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“Fine,” I told her. “You win. This is better.”
“I know.” She strode over to the doors and grabbed the handles. “Now let’s show you off. She’s ready!”
I rolled my eyes as I walked out of the closet. There wasn’t a reason to show off for the men I was paying to be with me, even if they were…
All my thoughts evaporated.
My mouth went dry.
All five men stood in the living room in perfectly tailored suits. Hawk was right. They cleaned upgood,and they hadn’t been bad before.
I didn’t know what it was about a man in a suit that turned me into a puddle, but wow. And all five of them stared at me like I was the center of the universe. Like they wanted to tear me apart and put me back together. Like they wanted toconsumeme.
Four years with Beau, and I couldn’t think of a single time he’d looked at me like this.
So five of them?
The weight of their eyes was almost too much.
Rowan stepped forward and reached for my hand. I gave it to him, watching in a daze as he lifted it, kissing the back of my hand. “You look beautiful, Isolde.”
“Thank you.” I sounded like I’d just crawled across the desert without water the way my throat rasped.
Without releasing me, he turned and threaded my arm through his. “Shall we?”
“Yeah. Um,” I glanced away from them, because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t stop staring. “You guys look great.”
“No one will be looking at us,” Vaughn said.
I glanced up at him. The darkness of his suit emphasized his light coloring and the sheer broadness of his shoulders. He looked at me like he’d looked at me through the closet door. Like I was more than anything.
They were very,verygood at their jobs.
Managing a smile, I took a breath. “You guys know how to make a girl feel good. I’m not surprised you’re so good at what you do.”
Vaughn’s eyes shuttered, and I couldn’t explain the flash of hurt there before he looked toward the door where Trinity and Ocean were already slipping out and heading for the party. “We should get going.”
“Of course.” Something in my chest didn’t feel right. But I wasn’t sure why saying that would be an issue? It was clear from their interview with Rin they valued their reputation and prided themselves on a good experience. Wasn’t it a compliment?
With my arm in Rowan’s, I led them through the house to the other side. Guests already milled around the public areas, champagne in hand. Not many yet, but already I saw people glancing at me with polite smiles before looking away and quickly going back to their conversations. Like I couldn’t see them talking about me.
Suddenly, the confidence I’d felt in the closet wasn’t as strong. I paused at the entrance of the ballroom. People floated here and there, and it would only get more crowded. My parents knew a lot of people, and there would be plenty here hoping to charm them because of who they were.
I hadn’t been here in a year. Who knew what Beau had told them? What did everyone in Clarity think of me? Even my parents weren’t powerful enough to stop all rumors. Even though Beau was the one to dump me like four years together was nothing, I was the one who looked guilty. I ran. I hid. I didn’tlet all of silly Clarity society see me standing tall afterward, and I knew how this town worked.
If you weren’t smiling for everyone to see, something was wrong. You had something to hide. My fingers tightened on Rowan’s sleeve.
“Do you have more lip gloss?” He asked.
“What?”
I had to look up at him. Rowan was tall. The tallest of them, just barely clearing Vaughn’s height. The light scent of sea salt curled through the air, relaxing me. The coconut hit a second later. Standing next to Rowan was like standing on the beach in the sun.
He searched my face with a smile. “Do you have more lip gloss? Because I’m about to ruin yours.”
Leaning down, he captured my mouth with his in a possessive kiss that had people gasping around us. I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe.
Rowan’s hand slid up my spine, warming my bare back where my dress exposed my skin. The vibration of a growl rolled from him to me a second before he kissed me deeper, and I couldn’t bring myself to care that we stood in the middle of a crowd. The way he kissed me made everything else turn to mist.
