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“If you’ll excuse me, I want to grab a coffee and get back to my friend’s room.” Lillian edged around the man and toward the coffee station. The high tinkle of a woman’s laugh sounded behind her.
“Tristan King, I thought that was you. I didn’t know you were coming back here this late in the day. Don’t you have a party starting in a few hours?”
Tristan King; so that was his name.
Lillian glanced at the woman, who stopped in front of Tristan. She had high cheekbones and long red hair pulled into a sleek ponytail and wore a navy dress with an open neckline and cream-colored heels. Something about her polished, model look made Lillian suspect the woman was used to attracting attention.
The woman placed a slim hand with French-manicured nails on Tristan’s chest and removed a piece of non-existent lint from his black shirt. Tristan’s expression didn’t change, but somehow Lillian sensed his laser focus. Whoever this lady was, she was important to him.
Now was the perfect time to make her escape. Lillian took a step, but a long arm snaked around hers, pulling her backward, so she nearly tumbled into him.
He caught her, his hands snagging in her hair. “Not so fast.” Tristan smiled down at her, softening his harsh features. He winked, the movement so quick, she might have imagined it.
He turned to the lady. “Hello, Angelina.” Tristan’s sounded bored. “The fundraiser is still on. I only came to visit a friend. I’m heading out now.”
Angelina ignored Lillian, leaning in close to whisper in Tristan’s ear and giving him a good frontal view of her chest. Lillian could only imagine what she said. A promise of what might happen after the party?
Tristan wrapped his arm around Lillian’s shoulder and tucked her into his side. He smelled of the sea and something else, something otherworldly, something magical, like tall evergreens under a full moon in a fierce winter snowstorm. He tilted his head and angled his face toward hers. His dark blue eyes were the night sky, swallowing her whole.
My God, what was happening?
And then she felt it. It began where his fingers grazed her arm, traveled along her spine, caressed sensitive nerve endings, and ignited a shivering, shaking, blazing trail through her entire body. White-hot scorching energy lit the space between them. His warm breath caressed her skin.
So energetic. So thrilling. So full of life.
Lillian stood transfixed under the enchanted spell he cast. Excitement curled and unfolded in her veins. She’d found a burner—the term her mother used to describe someone with immense vitality. Someone with so much natural power, he vibrated with it. Someone who could cure a room full of invalids if he’d let her.
Someone she could use to cure Hannah.
“Who’s this?” Angelina asked, finally giving Lillian an ounce of her attention.
Lillian didn’t answer. All she could manage was to lean against Tristan’s side so she wouldn’t collapse in a warm puddle at his feet.
“My date for tonight’s party,” Tristan said, his tone smooth, as if he hadn’t just set her whole body on fire and left her a helpless lump of hot coal.
“Oh, I see. I didn’t realize you had a date.” Angelina shot her a dirty look. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to take care of a few matters. I’ll see you at the party.”
“Of course,” Tristan said, his gaze following Angelina’s retreating form before returning to Lillian. He removed his arm from her shoulder. “I’m sorry I had to do that. Angelina won’t take no for an answer. I needed to take drastic measures to get the message across. Thanks for playing along.”
“You didn’t give me much choice.”
His grin changed his features from interrogator to co-conspirator. “There wasn’t time—I had to improvise. But I’m grateful. May I get you a coffee?” He gestured toward a line of pots. “What’s your name?”
She wrapped her arms around herself. “Zoey…Zoey Mills.”
“I’m sorry about your friend.”
He handed her a cup of coffee, and when she reached for it, a tingling sensation moved between them again.Did he feel it, too?
She clutched the Styrofoam cup like it held liquid courage. “Thanks. Why don’t you come with me…to meet her? It’s the least you can do after I played along with your little ruse.”
He tilted his head and studied her, eyes shuttered. She resisted the urge to tap her feet and instead took a sip of coffee.Say yes, say yes, say yes.
“I can’t. I am hosting a fundraiser at my house”—he checked his watch—“in less than an hour. I kind of have to be there.” He pulled a pen from his bag and nabbed a napkin from the coffee bar, then scribbled his address and handed it to Lillian. “Feel free to come by later if you need a break.”
His voice did strange things to her insides, and her pulse raced where their fingers brushed, so she almost dropped the napkin. She couldn’t let him leave. Not without first seeing Hannah. “Please, it will only take a minute. You’ll have plenty of time to get to your party afterward. I promise.”
A flash of puzzlement crossed his face before something buzzed in his pocket, distracting him, and he slipped his hand into his jacket and pulled out his phone. Whatever he read on the screen wasn’t good news. His whole demeanor changed, all the light and animation leaving his face at once.
