Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 452

"Of course I did. You are my girl." Her eyes softened. "I would have liked to have breakfast with you this morning, but Sparrow was in such a hurry. I hope you ate something."

"I did." I hesitated, and let my voice go small. "I actually wanted to make dinner tonight, like I promised him this morning. But I slept the whole day away, and I just could not find the strength."

"Do not worry about that." She waved a hand. "We already had dinner on the way back. You just rest."

We already had dinner on the way back. The words slid into me like a blade, and I had to work to keep my smile from cracking. Of course they had. She had made sure of it, kept him fed and busy and far from this house, so that I could not do the one thing I had promised him. She had seen the way he softened toward me this morning, and she had moved to close the door before I could walk through it.

Good thing Grandmother had told me not to worry about dinner. Good thing her plan did not depend on a plate of food.

"I am going to sleep now." I let out a convincing yawn. "Goodnight, Scarlett."

"Goodnight, Tasha." She squeezed my hand and left, and I stood in the doorway until her footsteps faded, then closed the door very quietly and leaned against it, breathing. She had no idea. None at all.

I went to work. I started my makeup over, and this time my hands were steadier, my strokes surer. The makeup went on like armor, and when I was done I looked in the mirror and saw the woman from this afternoon, the dangerous one, and I smiled at her. I did my hair, letting it fall in soft waves around my shoulders, and then I took the blue dress and stepped into it.

It was even shorter than I remembered. The hem barely reached the tops of my thighs, and the front dipped so low that my breasts, which were not as generous as Scarlett's but were nothing to be ashamed of, sat in the open air like an offering. I turned this way and that in front of the mirror, and I had to admit there was no way a man could look at me like this and resist me. Not if he was breathing.

I took a deep breath, ran through the lines I had prepared one last time, added a sensual body spray, and walked out of my room and down the hall to Sparrow's door.

He scoffed, and something like amusement flickered across his face. "Seriously? You got all dressed up just to come and ask me about my day?"

I moved closer, letting the dress move with me. "Actually, I came for a different reason."

"What reason could that be?"

I reached out and placed my hands flat on his chest, right over his heart, and his skin was warm and still faintly damp beneath my palms. His eyes dropped to my hands, then rose to my face, and something shifted in them.

"What are you trying to do, Tasha?"