Chapter 84
Chapter 84:
“It’s Sunday. Relax.” He finally looked up and gestured to the empty chair across from him. “Sit p>
A spread was laid out on the table — croissants that looked flaky enough to shatter, a bowl of cut fruit, and a silver pot of coffee. Eliza sat. Her stomach gave a nervous flutter. The intimacy of breakfast felt heavier than the intimacy of the night before. Night was for secrets; morning was for truths.
She reached for a glass of water and drank half of it, letting the cool liquid soothe her dry throat. She set it back down.
Dallas placed his tablet on the table with a soft click. His attention shifted entirely to her, dark eyes tracking her movements with quiet intensity.
He reached across the small table. His hand hovered near the coffee pot for a split second, then changed direction.
He picked up her water glass.
Eliza blinked. “Dallas, that’s mine. I drank from it p>
“I know,” he said. His voice dropped an octave.
He held her gaze with a gravitational pull she couldn’t resist and began to rotate the glass slowly in his hand. The faint smudge of her pink lipstick came into view at the rim. He stopped rotating when the mark was facing him. Then he lifted the glass, placed his lips exactly over the pink stain — covering her mark with his own — and drank the rest of the water. His throat worked as he swallowed, his eyes never leaving hers.
𝖯o𝘱𝘶𝘭аr 𝗌𝘵𝘰𝗋𝗂𝗲s 𝗈𝗇
Heat exploded across Eliza’s face and rushed up her neck. It was an indirect kiss, blatant and possessive — more intimate, somehow, than if he had simply leaned over and kissed her mouth. It was a statement. I take what is yours. I consume what you touch.
He set the empty glass down. The sound of glass on metal rang in the quiet air.
“I thought —” Eliza stammered, her voice unsteady. “Azalea said you were a germaphobe. She said you hate sharing p>
“I am. Usually,” Dallas said. He leaned back, a ghost of a smirk playing at his lips. “Exceptions apply p>
Eliza was speechless. Her hands trembled in her lap. She grabbed a croissant just to have something to hold, tearing it into pieces without eating any of it.
Dallas’s phone buzzed on the table, cutting through the tension.
He glanced at the screen, and the smirk deepened into a genuine smile. “Azalea. She wants to know if I behaved last night p>
Eliza let out a nervous laugh, the sound a little brittle. “She’s very protective. She really loves you p>
“She loves you,” Dallas corrected. He looked at her, his expression softening. “You’re good with her, Eliza. She listens to you p>
“She’s a good kid. You raised her well,” Eliza said softly. She looked at him — truly looked at him — and saw the man who had taken in a dying friend’s child without hesitation. “You’re a wonderful father to her p>
The air on the balcony shifted instantly. The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.