Descent (Black Heart Romance presents Heaven & Hell)

You will come to my place for dinner.
See you then.
-Calvin
Adrenaline courses through my body.
I don’t know what I expected, exactly. I guess I thought I wouldn’t hear from him again after I
stood him up, but I didn’t expect a “you’ve been rescheduled” notice, and certainly not a present.
I pull back the layers of tissue paper to reveal stunning white, sequined material. There are
subtle geometric shapes that glisten as the light hits the sequins. I pull out the shimmering fabric and
find it’s an absolutely beautiful sheath dress, the classiest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on in my whole
life.
“Oh, it’s beautiful,” I murmur, since only Marie can hear me.
She comes over to see what all the fuss is about—or maybe just to see what distracted me from
serving her food.
My eyes rake over the gorgeous gown. My fingers skim the banded waist.
I bet this would be absolutely stunning on.
I shouldn’t keep it, though, right? I’m certainly not going to meet him at his penthouse for dinner
after standing him up tonight.
And for him to call it a date—utter madness.
Then again, it’s not like there’s a return address…
I take the beautiful dress and hang it up in my closet, then I go back to the kitchen and finally feed
Marie.
I try not to think about Calvin, try not to feel bad for things I know reasonably I shouldn’t feel
bad for…
And hey, I almost do.
___
Monday morning means heading to the office for a meeting, so I grab my sketches, kiss Marie,
and make sure the apartment is locked up securely before I head out.
I’m more watchful of my surroundings than I ordinarily would be in broad daylight, and I find