“I’d like to stay,” she said. “It was nice of your father to invite me. I don’t want to just blow him off.”
“He won’t even notice,” Elijah said. “If there’s one thing about my father, it’s that—he doesn’t notice other people.”
She looked at him. Her face softened slightly.
“All right,” she said. “We can go if you want to.”
But there was disappointment in her voice, and Elijah hesitated. “You really want to stay.”
“There are a lot of important people here,” Stephanie said. “I was hoping to use this as an opportunity to get to know some of them. To get my name out there in a way I haven’t been able to yet. And besides, I was looking forward to hearing your speech, Elijah.”
That was news to him. “You were?”
“Of course,” she said. “I like hearing what you have to say. Your perspectives are interesting, and you’re funny. I think your speech was probably going to be a lot better than your dad’s… although please never tell him I said that.”
A smile threatened. “I won’t tell him,” he assured her.
She bit her lip. “But if it’s making you that uncomfortable, we can go.”
“No, we don’t have to,” he said, and was surprised to find that he wasn’t frustrated with her at all. He was grateful to her. She had been honest about what she wanted. And really, it wasn’t such a big ask. The fact that she was here at all was already her doing him a massive favor, something she’d been under no obligation to do. He could offer her this in return.
And the fact that she genuinely wanted to hear his speech… that meant the world to Elijah. It made him realize that he hadn’t expected to feel anything other than tolerated today. If someone actuallywantedto hear what he had to say…
“All right,” he said. “We’ll stay here for a while.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Really? You don’t mind?”
“Oh, I all kinds of mind,” he said with a smirk. “But if a little time networking is what you need, I can deal with it. Maybe after I get another drink.”
“I won’t take long,” she promised. “And then we can go out and do something fun. We can go to that bar you were telling me about if you’d like.”
He nodded. “That would be a good way to wrap up the night, if you’re willing.”
“Definitely. Let me just go press a few palms.”
She took his hand for a moment. Elijah wondered again what it would be like to kiss her. What if he tried to do it right here and now? His father definitely wouldn’t approve, but then, his father never approved of anything he did. The more important question was, what would Stephanie say?
She was watching him closely, and for a moment, he could have sworn her gaze flicked to his lips. Was it possible she wasthinking about kissing too? That she was also wondering what it would be like, wondering whether she had the courage to do it? Whether she should?
Maybe he ought to pull her out of this conference room and into the hallway, where things would be quiet. Where they would have the peace they needed to figure this out for themselves without all these people watching.
It occurred to him that he hadn’t lived a moment of his life without people watching him. It was his perennial curse, something he could never escape. And yet, somehow, Stephanie made him forget all about that. He had been shocked to be photographed with her at the ball game, even though it shouldn’t have surprised him at all. He should have been expecting it from the moment he’d sat down in that seat.
He let her hand go.
Part of the fun of all this was getting to let go of the feeling of being scrutinized. There was nothing scandalous about Stephanie, nothing that would make people raise their eyebrows and murmur about the fact that Elijah Norcross was getting up to no good again. And the truth was, he liked that about her. He liked feeling free from people’s judgments and expectations, liked the knowledge that anyone who had anything bad to say this time was just revealing their own ignorance.
Stephanie was good. She was pure, right to the core, and she had still chosen to spend her time with him. He wasn’t going to pollute that by kissing her in front of all these people and getting their tongues wagging.
“Go talk to people,” he said with an encouraging smile. “I’ll wait for you here.”
Stephanie nodded. For a moment, she hesitated, but then she turned and hurried off, and Elijah was left on his own, watching her go.
CHAPTER 10
STEPHANIE
Stephanie finished making the rounds of the party and turned, trying to spot Elijah in the crowd. It would be good to get back to him, she thought. She wanted to check in with him before he gave his speech.
