Page 106 of Double or Nothing

I want danger.

I want laughter.

I want the man who sees through gilded cages and calls them what they are.

I want the forbidden all over again. Harder. Rougher. Driving me to heights I’ve never known.

My laptop is on my desk, buried beneath sketches and a dried-out brush. I shove those things aside and fire it up.

Emails.

Unread, unread, unread.

I search for the charity event.

There it is.

Purchase confirmation. Buyer details. Delivery arrangements.

Jack Reid.

Chelsea Tower.

Phone number.

My heart starts thudding in a completely different rhythm.

This is stupid.

Good.

This is reckless.

Even better.

This is exactly the sort of thing Dad would hate.

Perfect.

I pick up my phone and key in the number before I can talk myself out of it. My thumb hovers over the message box, and for one horrible second I think of Bryce. Bryce in his office. Bryce panicking at Dad’s wrath. Bryce caught between fear and want, just like I am. The man I love.

Fuck!

My chest aches.

But this isn’t only about Bryce.

This is about me.

Alice Rose Parker.

Soul Girl, as Jack calls me, and rightly fucking so.

Maybe I need reminding.

I type out a simple hi. Crap. I type out a hey, how’s it going?

But that’s just bollocks. So I send the truth dressed as a dare.