I can’t stop from reaching out and touching her. Grabbing her full hip, letting my fingers sink into her, looking into her eyes. I don’t like her pulling away from me. Not even a little. It burns deep. I’ve wanted this for so long.

“Please,” I say as she stares up at me. A word I’m not used to saying.

She takes a step toward me, my fingers sink more into her hip in a possessive hold. “Mallory,” she says. Then I watch as pink hits her cheeks. Her eyes move past me, and I follow them once again to Paige, who’s still with Ryan. She taps her watch at Mallory, making me clench my jaw because I know what’s coming. She’s leaving. First I didn’t want her in this place, and now I don’t want her to leave. I want a little more, but I remind myself this is only the beginning.

“Are you leaving?”

She looks back up at me and gives me a disappointed smile. “It appears so.”

“Give me your number,” I say in a rush. I already have it. Hell, I have fucking tracking on her phone, but I want the go-ahead from her to finally text her.

She looks around hesitantly, like she’s trying to come up with a good excuse why she shouldn’t.

“If I ask your friend over there, will she give it to me?” I test her, wanting to know what she’d say. I know Paige made sure men didn’t bother her, but for some reason I find myself wanting to test it. To know for sure.

She glances over at Paige and back to me with a smug smile on her perfect face, her little button nose scrunching a little. God, she’s fucking perfect. “Not a chance.”

I reach into my pocket, pulling my phone out anyway. I’m getting her number before I walk out of here. I have to have it now. There’s no way I can go another day without talking to her. Or at least knowing that I can.

She lets out a cute little huff, before rattling off her number as I pretend to put it into my phone. Paige comes up next to us as I put it away. She looks between the two of us before dismissing me like she doesn’t know who I am.

“You ready?” she says.

“Yeah. I’m right behind you,” Mallory tells her, and Paige walks toward the entrance. Mallory turns to me, and I reach out, needing to touch her one more time tonight, because I’m not sure when I’ll get to again. I run the edge of my knuckles along her jaw. I never knew skin could feel so soft. I’d bet everything I have that all of her feels this way.

“I wanted more,” I whisper to myself.

Mallory stands there, staring up at me like she can’t pull herself away either, and I wonder if she feels it, too. What I felt the first time I laid eyes on her. That I’d found what I’d been looking for my whole life. Something I didn’t even know I was looking for to begin with.

“She’s waiting,” I finally say, nodding toward Paige, who’s got one shoulder propped against the wall watching us, her eyes narrowed on me.

I reluctantly drop my hand and take a step back. I have to make myself, or I’ll never let her go. Slow, I remind myself. We’ll have her soon. I force a smile as I watch her turn and disappear.

I pull out my phone and text Ryan.

Me: Follow them home.

Ryan: Already on it.

When I slide into the back of my car, I can’t stop myself from texting her.

Me: You tasted sweeter than I ever imagined.

* * *

It feels like forever before she finally texts me back, but in reality it was only a second.

Mine: What do I call the man behind the curtain?

I feel myself smile.

OZ.