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I forced myself not to react to his words. This was Sam. I hadn’t expected anything different. But he was also the same person who had held me on the beach last week. He could say whatever he wanted about me staying away from him, it didn’t change his actions. He cared what happened to me—maybe not about my heart or emotions, but he cared about my safety.
“I need a date,” I said calmly, as if his words didn’t matter to me. “If you don’t want to come, that’s fine. I’ll ask someone else.”
Sam’s eyes went darker, stormier. This version of him was downright scary, and apparently my fear receptors were still broken judging by my body’s lack of alarm.
“So you finally ran out of men,” he drawled.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Sam could think what he wanted. I didn’t have to answer to him, and I couldn’t change how he chose to see me. “You could just say no.” I opened my eyes, and he was right there, his chest inches away from my face.
Sam’s fingers threaded through my hair and tugged my head back so I was looking up at him. “I don’t want to say no,” he said in a low voice that I felt deep in my core. “That’s the problem.”
I held my breath. He had that look again, the one that said he wanted to devour me, and I was thinking I really wouldn’t mind being devoured by him.
He leaned in until his lips hovered at my ear. “Do you remember the poem? We’re both roses, Siren. Pretty to look at, desirable, and covered in thorns.”
My breath caught. I could never forget the poem.He that dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose.It had changed the way I lived my life. The thing was, I couldn’t not crave Samuel, thorns and all. If he was a rose, then I was willing to bleed.
He pulled back. “I don’t date,” he added flatly before dropping his hand from my hair.
“Wait, what if it’s not real?”
Sam stilled. “What ifwhat’snot real?”
A shiver skated down my spine, but I forced out the words I needed to say. “I was serious about needing a date. If you don’t come, I have to ask someone else or let my brother set me up. Please come with me.”
The stormy look was back. “Fine,” he growled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He didn’t wait for me to respond before turning away and disappearing through the door the girl had vanished through earlier, leaving me alone.
A part of me was in shock. I had my date for Hayden’s party. Now I just had to agonize over whether Sam was going to stand me up tomorrow.
* * *
I was standingin front of the mirror on the back of my bedroom door, debating if the ruby necklace was too much, when the door pushed inward, narrowly missing my head.
“What the hell are you doing?” I all but shouted, jumping back from the door.
Orlando stood in my doorway, looking way less apologetic than I thought he should. “I’m picking you up.”
“I can drive myself to a party. And that still doesn’t explain why you needed to barge into my bedroom without knocking. What if I was naked?”
My brother shuddered in genuine horror. “Only you would be naked at seven o’clock at night. Even when I used to sleep in until noon, I was still dressed way before seven.”
I rolled my eyes. And only Orlando would not grasp the concept of changing clothes before a party. There was no way he had a secret girlfriend. I was at least ninety-five percent sure the gossip was wrong on that one.
“Come on, I want to get there before all the good scotch is gone.”
“I can get myself there. You don’t have to wait for me.” I was technically already ready, but I didn’t want to arrive with Orlando. We’d make less of a scene showing up separately.
“No sister of mine is showing up at a party by herself.”
“I have a date,” I protested.
“Ishepicking you up?”
I debated lying, but I could never lie to my siblings. They always seemed to see straight through me.
Orlando grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the house.
Hayden’s penthouse was on the twenty-sixth floor of a glass skyscraper in Back Bay. The view was killer no matter which of the many windows I looked through, and the number of people here would have packed a smaller apartment to bursting.
