Page 146 of A Duet of Darkness and Dreams

“Okay?” he asks as though trying to confirm my answer.

I smile. “Let’s do it.”

“Yes.” He jumps up off his desk and grabs my free hand, shaking it vigorously. “You won’t regret it. Okay, I’ll get the lawyers on the line this afternoon to draw up a contract. You outline a writing schedule, and I’ll send a courier to come and pick up issue number one on Friday. I don’t trust anything to be faxed to me until Eliza’s out of the building.” He paces back and forth until finally collapsing into his chair. “Now, all I need is to come up with a magazine cover photo that’ll get everyone’s attention.”

Dave raises his hand with a smirk. “On that, I think I might have the perfect idea.”

CHAPTER 46

Lucky Ones

DAVE

With fresh coffee and a new outlook on life, Izzy and I drive over the Golden Gate bridge. Her feet are warm in my lap and my fingers play absently on her bare ankles. A smile is permanently ingrained on my face, and I don’t think I could wipe it off even if I wanted to. I just want her home. Home with me, where she belongs.

“I don’t know if I ever realized how beautiful it is here,” she says, her voice hoarse. “I’m glad you convinced me not to leave. I can’t imagine never seeing it again.”

I grasp her hand and kiss her knuckles. “It’s only beautiful because you’re back.”

She looks over at me with a smile. “You know, I don’t think metal drummers are supposed to speak so sweetly.”

“Would you prefer I speak about all the ways I’m going to fuck you once we get back home?”

Her eyes widen, her cheeks flushing a gorgeous dark pink, and her muscles tighten in an unmistakable way. “You really do have the filthiest mouth. But I’m curious,” she says, sidling up next to me and placing her arms around my neck. “What went through your head the first time you saw me?”

“I thought you were sexy,” I admit. “Then when you said you were there because of Becks, I—” I swallow hard. “I didn’t want to screw up her only friendship by making you hate me.”

She doesn’t ask me to go into detail, and I’m grateful not to have to say them out loud.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the photo?” I ask.

She slumps down next to me. “I don’t know . . . I was embarrassed? Embarrassed that I took it. Embarrassed I left it so carelessly for that asshole to find and extort me with. And at the time, youdidtell me you couldn’t fall in love with me.”

“I guess I figured you told me everything else . . . but not this.”

She nods. “I wish there was a way to make him pay. Losing his internship is literally the bare minimum that should’ve happened. Thank you for that, by the way.”

I can’t stop the smile from pulling up my cheeks.

“What?” she asks. “What’s that smile?”

“I may have exacted a little petty revenge of my own.”

She sits back. “You didn’t—”

“I did.”

“So what did you . . .”

But I don’t need to explain. Pulling over on the side of the road past the bridge, I point up at a massive billboard ahead of us. Izzy leans forward to look through the windshield, and I laugh as her jaw drops. “That’s—but that’s . . .”

And there, ahead of us, lit to perfection and twenty feet tall, is a photo of Simon Cranmer with a bold slogan next to his face.

“Struggling with erectile dysfunction? Me too. Talk to your doctor about your options today,” she reads, her voice betraying a hint of confusion. “But, Simon—” Then it seems to clunk into place and she gasps, her hand covering her mouth. “No!” she shouts, but when she pulls her hand away, she’s grinning like it’s Christmas morning. “You did not!”

“I don’t think he’ll have such an easy time getting a date for the foreseeable future,” I say with a smirk.

“But how did you—”

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