Page 117 of Betting on the Bad Boy

I nodded against his chest. “I know. But I was afraid if I told you, you’d want out.”

“I never wanted out. I might have suggested you change our names.”

My hair fell around my cheeks as I shook my head. “I was so stupid.”

“Hey,”—he leaned down to kiss my cheek—“we both were. I should have pushed for more sooner.”

“So, what do we do now?”

His finger slid along my cheek. “Rumor has it you might be looking for a place to live?”

“I still have a month left on my lease. Haven’t figured out where I want to end up. My mom suggested I stay away from the west coast.”

“Ever been out east? I rented an apartment overlooking the river in Baltimore. Thought maybe it might be fun to take you out on a boat sometime. You ever done it on the water?”

My heart fluttered. “First time for everything, right?”

“No more secrets.”

I nodded against his chest and inhaled his intoxicating scent. “No more secrets, I promise.”

His lips crooked into a perfect grin. “You prepared to shake on that?”

“Isn’t there some other way we can seal that agreement?”

Dante growled into my ear, sparking a dormant need I’d stuffed away inside. “Damn straight there is. You’ve got three minutes to wrap this up and head home with me or else I’ll bend you over that table and take you right here.”

A delicious chill ran up my spine as I glanced over at the table in question. I pushed away from him long enough to catch Jess’s thumbs-up and announce to the people left in line, “Book signing is over for tonight. If you still want me to sign, just leave your copy with your name and number over there and you can pick them up tomorrow afternoon.”

“You forgot to sign mine.” Dante held his copy out to me.

I took it, not sure what to write. How could I sum up in just a few words how much he meant to me?

With the weight of his delicious gaze resting on me, I scrawled my signature and handed it back to him.

Dante glanced at the page. “From one asshole to another?”

“Hey, we were both to blame. Let’s not let it happen again, okay?” I tucked the bouquet of flowers against my side.

“You got it.” Dante wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me up against him as he guided me toward the door. “I’ve been meaning to ask. Did you finish it yet? How does it end?”

I shook my head, breathless, still reeling from the fact he’d shown up and was willing to give things another try. “How does what end?”

He stopped and turned to face me, circling my waist with his arms. “The story of Faith and Dante, the one you’ve been working on. The story of us.”

I tugged his mouth down to mine again and whispered, “It doesn’t end. This is just the beginning.”