Page 79 of Bad Habit
“Which sin is your favorite? Gluttony?” I pointed to the dessert.
Blush rose on her cheeks as she shook her head. “I think you know which one I like best.”
My dick turned into an iron rod. She claimed to have a lot to learn about the world, and that might be true, but she’d certainly picked up on how to flirt. Or maybe she didn’t even realize what she was doing.
The waiter came. I paid the bill and he packed up Faith’s leftover dessert, setting it in a pretty pink foil bag with handles for us to carry back to the room.
We stopped on the way back on one of the outside balconies at the hotel, leaning against the fake marble balustrade and enjoying the night air now that the temperature had dropped below ninety.
“I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.” She leaned her head against my chest as I held her from behind.
“Me, too.” And I would. It wasn’t my first time in Vegas, but it was the best time. And it was all because of her.
“Mac.” She turned toward me, and I set my hands on her shoulders. “I need to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
She looked like she was going to burst, so I kissed her forehead lightly to give her a moment. “Ask me anything. Whatever you want. Sky’s the limit.”
“You,” she said. “I want you.”
“Baby, you have me.” I traced my hand down her back, loving how her entire body reacted. “Let’s go back to the room.”
“In a minute.”
I nodded, but my cock objected to the delay.
“I didn’t mean I want you for sex.”
“Oh.” Had she really gotten it out of her system?
“I mean, I do want you for sex, but what I meant was, I love you.” A huge grin replaced her expression. “I love you so much.”
My chest warmed for an instant, filling with joy and hope like I was being immersed in sunshine, then reality crashed the party and my stomach twisted. This wasn’t real.
I shook my head. “No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do. I know it’s soon, and I don’t expect you to respond one way or the other, but I know what I feel.”
I knew what I felt too.
Guilt.
I’d taken this too far. Way too far. “What you’re feeling, Faith… It’s not love. It’s because I’m your first. You’re confusing lust with love.”
“No.” She frowned. “If you don’t feel the same way, that’s okay. But you can’t tell me what I feel.”
My mouth was bone dry. She was so earnest it made me believe her feelings could possibly be real. But even if they were, it only made me more of an asshole. I couldn’t be more wrong for her.
“You’ll get over it.”
“No, I won’t. Mac. I can’t get over it. I love you.”
Shaking my head, I drew a long breath. I had to make her understand. The time had passed to let her down gently. I was such a shit that I hadn’t even been able to give her that. It was time to pull off the bandage in one sharp tug.
“Listen,” I said as coldly as I could. “The man youthinkyou know. He’s a fake. The real me? I am a bad person. A criminal.”
“You’re giving that up.”
