Dark Intentions - Charlotte Byrd Page 0,41

begins to rain and little drops start falling from the sky.

"No, I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself."

"For what?"

She rubs her shoulders with her small, elegant hands, trying to warm up. Dressed in a short cocktail dress and slim heels, she shifts her weight from one foot to another to stay warm.

Her light brown hair was curlier and with a lot more body before, but after a jog and a little bit of moisture falling from the sky, the strands now fall flat around her face.

"What are we doing here?" Jacqueline asks. "Why did you follow me?"

Her nails are short, not acrylic, painted some sort of sparkly blue color. Though not exactly elegant, they show character and personality and I like that.

"I came here hoping I’d find you," I say.

Looking deep into her hazel eyes, I try desperately to convince her that I’m telling the truth.

“Yeah, right.” She rolls her eyes. "You came to Redemption, a sex club, to look for me? I don't think so."

She turns to walk away, and this time I do grab her arm.

"I'm telling you the fucking truth,” I hiss.

Her face falls just a little, and a small smile forms at the corner of her lips.

"After we met, I came back again,” I explain in a more reserved tone of voice. “I met two beautiful women who wanted to spend the night with me, and I couldn't do it. I kept thinking about you and how they weren't you."

"You don't even know me,” she says, raising one eyebrow and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I know. And I'd like to."

Jacqueline narrows her eyes, not exactly believing me, but not exactly not believing me either. "So what do you want to do now?" she asks.

"I want to ask you on a date."

24

Jacqueline

Dante is driving me home. He had followed me out of the club and he told me that he came back looking for me. I was so angry at him. I was so angry at myself for being an idiot for wanting him and for coming here and looking for him, and I had no idea that he felt the same way.

And now, I'm sitting in his Maserati, and he's driving me to my mother's house in Jersey City. I told him that I can take a cab or a ride share, but he insisted, and I wanted to spend more time with him anyway.

His slightly curly, dark hair frames his face as he drives a little bit too fast down the empty streets. I've never been in a car this expensive before, and if you thought that a Maserati or some other luxury vehicle looks good on the outside, it's hard to believe the features and the comfort that you experience inside.

The world ceases to exist, but not in any metaphorical sense. There's hardly any road noise at all, and you're just traveling in your own little sanctuary in total silence, unless of course you want to put on some music.

"How are you doing?" he asks, turning slightly to look at me.

"Good."

He smiles. His lips are luscious. His teeth are white and sparkle under the streetlights. He has a strong Roman nose and bright blue eyes that can be quite disarming and cold, but I don't feel anything but warmth right now.

I had already said yes to the date, but we haven't decided when or where.

"Tell me something true," Dante says.

"My real name is Jacqueline."

"My real name is Dante," he says, smiling.

I laugh and he laughs along with me. I put my hand on the hand rest and play with the buttons without actually pressing one all the way down. "What do you do for a living?" I ask again.

"Travel a lot. I work for a company that assesses risk and invests in high-risk endeavors."

"Isn't that dangerous?" I ask.

"Yeah. You can lose a lot of money, but you can also win big."

"So you didn't lie about that either?"

He shakes his head no.

"You know, we were supposed to tell each other stories? You know, pretend to be these other people."

"Yeah. I've been doing that a lot, and it was fun and it has its place, but I didn't want to do that with you."

"Why not?" I ask, picking up a strand of hair that has hopelessly fallen and playing with it.

"I don't know. I just saw you out there and I wanted to talk to you. And when I did, I didn't want to lie, and that was that."

The GPS leads