Page 15 of Worth Every Penny
Jack lays a hand firmly on my shoulder. “I’ve got to go work the room. Do you know how many women I’ll disappoint if I don’t give them a moment of my time tonight?”
I grant Jack the expected chuckle and he moves away, leaving me alone at the bar.
A waitress—a different one this time—fills my glass. I watch the bubbles rise for a few moments, but all I can think of is Kate and I decide I can’t leave here tonight without at least trying to talk to her about the deal.
Taking my freshly filled glass, I wander the room for a few minutes. When I finally catch sight of her, she’s laughing like she hasn’t a care in the world, and I get the unnerving sense that I’m seeing a version of her I’m not supposed to see. A party I’m not fucking invited to. A knot of emotion forms at the base of my throat, throbbing behind my collarbone.What the fuck?
I swallow it down just as Kate swipes a hand through her long, dark hair, pushing it over her shoulder so the glossy veil falls down her back. I instantly want to wrap it around my fist and force her to her knees.
The crowd swells and shifts and I lose her, but I’m pretty sure if I closed my eyes she’d still be there—those long, toned legs and the perfect curve of her arse—imprinted on my retinas.
Fuck me.
I need to find her.Now.
6
KATE
Jack has too many friends. The party is in full swing, and the bar is absolutely heaving with people. I lost Elly half an hour ago, after she left me to use the bathroom.
It’s probably just as well she’s not here, because the effort not to tell her about Nico and the deal is wearing me out, and the contract is burning a hole in my handbag. I need to read it.
I haven’t been able to think of anything else since Nico walked away earlier. He’s floating in the dark corners of my mind like a ghost. I keep expecting to turn and find him staring at me, but I haven’t caught so much as a glimpse. Maybe he left. Something that feels disconcertingly like disappointment settles low in my belly, and it’s confusing as hell.
What I need is a moment to myself, and a breath of fresh air.
I dodge through the partygoers and escape to the rooftop balcony. On a warm evening, the place would be bustling with bodies, but tonight there’s a chill in the air. Not even the smokers dare to come out. I’m alone.
Perfect.
The only problem is that I checked my coat into the cloakroom, and didn’t bother to pick it up to come outside. I’m woefully underdressed.
Lights sparkle across the city, twinkling like stars. It’s beautiful out here, but I can’t enjoy it. My conversation with Jack and Nico earlier dampened my mood, and without Elly to distract me, I replay it in my mind.
Jack wants to sell Dad’s company and there’s nothing I can do about it.
I rest my champagne glass on the wall so I can pull the contract out of my handbag and scan it. It’s a skeleton contract—only a couple of sheets—but it highlights the main details of the deal. I reach the bottom of the page, but there’s no sign of the proposed price. I’m about to flip the page when—
“Little K.”
My heart comes to a jarring stop and I grip the railing that runs around the balcony, the metal so cold it bites.
Nico Hawkston is standing somewhere behind me, and even though I’ve been thinking of him, the reality of his presence is more intense than I imagined. His energy pulses at my back like an electromagnetic force. I don’t dare turn around.
I lift my glass, tipping back the rest of my champagne, hoping the alcohol might quench my body’s unruly reaction to the sound of his voice. Unfortunately, it only stokes the fire.
I let out a slow breath as he approaches, each click of his shoes hitting my heart like a bullet. His silhouette appears in my peripheral vision until he’s standing right beside me and a coil of heat in my lower belly turns red hot.
In another reality, this situation might be romantic: the two of us alone in the darkness, the rest of the world oblivious to our intimacy. It pains me we’re so far away from that.
Reluctantly, I turn.
The lines of his face are harsh out here in the darkness, brutal shadows cast beneath his cheekbones like they’ve been aggressively chiseled from stone. Thick, dark hair falls across his forehead, and the only suggestion of emotion on his face is the smallest crease between his brows.
He leans against the balcony wall, one hand tucked into the pocket of his trousers, hitching up the side of his dinner jacket. He’s all casual elegance and sophistication, oozing sex appeal as naturally as the rest of us exhale carbon dioxide.
We stare at one another for a few moments, his eyes so intense it feels like he’s trying to swallow me with them. White teeth rake over his full bottom lip and it’s sexy as hell. All the blood drains from my brain, pooling indecently between my legs.