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I deeply inhaled a breath of warm summer air as soon as I got outside. It was beyond refreshing. The strong fumes from body sprays had started to give me a headache. Without hesitation, I began to walk towards the garden patio. Seth had used the Gordiva Venue so many times I knew it like the back of my hand, even in the dark.
The sound of voices faded away, replaced by my little black pumps clicking across the terracotta. Tall southern magnolias rose up on either side of me. Tiny solar lights staked into the softened ground ran along the path and guided me along.
I hoped this event was over sooner rather than later, or at the very least that I would be able to leave early. Being home in sweatpants, stuffing my face with junk food, and curling up with a good book was always preferable to getting dolled up and going out in public.
My steps faltered just as I was about to reach the end of the trail. A man was leaning against the stone railing, looking out at the harbor. Why isn’t he inside with the rest of the suits? In the ordinary mundane world, seeing a man in a crisp black suit was a regular occurrence. In my world, it was wiser to kick off your heels and run the other direction. So why did I walk towards him? Well, partially because I’m insane. The other reason was simple: his ass looked fantastic; I had to know if his face matched.
Hearing my approach, he lifted his head and stood up to his full height before turning around. Seeing his face almost caused me to trip into the shrubs.
My heart did a one-eighty inside my chest.
If you’re wondering if it matched his backside the answer is simple. Hell yes! I didn’t have a vast enough vocabulary to describe him.
Tall, dark, and handsome was almost too literal. Though, he was tall; he easily scaled over my height of five-three. His hair was dark, neatly styled but at the same time messy, and he had a slight stubble on his tanned face.
It had been almost two years since the last time I saw him, and he looked even sexier than before. How was that possible?
“Rebel.” Pierce greeted me with his usual steel indifference, raking his gaze over my body, slowly. My stomach did a little flip when he finally looked into my eyes. His were the oddest shade of blue – indigo, almost. I’d always been fascinated by them.
The memory of what happened the last time I was alone with him came rushing to the front of my mind.
I had made a complete fool of myself; just thinking about it caused my face to heat in shame. Part of me wished I could turn around, and pretend I never saw him.
I’m sure the last thing he’d expected that night was the drunk seventeen-year-old girl he’d offered to drive home to try and seduce him. Thank the Lord for the small sliver of sobriety that crept in and had my ass planted right back on my side of the car. The silence had been embarrassingly loud, and his knuckles had gripped his steering wheel so tight I was positive he was going to rip it off. Not a single word was spoken between us.
Before that little incident, he was easy to talk to. I looked at him as a sort of friend. He made me laugh without even trying, and he was unapologetically blunt. His blatant attractiveness was just a bonus. He could have been glowing purple, and I still would have been enamored with him. That stupid night had ruined everything
I gave him a small smile and spoke before an awkward silence could further develop. “You’re missing the party.”
“I was going to say the same thing to you,” Pierce replied. He didn’t return my smile. He had a coldness in his eyes and a natural edge in his tone. An awkwardness settled over us regardless, making me even more uncomfortable. I shifted in my heels and nervously tugged down my little cocktail dress. Why was I so nervous?
I didn’t have a problem with men. I know some girls had something done to them and sometimes developed a complex. I wasn’t one of them. But for the longest time I never got natural desires. I’d thought something was wrong with me, that a sick bastard had ruined me. There were days I still did. But I never held all the men in the world responsible for the wrongdoings of one.
When my father started doing more business with the Serbans, they showed up at more events, our house, dinners.
And what did I do? I noticed Pierce. I noticed him in all the ways I shouldn’t have.
It suddenly dawned on me that he was only here because he didn’t have a choice in the matter. His father had been murdered a month before this, and that meant he and his brother, Jax, had to step up. Now feeling like an insensitive asshole, I began to backtrack.
