Page 45 of Red Flagged
I loved it.
He stared at me with the kind of hunger that made my breath stutter—slow, calculating, like he’d already imagined the dress crumpled on the floor. His jaw flexed once, and then again. His gaze flicked to mine, then dipped to the hem before tracing its way back up—pausing at my mouth.
“You’re going to make me commit a crime,” he said at last, the edges of his accent thickening in that way I loved.
Marco groaned and threw a pillow at him. “Jesus. Come on, you two.”
Kimi held up his glass. “Get a room.”
Callum didn’t look away from me as he drawled, “Thisisour room.”
I grinned, popping my hip and resting a hand on it. “You’re all just guests in it.”
Marco fake gagged. “I can’t be here for this.”
Kimi covered his face. “The air in here is actually getting thicker. I can’t breathe.”
“I’m warning you now,” Callum muttered, his voice lower and darker than before, “if she walks into that dinner in that dress, I’m handcuffing myself to her chair.”
“Oh myGod,” Ivy muttered, dragging me back toward the bedroom by the wrist. “Well, there’s your second opinion. Time for the next one.” She shut the door behind us with a dramatic huff and leaned against it. “You two are a public safety hazard.”
I smirked. “That’s rich coming from the woman who flirted with half the customs officers in Austria.”
“That was diplomacy,” she shot back, rummaging through the next pile of black silk and satin. “You? You’re foreplay with a passport.”
“Flattered,” I retorted dryly. “Now hand me the next one before Callum actually commits a crime.”
Ivy held up the next hanger like she was unveiling a relic. “Okay, this one’s dangerous. Like‘I like to fuck at funerals’.”
I paused, eyeing the dress skeptically. “But, you know… tastefully?”
“Exactly,” she said, zipping me in. “Definitely in a respectful way.”
I looked at my reflection, running a hand down the velvet skirt. “Perfect. Grieving widow with a secret. Maybe I’ll scare Reinhardt into early retirement.”
Ivy tilted her head, pursing her lips in thought. “Be honest, though—Reinhardt. Is he bad or not? Because I don’t want to be attracted to the villain, but he’s giving… major daddy vibes.”
I choked so violently I nearly face-planted into the vanity. “Donotsay that word to me right now.”
Her brows shot up. “Oh my God. You didn’t.”
I covered my flaming cheeks with my hands. “Imighthave. Last night. During?—”
“Nope!” She clapped her hands over her ears. “I can’t hear this. I’m already traumatized by the pillow thing!”
“You asked!” I shrieked, laughing so hard my stomach hurt.
“You’re sick,” she muttered, waving toward the door. “Get out there before I start staging an exorcism.”
Scoffing, I tossed my hair over my shoulder and strutted into the living room, tugging the hem down even though it didn’t go any lower. “Okay,” I announced. “Thoughts?”
Marco let out a low whistle. “You look like a haunted doll. And I mean that in the best way.”
“Yeah,” Kimi added, squinting with approval. “Like if Wednesday Addams went to a sex club.”
Callum’s brows furrowed slightly, his gaze dragging down the velvet hugging my waist, pausing at the flare of my hips, the curve of my thighs. I followed his eyes and noticed the faint handprint still blooming on my skin.
His fingers clenched tighter around the lavender bunny.
