“OK, wait,” he says with more urgency that is necessary. I have a little panic attack thinking he’s gonna say he’s not in love with me anymore, but that melts away when he cups my face and looks me in the eyes. “I can’t call you Rook Walsh anymore.”

I laugh. “What?”

“I can’t say it without feeling sick. So what’s your last name?”

“Corvus,” I say in a whisper. “My name is Rook Corvus.”

He smiles, like he’s in on the joke, but he keeps it to himself if he is. “Miss Corvus, I am so far beyond in love with you, I can barely function. I want to marry you. Like yesterday. But I know that’s not gonna happen just yet, so I just want you to know, I can wait.” He studies my face as I take all this in. “I will wait.”

Chapter Five - RONIN

Even though Rook and I have had quite a bit of downtime over the past few months, it’s not enough. I wish for endless days of doing nothing but making love, feeding her fruit, and sleeping with my arms wrapped around her.

Right now we’re both spent from the mind-blowing sex. Her cheek rests on my shoulder as I lean my head back on the couch. “I could fall asleep right now.”

“Let’s stay home,” she mumbles into my neck. “I’m too tired to get dressed up and go to dinner.”

“We can’t skip this one, Gidge. It’s our last dinner until next weekend.”

She moans but doesn’t lift her head. “I’m gonna buy a car and commute to Fort Collins. It’s not even that far.”

“I’m one hundred percent on board with that.” And then I smack her ass cheek playfully and make her squeal. “Come on, let’s take a shower real fast. It’ll wake you up so you can enjoy the evening.”

I stand up, still cupping her close to me, and she reluctantly untangles herself and kisses me on the neck. “Don’t get me the duck this time, OK? Maybe pasta.”

I laugh. Poor Rook. “Don’t worry, I promise, you’ll enjoy dinner.”

She livens up in the shower when I wash her, but it’s hard for her to get excited when she thinks she’s being forced to wear a dress she’ll probably hate and eat food she knows for sure will make her hurl.

I almost feel bad. But not quite.

She’s sitting on the bed wrapped up in a white towel, just moping, as I pull on my tux trousers. “The dress is in your closet, Gidget. And it doesn’t have legs, so it won’t come to you.”

She makes a face at me and then hoists herself up and walks into the closet. I slip my crisp white shirt on and wait for it.

Silence.

Little itty-bitty tip-toe footsteps behind me.

My grin is huge as she drapes her arms over my shoulders and breathes her words heavily into my ear. “What is that absolutely gorgeous gown doing in my closet, Larue? That’s not something you wear to dinner, no matter what kind of food they serve.”

I turn around and look down at her. “No? Well, you must be the expert, so tell me… what kind of event warrants a gown like that?”

“A Cinderella ball,” she coos in my ear.

“Oh, f**k, Rook. Do that again and I’ll never let you out of the apartment tonight.”

“Fat chance of that now! I’m wearing that damn dress. I’m not sure what you’ve got planned, but whatever it is, I’m going.”

She skips away making happy squeals and calling out guesses about where we’re going. “A fundraiser?”

“Nope,” I say as I button up my shirt.

“A private jet to… well, shit, there’s no classy cities close to Denver, so… Albuquerque?”

I laugh. “Only Bugs Bunny goes to Albuquerque.”

She snorts for real at that remark. “That’s funny.” I tuck my shirt in and go for the bow tie. “Somewhere in the mountains?”

“Try again.”

I grab my suit coat and slide it on, then check myself in the full-length mirror. There’s no way I’ll be able to live up to how beautiful Rook will be tonight, but it will have to do.

“Zip me,” she says quietly from behind.

I turn and take her in. I didn’t pick this dress, Elise did. In fact, Rook has no idea, but it was made especially for her by a fashion friend of Antoine’s. We’ve been planning this night for more than a month. It’s a floor-length strapless white gown with the slightest mermaid shape to it. Not enough to make her look ridiculous, just enough so that the smooth fabric hugs every curve on her body and flares out near her feet. And Rook has all the right curves in all the right places. She’s nothing like the skinny models who came through here today and I love everything about her shape. The tail drags just enough to make her look like she’s floating when she walks, but not enough so that it will cause problems in a crowd.

“What’s the occasion, then?” she asks coyly. Clearly she knows what the occasion is, but she’s fishing to see if I know.

“The occasion? I don’t need a special occasion to take you to the ball.”

“So it is a big event?”

“Yes,” I say as I turn her around and slide that zipper up her back. I lean in and nibble behind her neck. “Leave your hair down tonight, OK?”

“Yes, sir,” she says with a wink as she pulls back.

But she’s not getting away that easy. “You can’t yes, sir me and then expect to walk away without a reminder of what’s to come later.” My hand reaches behind her neck and I press her whole body into mine, then kiss her, raking my fingers up into her long dark hair and fisting it a little as she moans and throws her head back. I know she likes some of the dominant stuff we do in the bedroom, but I don’t try it often. It took me all f**king summer to get over what her ex did to her as a teenager. But that awkward feeling is beginning to fade. And I’m not sure it was ever a real problem with her, so maybe tonight she’d like to do something fun.