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“Seems easy enough,” Ezra said.
It seemed obvious to me. I had assumed that we weren’t going to attend this event and just sit in the corner and not speak to anyone. But what I would give to Marcel was that he knew Ezra better than I did. And I was beginning to think that my date was the one who needed this pre-date strategy meeting.
“And you,” Marcel snapped towards me, pulling me from my thoughts. “You need to be the epitome of charm. It’s not unusual for Ezra here to bring a date to these things, but she’s usually more boobs than brains.”
“Hey!” Ezra snapped.
Marcel paid him no attention. “We need you to stand out. People need to like you.”
I nodded. “I’m more than aware of my role in all of this.” It was one of the reasons I’d allowed Julia to convince me to buy a bunch of clothing at Saks. People were going to be looking at me all of the sudden, and a great deal of them were going to be pissed that I’d somehow caught Ezra’s eye when they hadn’t.
“This is never going to work,” Marcel groaned. “You should have gone with one of the girls in the binder.”
My brow rose as I looked at Ezra. “Wow,” I said. “A whole binder of women were queuing up for this job?”
His cheeks flushed slightly at the jab, and it softened my heart a bit. In some ways, Ezra reminded me of the men I’d grown up with. He was someone who thrived in control, but he wasn’t as dark as the men of the Bratva. The world hadn’t drained all of the happiness out of him. I hope it never did, but I feared that the path he was taking might do just that.
Ezra was saved from having to respond by the car coming to a halt. I looked out of the window surprised to see us pulling up in front of Gotham Hall. I’d been so focused on reading the information about the charity, and the people I was going to be expected to impress that I hadn’t looked at where we were going.
The door opened, and the driver helped me out of the car. Ezra and Marcel got out from the other side.
Once more, Ezra extended his arm to me. I looped mine through his, ignoring the way I enjoyed the smell of his aftershave. “I don’t think I’ve told you how beautiful you look,” he whispered in my ear.
I felt myself blush at the compliment. “You look great too,” I said, awkwardly. I knew this wasn’t a real date, but somehow, that made everything even more awkward. I felt unsure of myself, especially knowing that there were expectations around my presence.
“You aren’t walking in with us?” I asked Marcel.
We’d parked behind several cars and were far enough away from the action that no one was paying too much attention to us. “I need a joint before I go in there,” he grumbled. “I’m not sure who is giving me a bigger headache tonight, you or my mother.”
That was the last thing he said to us before he went back into the car.
“Well, he’s delightful.”
Ezra laughed again, and the sound of it made my insides quake slightly in pleasure. “I’m sorry. I probably should have warned you about Marcel. He means well, but he’s intense.”
I bit the inside of my lip. Marcel was more than intense. He was someone who was willing to do anything, hurt anyone, to get what he wanted. I knew people like that. Everyone was a pawn to them.
But I kept my thoughts to myself, instead focusing on the task ahead. I felt my heart beating fast as we got to the entrance. There were photographers waiting to snap pictures of the New York elite who would be attending tonight’s event, and the thought of standing before them made my stomach turn. I had done everything I could in the last year to try and stay under the radar, and now, I was about to enter a party on the arm of New York’s most eligible bachelor.
“Hey,” Ezra squeezed my arm as we neared the front. “Everything is going to be fine.”
“I just don’t like having my photo taken,” I said. When we’d been discussing the contract, I’d made it clear that I didn’t want my photo taken, but we’d both known the likelihood of that wasn’t good.
Ezra’s eyes were filled with concern.
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll get over it.”
But as we got closer and closer, I could feel sweat starting to beam across the back of my neck, and my tongue started going dry.
“Just follow my lead,” Ezra whispered in my ear as we stepped into the fray.
The photographers immediately went wild, but they were blocked from my view. Ezra had stepped in front of me, and before I could think, or stop him, he leaned forward and fused his mouth to mine.
The cameras around us were going wild, but I couldn’t think about anything besides Ezra’s lips on my own. The kiss was soft and chaste, but it was the first one I’d had in over a year.
As Ezra pulled away, he pressed me closer, and somehow guided me into the entrance of the party.
My heart was racing as we walked into the party, but this time it was from the feeling of Ezra’s lips on mine, and not from the people currently milling about.
