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“To a night of intrigue.” Rebecca clinked their glasses and excused herself, wishing Addi luck.
There were a lot of people here, but no sign of her parents. It was unlike them to skip an event this bougie.
She sidled by couples in clusters chatting. Some of the men hadn’t bothered with masks, and she wondered if Bran had even worn one—let alone a gold one. The card commanded she ask someone to dance, and while she knew she could ignore it, she wanted to believe that fate had something special in store for her. Mystery and adventure seemed more in tune with Bran’s world than hers, but in the spirit of Joe’s final wishes, she would have faith.
Her eyes wandered over the crowd anew before she turned in the other direction and nearly plowed over a man in a black tux. Her eyes flitted from his bow tie to a face she’d seen in her dreams on multiple occasions.
Brannon Knox’s staggeringly handsome face was obscured by a mask. A black one. She drank in the sight of him, from those whiskey-brown eyes behind the mask to his foppish hairstyle to his furrowed brow.
“Excuse me,” he said, his smile measured and polite. Recognition lit his eyes a half second later. “Addison.” His smooth voice sailed along her body like a caress. “You’re—that’s a dress. Sorry, I’m completely floored by how beautiful you are.”
“A first,” she joked.
“No, not even close. But tonight will be full of firsts.”
Yes, she supposed it would. She pulled out her card and handed it to him. “You chose poorly.” She gestured to her own mask. “Gold was the winning color.”
He read the card before tearing it into pieces and tossing it over his shoulder. “Wrong again, Cinderella.” From his pocket, he pulled his own card. It read:
A lady in blue is the one for you. Enjoy your evening together.
“I don’t believe it,” she said through a laugh.
“Well, I slipped the lady in black twenty bucks.”
“No!”
He laughed, his throat bobbing above his bow tie. “I’m kidding. I drew it fair and square. Honest. Dance with me?”
“It’s tempting fate, but how can I resist?”
He took her champagne glass and set it on a nearby table. “You can’t. Which is my secret weapon.”
The wink was a little cheesy, but not on Brannon. It only made her want him more.
On the dance floor, he pulled her close, his hand brushing her bare back. “This is some dress. I look forward to seeing you wear it into the office sometime.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but it’s a rental.”
“Bummer. You could’ve livened up the next staff meeting.” He looked down at her, sincere. “I mean it, though. You are incredibly beautiful. In that dress or out of it.”
She felt her mouth drop open.
“I didn’t mean it that way.” He hoisted an eyebrow so high it winged over his mask. “Or did I?”
“With you, who knows? Where has this funny, open guy been all year?” She’d meant it as a teasing statement but his chest lifted and dropped in a heavy sigh.
“I was different when you started working at ThomKnox. More laid-back. More fun. Lighter, in general. Dad handing off CEO...” He shook his head. “I didn’t want anything I was running after at the time. Isn’t that something? I didn’t realize it until later.”
A great metaphor for tonight. He was running after Addi now, but in the future would he realize she was wrong for him? Would he look back and see how he’d behaved out of character this weekend, too? The possibility of losing her heart was a bigger risk than losing her job, and that was saying something. No matter how much fun she was having in fantasyland tonight, she had to keep her head on straight—for her heart’s sake.
They swayed to the music—a mix of jazzy undertones and pop beats that was steady and smooth—like Bran’s steps.
“You can’t sing, but you can move,” she said.
“Oh, honey, I can move.”
She squeezed his biceps. “Not what I meant.”
