Free The Dark Proposal (The Claire McCormick Trilogy) by Megan Cashman

t’aime .”
    “I love you too, Daniel,” she softly said. They gazed at each other for a few minutes or more, almost forgetting the food in front of them or the world around them. Meanwhile, Claire’s heart was throbbing heavily, as if the more it beat, the more love came in. She wondered how long she would feel like this.

    A couple of hours later, they arrived at Daniel’s TriBeCa apartment. Claire was so overwhelmed with excitement and love, she was kissing his cheek down to his neck as he pressed the button to the elevator. He chuckled and shrugged her off. “Relax, dear, relax!”
    “But I’m so happy!” she said, holding his hand with both of hers. “What more could a girl ask for?”
    “Oh, I’m sure there’s more,” he said as the elevator door opened and they stepped in.
    As they went up, she pinned him into the door of the car, slowly leaned against him and started to kiss him. He responded graciously but started to chuckle again when she wrapped her leg around his waist. “Not here. The cameras,” he pointed to one above them.
    “Oh come on,” she said playfully. “Let’s give security a thrill!”
    “Since when are you so daring?” he said, taking her leg off his waist. “You’re not drunk, are you?”
    Stunned, she protested, “No, why do you say that?”
    He shrugged. “It’s just…I don’t know…” The elevator door opened on his floor.
    “I figured I could at least entice you,” Claire said as she followed him out.
    “You don’t need to seduce me in an elevator to get me to sleep with you,” Daniel dug into his pocket for his apartment keys.
    Claire crossed her arms over her chest. What had happened? He did a one-eighty so quickly she did not see it coming.
    As they entered his apartment, Daniel was silent. Claire watched him as he tossed his black leather jacket on the couch and ran his hands through his shoulder-length hair, his back to her. He was contemplating something. What was on his mind? Why did he always pick the wrong moments to do his deep thinking?
    Daniel looked over his shoulder at her as though he had read her mind. There was no tenderness in his eyes anymore. In fact, they almost seemed like they were laughing at her, in a sinister way.
    She was stunned. He never looked at her that before, ever. It was as though a new person was occupying his body.
    Taking a deep breath, Claire said, “Okay, Dan, what is going on?”
    “No, no,” he cut her off. He put his hands in his pockets. Looking down, he went on. “There’s got to be a better way.”
    “For what? Tell me! This is getting absurd!”
    Raising his head slowly and looking at her, Claire felt a tremor go up her spine. His eyes were cunning, so unlike him.
    “It’s not what I’m about to say, Claire. It’s what I’m about to do.”
    Everything paused for a second, like the moment was holding its breath for the worst to happen.
    Then suddenly, the dining room light turned on with Daniel standing by the switch several feet away from where he had been standing just seconds ago.
    Before Claire could blink or even gasp, a sudden blur raced across the room and he was in front of the media wall unit, staring at her with gleaming eyes.
    She dropped her handbag absentmindedly to the floor as her jaw dropped. “What…What is -?”
    Before she could continue, he was behind her, seated on the black leather couch across from where he was a millisecond ago.
    Stumbling back against the dining table, Claire finally let out a yelp. “What? Dan, what are you…”
    Slowly, he stood up and began to walkover to her.
    “No, don’t…don’t come near me,” she hurried away from the table. “What…the hell is going on?”
    He didn’t answer, he just kept walking calmly over to her, his satisfied eyes fixed on her.
    Claire was gasping frantically as she backed up against the wall opposite the dining table. Hitting the wall, her heart was pounding like it was at the restaurant, but this time with panic. She