Filthy Dirty Secrets: Filthy Dirty Alpha Book 2 Read Free Page B

not to feel lonely because he isn’t here. I try to divert myself from thinking about him by thinking about Hope, but I have no leads and nothing to go over but yet more old information, so my thoughts drift right back to Burke.
    I want to make him dinner. It’s a silly, ludicrous idea, but I want it. I want to sit at a table with him over a meal I cooked myself and talk about our respective days like we’re a regular couple.
    The idea seizes me with so much excitement I throw on the most normal clothes I can find in the closet Burke has provided for me. The jeans are still a little tight and the shirt is nearly thin enough to show my bra, but I can pass well enough for a casual Saturday.
    I call Lainey as I get on the elevator. She picks up after the first ring. “Hey girl! How’s your hunky sex toy? Any new fun kinks I need to know about?”
    “Shh, quiet,” I say as the elevator doors ding open at the lounge. The room is empty at this time of morning. I tiptoe across the floor toward the door. There’s no rule saying I can’t leave, but I still feel like I’m getting away with something as I creep out the front door into the sunlight of the outside world.
    “Okay, first of all, he’s a sex club owner, not ‘my sex toy.’ Secondly, things are going… really well, actually. I want to make him dinner. Meet me at the grocery store and help me figure out what to make?”
    Lainey squeals. “You’re going to cook dinner for sex toy!”
    I bite back a laugh. “His name is Burke.” Just saying his name gives me a shot of pleasure.
    Lainey sighs happily. “You’ve got it bad.”
    She’s right. I do have it bad.
    I meet Lainey at the grocery store three blocks over from Second Circle. She already has a grocery cart half-filled with food when I get there. How she got here and set to shopping so fast, I have no idea.
    “Are you cooking him meat?” she asks. “I have a few different options.”
    I hadn’t thought of that. I’m a vegetarian, but Burke’s not. “Umm, I’m not sure. What if we compromised with … seafood?”
    She nods. “Of course. I’ve got the perfect thing. You’re going to make him paella. It’ll be super easy,” Lainey says. She then proceeds to rattle off an astounding number of cooking words while I try to nod along.
    I watch the cart fill with ingredients like saffron, yellow Spanish-style rice, tomatoes, garlic cloves, lemons, fresh shrimp, and a small package of chorizo sausage that she says can go into his dish, and just to cook it separate.
    Maybe I should have just decided to order takeout. Takeout can be romantic, can’t it? Lainey tosses a white tablecloth and a pair of candlesticks into the basket.
    “Wait a second, what do candles have to do with paella?” I ask. I may not know much, but I do know that.
    Lainey rolls her eyes. “These are to set the mood.” She tosses a loaf of hearty bread into the basket.
    “Can you write all this down?” I ask, thinking of all the instructions she’s been lobbing at me as we cruise through the aisles.
    “Sure,” Lainey says.
    I catch sight of a brunette heading into the frozen section. My heart seizes. It looks just like the picture of Hope in my file. Her hair was that same shade of chocolate brown.
    I know it’s an absurd impulse, but I can’t help myself. I hurry after her.
    “Lola?” Lainey calls after me.
    “One second.” I leave Lainey behind in the aisle and follow the girl toward the frozen food. When I catch up to her she’s leaning down to grab a bag of peas from the bottom shelf of a big freezer.
    “Hope,” I gasp.
    The girl looks up at me blankly. Her eyes are brown and her nose is squat. She isn’t Hope. My heart sinks.
    “Sorry, you looked like someone I know.” I back away, my face turning hot.
    This is crazy. I’m chasing a mirage, and I might just sacrifice the best relationship I’ve ever been in for nothing. But I can’t give up. I know a normal person would have had the sense to let this