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WEST

She consumes me.

Her taste, her touch, her smiles. It’s all I think about in the days leading up to the Calloway Spring Ball and Rafe’s arrival. The party itself is a yearly tradition, has been for almost a century. A necessary evil.

A place to see and be seen.

Nora sleeps in my bed now. The cat even jumped up to join her one night, nose in her face, and I woke up to her giggling beside me at his whiskered sniffing. Darcy, she decided, after the hero ofPride and Prejudice.

He was just as hard to charm,she told me, with a cat purring beside her.Proud and loyal. And he’s a library cat!

Fairhaven becomes a hub of activity again, preparations for the ball filling all rooms on the bottom floor, and all I can think is that I can’t let Nora go.

After Rafe comes and we solve this whole thing with Wilde, clear the threat against her, I’ll ask her about it. If she’ll stay. If she’ll go on another date.

A real one this time.

The night of the party, I go to find her before the guests arrive. She’s not in her rooms. She’s not in her atelier on the top floor, either, or downstairs alongside the bustling preparations. I find her in the conservatory instead.

She’s flanked by two large palm trees, looking out over the ocean. Her hair is dark down her back and she’s in a glittering pink dress that flows down to kiss the marble floor.

She’s fluid even while standing still, like she’s just stepped out of the Atlantic and walked up my lawn. A mermaid, a mirage, a glittering illusion. Like she might disappear just as easily.

“Hi,” I say. It’s notyou kill me, but it’s close.

She turns. The dress hugs her tight before it drapes out past her knees. The fabric shimmers and sparkles in the dim lighting. Like she’s dripping in it, caressed by it. “Hey,” she says, and runs her hands down her hips. “What do you think? It’s my showstopper dress for the fashion show. I wanted to give it a trial run.”

I let my eyes linger over her bare arms and the silky hair that kisses her shoulders. “You know pink’s my favorite color.”

A matching flush races up her cheeks, and she laughs a little. “I don’t know what to say when you tell me things like that.”

“You don’t have to say anything. It’s the truth.” I reach into the pocket of my suit jacket and grab the velvet box. “You’re going to win that Fashion Showcase.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But I’ll be in front of the judges, and that’s a win.” Her eyes warm, looking me over. “You don’t look too bad either. I love you in a suit.”

I tilt her chin up and smooth my thumb over her full lower lip. “We have to fake it one more time. Can you do that for me?”

“Act deeply in love with you?” Her eyes are warm and teasing. “Yes, West. I can do that.”

“I had something made for you.” I open the box I’m holding. Inside is a delicate tennis bracelet studded with diamonds. She lifts it out with careful fingers. “Look on the inside.”

She turns it over, and then her breath catches. “Be a good girl and get angry,” she reads. “You had it engraved?”

“If you ever need a reminder. If I’m not around to tell you to stand up for yourself.”

“West, this is…” She holds out her wrist. “Put it on me.”

I fasten it and let my fingers linger over her soft skin. She’s not wearing any rings, her nails painted pink, short, oval. I stroke my thumb over her knuckles.Stay, I think.Stay with me.

Don’t go out into the wide world. Don’t use your newfound skills on dating, on strange men, on relationships. The words are there on the tip of my tongue.

“Is Wilde coming tonight?” she asks.

I turn her hand, thread her fingers through mine. “He’s invited. He’s never gotten an invite before, and from what I’ve heard, he likes… being seen. But I don’t know if he’ll be brave enough to show.”

She blinks a few times. “I’m not sure if I want to see him. To think that he has made my life hell for the last few months… and only to get to Rafe?”

I pull her closer, and she flows into me like water, her hands pressing against my chest. Holding her has become the easiest thing in the world. The most natural thing. “You don’t have to confront him if you don’t want to. But you should get the option.”