Page 21 of Singled Out
“Oh, crap. I haven’t thought about forks.”
“Not worth thinking about. Let’s go do this. You’re going to do great.”
Easy for him to say. I’d bet he’d been to a hundred fancy galas at big, imposing venues.
He came around to my door as I gathered my evening bag and my courage. I slid from the seat with his hand on my arm again. When I glanced up, he met my gaze, and there was a zing through my body at how perfectly handsome he was.
“Thanks,” I said, then preceded him out of the narrow space between vehicles.
I peered around for an elevator. Max put his hand at my waist and said, “That way.”
Because of the cutouts on that side of my dress, his warm fingers were directly on my skin. I had a hard time not being overly focused on the feel of him, the heat of him, and used it to distract myself from the impending gala.
We walked to the elevator in silence, rode down with an elegantly dressed, obviously well-off couple without speaking, then entered the lobby, Max’s reassuring hand still on my side.
The closer we got to the event, though, the less his touch kept my fears at bay. My nervousness ratcheted up as we made our way across the marble floor toward the ballroom. Several dressed-to-the-nines people were entering ahead of us, slowing us down, giving me time to freak the hell out even more.
When we reached the double doors, the main thing that registered with me was the enormity of the room, the multitude of people, and the elegance of…everything.
My heart raced as I took it in. I swallowed, my mind screaming with swear words, then looked up at Max, right by my side. He met my gaze and sent me a reassuring smile. He took his hand from my waist, and before I could panic, his long fingers entwined with mine, his large hand enveloping my smaller one.
“Let’s go do this,” he said close to my ear. “I think I see someone I know.”
As I let him guide me, hand in hand, into the crowd, the thought hit me that, somehow, though my bid on him had been driven by a dare and a winging-it decision, Max Dawson seemed like the exact right person I needed to have with me tonight.
Chapter Seven
Max
Harper Ellison turned out to be nothing at all like what I’d expected when I picked her up earlier this evening.
She might be my wild-child sister’s friend who seemed to be drifting through life without a long-term plan, but she’d revealed layers and depths that made it impossible not to like her and maybe even admire her.
In spite of her inexperience with formal galas and her nervousness, she’d appeared to fit in just fine. It didn’t hurt that she looked like a million dollars in that classy but sexy-as-hell dress that had nearly been the death of me with all its access to her soft, tempting skin.
That first time I’d touched her, outside of the SUV, had been purely motivated by the urge to comfort her. I’d had to fight to cover the effect her bare skin and the curve of her hip had on me.
I would admit, only to myself, that I’d intentionally found a dozen more opportunities to rest my hand on her side throughout the evening, like a kid who couldn’t keep his hand out of the candy dish even though he knew he’d get in trouble for it eventually.
And then the dancing…
Harper had been all about the dancing, saying it was much easier than making conversation with people she didn’t know. She’d pointed out the irony of trying to socialize with education types, as she’d called them, when she’d barely made it out of high school. So we’d spent plenty of time out on the dance floor.
I’d kept a tight rein on myself, ensuring there was always enough distance between our bodies, even though I’d been aching to pull her into me. Someone was likely to snap photos of us that would undoubtedly get back to Dragonfly Lake for the whole town to see—including her father.
Her acceptance of Naomi’s award had done as much to leave me wanting her as her gracefulness on the dance floor and the alluring feel of her body had. When we’d sat down to dinner and she’d confessed she hadn’t prepared a speech or even any notes, my gut had twisted with nerves on her behalf.
You really didn’t plan out what to say? I’d asked.
With her brows raised, she’d shaken her head. That would be a disaster. I’d forget everything.
I couldn’t imagine not writing out remarks word for word and taking a note card to the podium with me, but of course it’d been too late for that. And she didn’t want it.
When it was time for her to speak, she’d blown me away and brought the entire ballroom full of people to tears, her voice breaking a couple of times as she talked about the way Naomi had changed Harper’s life for the better and inspired everyone she met.
I didn’t know how she did it, but Harper rocked the hell out of winging it.
When she’d returned to our table afterward, I’d stood and hugged her, not paying any heed to the flashes going off around us, just wanting to convey without words that she’d done an incredible job of paying tribute to her friend.