretending to be, she’s my every dream come true.
Raya’s free hand slides up my chest and around the back of my neck, and I pull her closer, falling into step with her. She grins when I raise a brow, impressed by her footwork. “You know how to dance the foxtrot?”
She tilts her head in a cutesy way, a sheepish smile on her face. “It’s because of my parents,” she tells me. “It’s their dance, and when I was younger, my dad spent countless afternoons getting his toes stomped on as he taught me the steps.”
My heart races as we turn, dancing through my penthouse, perfectly in sync. We’re not leaning back like we’re supposed to, nor are our arm placements correct, but our steps are perfectly aligned. Our version is more intimate, more romantic. “I’d better make sure I remember to thank your father for his grand sacrifice someday,” I tell her, smiling, even as a pang of longing settles deep in my chest. I had my grandfather, and I’ll always be grateful he was there for me, but I’d give the world for an opportunity to make memories with my parents. Would they dance together the way Raya tells me her parents do? I’d like to think so.
Raya tilts her head to the side just a touch — a move I’ve come to associate with her not taking me seriously and thinking I’m just being flirtatious. If only she knew I meant every word.
Her hair sways as we turn, and fuck. Her face is lit up by the moonlight shining in through the window, and the way she looks up at me with that look in her eyes… surreal. “You’re beautiful, Raya. Fucking breathtaking.” The words leave my lips without conscious thought, needing to be said, my will be damned. Every minute I spend with her just makes my resolve weaken more. I was supposed to figure her out so I could stay ten steps ahead of her, but fuck, she’s got me dancing around in circles with a smile on my face.
Raya blushes and misses a step, her eyes wide. I smile and pull her closer, the two of us coming to a standstill in my living room. I’ve never felt quite this flustered. With each passing second, I second-guess myself more. Will this all fall apart when she realizes that me running into her wasn’t a coincidence? The way she toasted to honesty, instead of truths or dares, wasn’t lost on me.
I cup her face with my free hand, tipping her head up towards mine. God, I hope my intuition is right this time. I hope this is all as real as I think it is. Please, don’t let this become another moment I’ll regret, another occasion when indulging in spontaneity ends up costing me.
Raya draws a shaky breath, her gaze roaming over my face, like she’s trying to assess my sincerity. Her eyes pause on my lips, and she tilts her face just a little, the same need I’m feeling mirrored in her eyes.
My thumb brushes over the edge of her mouth, and her eyes flutter closed. “Can I kiss you, Raya?” My voice is soft, pleading. I don’t recall the last time I felt this way. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this desperate for a mere kiss. I shouldn’t be doing this, shouldn’t let myself be swayed by the mood tonight or the chemistry between us…but fuck, I’m desperate for her.
She looks up at me from lowered lashes, her breath hitching as she nods. “I dare you to,” my future wife whispers.
I tighten my grip on her as my lips brush against hers, once, twice, carefully. Fuck. She tastes like honey — my favorite. I groan as I pull back for a split second, only for my lips to come crashing down against hers harder. She responds in kind, her hand threading through my hair as she kisses me back.
Raya moans when I part her lips, my tongue teasing her as I deepen our kiss. She rises to her tiptoes, and desire grips me hard and fast when she moves her body against mine. My hands run down her waist, betraying my need, and another moan escapes her lips when she feels how hard my cock is against her.
My hand dips lower down her back, impatient in its pursuit for more. Her curves are perfectly soft, and fuck, I wish her dress wasn’t in the way. Raya gasps when I grab her hips and lift her into my arms. Her legs wrap around me instantly, her dress riding up in the process, and I push her up against the window. We both moan the moment my cock settles between her thighs, the grinding movement intoxicating even through the layers still separating us.
My forehead drops to hers, and I draw a shaky breath, willing myself to take it slow with her. I pull back a fraction to look at her, rooted in place by the look in her eyes. It hits me hard, that feeling of pure intoxication. “You make me feel entirely out of control, Raya. I swear this isn’t what I had in mind when I asked you to leave with me. I don’t want you to think there’s only one thing I’m after, but fuck, baby, I can’t tear myself away from you.”
She cups my cheek and looks into my eyes, her gaze searching. “Maybe I’m foolish for believing you, but I do.” Her thumb brushes over my mouth, her breath coming out in little pants. “You do the same thing to me, you know? You make me throw caution to the wind, all for just another kiss.”
The way she looks at me makes it near impossible to resist pulling her in for one more kiss, yet somehow, I find it in me to lower her to the floor. I’ve already overcomplicated things endlessly by approaching her under false pretenses, I can’t let things go any further. Tonight was meant to tell me whether or not she was a good person, but every second with her snowballs into another, creating a chain of events I can’t extricate myself from. I’m not even sure I want to.
I offer her my hand, and she takes it, her fingers entwining with mine as I lead her back to the kitchen, where our wine glasses are waiting for us. “I forgot whose turn it is,” Raya says, squeezing my hand. “But I think it’s mine.”
I chuckle, my heart warming when I take in her cute expression. “Truth, my little fairy. I’ll go with Truth this time.”
She reaches for her wine glass and leans back against the kitchen counter, her gaze roaming over my bare chest hungrily. “I’ll go easy on you,” she says, her voice husky. “Tell me your favorite color.”
Her gaze settles on my Adonis belt, and her eyes trace the V shape of it leisurely, her cheeks rosy and her hair messier than before. She looks so fucking sexy, and for a moment, I find myself imagining what she’ll look like in my bed.
“Yellow.”
Her eyes snap to mine, the surprise in them oddly endearing. Her face is so expressive, and I love being able to read her thoughts and emotions. With each moment we spend together, more of my doubts melt away. “No way! Mine too!”
