Page 86 of Pure Recklessness

‘Good evening, ladies,’ Sebastien said. ‘Dana, I believe we’ve met before, but Eleanor, we haven’t had the pleasure.’ He held out his hand and I shook it.

‘Lovely to meet you, Mr Devlin,’ I replied.

‘Please, call me Sebastien.’

‘It’s only our uptight older brother who insists on being called Mr Devlin all the time,’ Oscar joked.

‘I didn’t realise you would be coming tonight,’ my Mr Devlin said, ignoring his brother’s comment.

‘I… Joe invited me,’ I replied.

‘Who’s Joe?’ He ground his jaw.

‘My… our friend. He works in events,’ I said quickly.

‘You look…’ Mr Devlin paused as his eyes roamed across my face and neck, but this time his gaze didn’t dip. I held my breath, keen to hear what he’d say next. As pathetic as it sounded, I wanted him to call me beautiful. No man had ever called me that before. ‘It’s good that you could make it. Enjoy the evening,’ he said, then walked away.

Oh.

That wasn’t what I was hoping for.

What was I realistically expecting to happen though?

It wasn’t as if he’d say I looked beautiful then start snogging me in front of everyone.

Although he seemed to approve of how I looked tonight, he was my boss and I had to start getting it into my thick skull that he’d never be anything more. No matter how much I fantasised about it.

‘Bye,’ Sebastien said.

‘See you around, ladies.’ Oscar gave us a flirtatious smile before disappearing into the ballroom.

‘Oh my God!’ Dana squealed. ‘I’m never washing my hand again! I can’t believe that Oscar kissed it. Joe’s gonna be so jealous! And hello. Did you see how Blake couldn’t take his eyes off you? He looked like he wanted to pin you against the wall and fuck you. Told you that dress was fire!’

‘He’s my boss,’ I protested weakly.

‘Didn’t seem to stop him from undressing you with his eyes. You sure nothing’s happened between you two?’

‘What?’ I protested a little too loudly. ‘No! Why would you say that?’

My chest tightened. The last thing I needed was for Dana to guess that I’d thrown myself at him.

‘It’s just, there seemed to be some kind of sexual chemistry in the air. Then again, that was probably between me and Oscar!’ She laughed and my shoulders loosened.

Thank God I was in the clear.

‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ a voice boomed from the speakers. ‘Dinner is about to be served. Please take your seats in the ballroom.’

Thank God.

There were some department heads on our table, which meant Dana wouldn’t be able to continue the conversation about the Devlin brothers and the mysterious chemistry she witnessed.

‘We should go,’ I said to Dana.

‘Yeah.’ She glanced at her phone. ‘Joe’s just messaged to say he’s already at our table.’

As we stepped into the ballroom I gasped.

‘Wow.’ My jaw dropped. It looked like something out of a film. The huge room was filled with elegantly dressed circular tables with crisp white tablecloths, shiny silver cutlery and crystal glasses with a large candle in the centre.