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“I’ll get it boxed up, and you can have it later,” I told her, watching as her eyes softened for a moment at my gesture.

After I paid, I grabbed her hand again and started leading her out of the restaurant. She tried to pull her hand away, but I wasn’t having any of that. As we passed the table where Charles’s companions were—and he wasn’t there—her shoulders relaxed.

What a fucker. I should have drowned him in that toilet. The only consolation I had was not only were his hand and nose broken…but there’d been urine in the toilet water I’d dunked him in.

Disgusting…but excellent.

“What’s your address?” I asked her when we got back into the truck.

“What?” she asked, looking adorably confused. “We’re not going back to the hotel?”

“It’s our first date. I’m going to take you to your front door and kiss you again. Then I’m going to leave. It’s a Circle of Trust policy to not sleep with someone on a first date.”

A complete lie. But itwasa policy for me tonight.

She gaped at me and blinked a few times before she had a response. “What’s a Circle of Trust?”

I shook my head as I pulled away from the curb. “You have so much to learn,” I said dramatically.

Her answering giggle was everything I could hope for.

The drive was quiet after she gave me her address, and I could tell by the pensive way she was staring out the window that she was deep in thought. We got to her very nice condominium complex, and I got out and walked around to open her door.

“You don’t have to walk me up,” she told me quickly, and I took the opportunity to smooth a piece of hair behind her ear…and then quickly kissed her.

“This is how first dates work, Calloway,” I told her, and she may or may not have swooned from me saying that.

Sloane obviously needed love; every little thing I did, she soaked up like she was a dying, dry land getting its first drop of rain. I couldn’t wait to give her everything she wanted and more.

I grabbed her hand as we walked into the high rise, my dick hardening at the shy, wondrous look she gave me.

“You’re beautiful,” I said, the words blurting out of me because in that moment, I was more confident than ever that there wasn’t a more stunning creature on the planet.

Sloane yanked her gaze away, concentrating on her fancy lobby like her life depended on it. “There you go again,” she whispered. “Acting crazy.”

I grinned and kissed the top of her head. “Get used to it.”

We got into the elevator, and Sloane punched in a code to get up to her floor—which I, of course, memorized—and the doors opened up into a condo that screamed money. Sleek lines, marble countertops, and floor-to-ceiling windows that framed a killer view of the city. But amid the magazine-perfect décor, I soaked in the few little personal touches. There was a cozy throw blanket draped over the pristine leather couch and a stack of well-worn books on the coffee table. Glancing around, I spotted a small collection of framed photos on a shelf—most of them black-and-white shots of places around the world, but there was one of a little girl, grinning wide and holding a puppy in her arms.

“Nice place,” I told her, genuinely meaning it. She had taste—even if I didn’t want to think about how she had so much money.

I pretended to look around. “Any pets? Roommates?”

“It’s just me,” she said with a shrug that I could see right through. My girl was lonely.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come in?” she asked.

I wanted to…more than anything, actually. I wanted to walk around this whole place and learn all I could about her. But I was trying to prove a point tonight—that I was in this for more than sex.

So I was going to have to pass.

The fact that I would be coming back tonight after she’d fallen asleep wasn’t something we needed to discuss.

“Not tonight, baby,” I told her.

“Ah-yes, still holding to that little rule of yours.”

“Yes.” I grinned. “I’m very proper about these things.”