I chuckle and reach for her, gently pushing her hair out of her face. “Seems like we’re perfect together,” I tell her, my tone light. In the back of my mind, alarm bells are going off, reminding me that the web of lies I’m spinning continues to become more elaborate by the second. Acting on impulse has never worked out well for me, yet that’s all I’ve done with her from the second she crashed into my life.
“Your turn, Raya. Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” she says as she takes a sip of wine. Her eyes find mine, and there’s something so intimate about the way she tries to read me, the way I don’t mind it when I’m so accustomed to hiding my emotions behind a carefully crafted facade. I just hope I don’t come to regret opening up to her. I’m not even sure why I’m doing it, why I’m allowing her to see parts of me I’ve never shown anyone else.
“Tell me, my sweet little fairy. What did you want to be when you were little?”
She smiles, her gaze wistful. “My family actually runs an automotive company too, and I always knew I’d end up following in my father’s footsteps. I remember the day I decided that I wanted to be an engineer vividly.”
My heart skips a beat when she smiles, her gaze overflowing with affection. “I’d just found out that I wouldn’t be able to drive the cars my dad let me help him build until I turned sixteen, and to my six-year-old self, that’d seemed like an eternity. I think that was the first time I experienced real heartbreak, Lex.”
I chuckle, my heart warming as I’m enraptured by the animated way she tells me her story, the way her eyes widen as the pitch of her voice rises. “It’s not funny,” she says, pouting. “Even back then, I was convinced I wouldn’t be able to fully understand cars until I was able to drive one, and it threw a wrench in my plans to become a genius car designer. I had it all planned out, you see. I was going to create a whole collection of princess cars because I felt like there weren’t enough pretty pink cars.”
I brush her hair out of her face and bite back a smile. I bet that even then, she’d have been fucking adorable. “So, what happened?”
She grabs my arms, her smile so wide that I can’t help but smile in return. “You will not believe this. I’d been lethargic for weeks, until one day, Dad took me to his company after school. He told me he had a surprise for me, and when we walked into his worksite, there was a little platform, identical to the ones he uses for his prototypes. On it stood the most beautiful glittery pink car I’d ever seen — it was a perfect replica of my dad’s own car, in my favorite color.”
She sighs, the stars in her eyes shimmering with admiration for a man I’m reluctant to meet. Bob Lewis’s background check wasn’t quite as clean as Raya’s, and I’m not sure what to make of the man. “I knew right there and then that I wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps. I just didn’t know how hard it would be to fill his shoes.”
I cup her cheek gently and lean in the press a soft kiss to her forehead. “If anyone can do it, it’s you, Raya. I have no doubt.”
The way she looks at me makes my heart race, and we both smile. “What about you? What did you want to be when you were younger?”
I rock back on my heels, enjoying the way her gaze roams down my body as I do so. She inhales sharply when she sees how hard I still am, my pants doing nothing to hide my erection. Her cheeks turn so beautifully rosy, and I smirk, loving that look in her eyes.
“I’m not sure, you know? I always wanted to be an engineer, just like my grandfather. Unlike my older brothers, I don’t have all that many memories with my parents. My hero was my grandfather.”
My chest tightens at the memory of him, and I lower my gaze, my eyes brushing over the watch he gave me just a few days before I lost him. “He was incredible, and growing up, I wanted to be just like him. I’d sit next to him as he designed and built toys for each of my siblings and me, and he never tired of answering my questions. He’d let me help, and to this day, it’s the knowledge he imparted that I still rely on most. I miss him each and every day, and every once in a while, I find myself talking to him out loud as I’m designing something, wondering what he’d do or what advise he’d give me. I do it even though I know he isn’t there to hear me.”
I wonder what he’d think of Raya. He’d often joke with me, telling me he already had someone in mind for me to marry someday. Even when I was little, I’d known I wouldn’t choose my own partner, and I never should’ve tried. If I hadn’t, Grandpa might still be here with me.
Raya reaches for me and brushes the back of her hand over my cheek, her touch soothing. “He’d be so proud to see you today, Lex. I’m a little reluctant to admit it, but you’re kind of a role model to me too. That’s why it was so embarrassing for me when I realized who you were, because I really should’ve recognized you straight away, and it’s so silly that I didn’t. I’ve followed your career for some time now, and I’ve always loved how freely you share your knowledge, even when you know you’ll lose your competitive advantage because of it. Each time you publish a paper, I read it immediately. Some of your research helped me with something I’m working on, and you just… you have no idea how much of an impact you make.”
Her words humble me, and I’m not quite sure what to say. “It’s something my grandfather taught me,” I end up muttering. “Technological advances mustn’t be hoarded; they must be shared for the betterment of society as a whole. Grandpa believed that competition leads to further innovation, and I firmly agree with him.”
“He sounds incredible,” she says, her tone reverent.
“He was,” I agree, pulling her in for a hug. I haven’t been able to talk about my parents or my grandfather in years, and she has no idea how difficult it is for me to do so now. I’m not even sure how she was able to make me open up like that, when no one else can.
Raya rises to her tiptoes and hugs me tightly, and it hits me then — when was the last time anyone hugged me like that? I draw a shaky breath as I tangle my hand in her hair and tilt my face, needing more.
“Raya,” I whisper, pulling back a little to look at her. She reads me with ease and leans in to kiss me. This kiss is different to the ones that came before it. It’s filled with consolation and incredible sweetness that I can’t quite get enough of.
“My turn,” she whispers against my lips, before leaning in for another kiss. “Choose Dare, Lex.”
I smile in between kisses, surprisingly happy to obey my future wife.
