Page 101 of Sinful Promise

“I want that too.” Her voice sounds thick with emotion, and my chest tightens.

“Shit, I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

She shakes her head. “I’m not. It’s just… I’ve wanted this,you, for so long that a part of me is terrified that it’s all too good to be true.”

“Me too. I can’t seem to think straight when you’re around. Even now, all I can focus on is the feeling of your thigh against mine.”

“Don’t worry, I feel the same.” Emily smiles, nudging her knee against mine.

I look down into her green eyes, and I feel myself melting as she looks at me like I’m her entire world.

“You’re intoxicating, you know that?”

She takes my face in her hands and gently presses her lips against mine.

The kiss is gentle, with no sense of urgency—as if we have all the time in the world just to explore each other.

But I know that at any minute, Zara and Dimitri could come up here, and I do not want them to catch us going at it in the hot tub.

She breaks the kiss. “You should go before we get carried away.”

“You’re probably right. But I want you to know that I’ll be thinking of you tonight.”

“Mmm… Me too.”

She is not making it easy for me to leave, but I need to.

After all, I’ve proven over the last few days that with Emily Mullens, I’m completely at her mercy.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I kiss her once more.

“You will?”

“We’re having dinner with your parents.”

Emily blinks at me. “I’m sorry, what?”

The look of horror on her face is enough to make me forget all about Igor Ivanov.

Perhaps this dinner could be fun after all.

22

EMILY

“I can’t believeI’m doing this,” I mutter under my breath as I walk into the restaurant behind Zara and Dimitri.

I had really hoped that Danil was joking when he said he was joining us for our family dinner with my parents, but it turns out he wasn’t.

Apparently, Dimitri invited him for extra protection, which I thought was bad enough in itself. But then my sister reminded me that this dinner is also serving as a blind date.

For me.

As if it isn’t humiliating enough being set up, the fact that my entire family,plusthe guy I’m secretly hooking up with, are all going to be in attendance makes for one hell of an evening.

“If the ground would like to open up right about now, I would be eternally grateful.”

“Do this for Mom,” Zara hisses under her breath as we approach the table.

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