Page 58 of Maxim

I think he might kiss me, the way his eyes glance at my lips. I might want him to. The way my stomach flutters with the ideaof his lips on mine. He doesn’t, though. He shakes his head, backing away.

“Now tell me, what do you want for dinner?”

“Whatever you want is fine.”

He looks over at me and raises his brow. Silently telling me to give him an answer.

“I could go for some sort of pasta, maybe?”

“Are you asking or telling?”

“Telling. Definitely telling,” I lie. I was most definitely phrasing it like a question, hoping he would tell me if it sounds good to him or if he wants something else.

I know he is trying to make me strong, but I’m not there yet. I still worry this is all a big game and that he will punish me for the wrong move. I might be working on my trauma, but it’s still there.

“Good. Pasta works for me.”

He pulls out his phone, and while he does whatever he needs to, I can’t help but look at his forearms. Sometime today he rolled up his shirt sleeves, showing off his forearms. I never knew it was a look that did it for me until him.

Only I would find my captor attractive.

He’s not my captor anymore.

No, he’s much more than that to me.

He’s my only hope.

“Here.” He hands me his phone.

I look down at the screen and see that he pulled up a food delivery app and selected a restaurant. He’s already got a couple of things in the cart, so I hurry up and pick the first pasta dish that sounds like something I would eat and add it to the order.

When he takes the phone back, his eyebrows go up. “You only want one thing?”

“Yes, if that’s okay.”

“Are you sure you don’t want any dessert?”

I shake my head slowly. “I would love dessert, but it’s not something I can have often. It’s only for special occasions.”

He turns toward me and narrows his eyes. “What do you mean desserts only for special occasions?”

“I’m not supposed to have it often because all that sugar is bad for me.”

“Are you diabetic?” he asks as panic flies across his face.

“No, nothing like that. I just need to watch my figure.”

“Y-you…” He shakes his head as he wipes his hand over his face. “I don’t even know what to say about that.”

“Father and the madam said it’s very important to watch what I put in my body. Bad things can happen if our master finds us unattractive.”

Maxim breathes slowly like he’s trying to calm his temper. “I can assure you that you are and will be, no matter how much you gain, attractive. If you want dessert you can have it, understood?”

I nod, even though I don’t. I don’t understand why he’s making such a big deal out of this.

Muttering under his breath, he picks up his phone and starts tapping at the screen. “Dinner will be here in forty minutes.”

“Sounds good,” I say as he sets down his phone.