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“Is that your wife?”
A look akin to fear crossed the man’s face as his head whipped around. Evolet took the opportunity to lean forward, place a finger under the martini glass and lift up. A flick was all it took for the peachy-pink drink to spill onto the man’s white shirt. The glass tumbled from his fingers and crashed onto the floor. The music playing from the speakers and the chattering of the guests muffled some of the commotion, but a number of people turned to see who had dropped the glass.
The man’s face reddened as he looked from his shirt down to the offending pile of broken glass at his feet.
“Did you...” He looked up at her and then back down again. She almost felt bad for him as he blinked and struggled to make sense of what just happened. “Did I do that?”
“You did, Harry.”
Evolet froze. The deep velvet-timbred tone came from behind and slid over her skin, sparking little fires as it wound around her and made her suck in a breath even as panic fluttered in her chest. Had the owner of the seductive voice seen her maneuver?
Harry’s face paled at an astonishingly fast speed.
“Oh...um, I think I just had a little too much—”
“Harry!”
Evolet almost felt sorry for Harry when the remaining color in his face disappeared, replaced with stark white fear as a slender woman with jet-black hair piled high in an elegant arrangement of curls walked up to him, her eyes hard.
Almost.
“Darling, there you are.” The woman slid her arm through Harry’s, her manicured fingernails digging into the sleeve of his jacket like claws. “The Joneses have been asking after you.” She aimed a brittle smile at Evolet and whoever stood behind her before dragging off a very unhappy-looking Harry.
Evolet steeled herself for whatever was behind her and turned.
You.
CHAPTER TWO
HERMYSTERYMANstood before her, tall and dark and brooding. She tilted her chin up and met his gaze head-on. And what a gaze it was. Emerald shot through with flecks of gold, framed by thick brows that were currently drawn together as he studied her. The amused twist of his full lips told her he had seen her little maneuver.
“Thank you,” she said.
One of those brows shot up.
“For what? Seems like you had everything in hand.”
Heat rose in her cheeks. “It was just—”
“A clever way of dealing with an insufferable ass who drinks too much and hits on anyone who is not his wife.”
Evolet bit down on her bottom lip to stop her grin.
“Well...thank you.” She cast a quick glance around. Thankfully people had returned to their private conversations, and a fast-acting server had already swept up the glass. No permanent damage seemed to have been done. “I appreciate your discretion.”
His lips tilted up another notch. “You’re welcome.” He nodded toward the bar. “Anthony is a magician when it comes to drinks. After your run-in with Harry, you could probably use one.”
She focused on the menu, written in an elegant script, and not on the distracting man standing a breath away from her. “The Lavender Spy, please.”
She felt the man start next to her. But when she glanced up, his face was impassive as he looked out over the crowds with a bored expression. Anthony handed her a glass filled with a pale purple drink topped off with a sprig of lavender. She thanked him and raised the glass to her lips.
“Oh, wow,” she breathed as the mixture of gin, lavender and lime hit her tongue. “That’s delicious.”
“Do you enjoy gin often?”
“This is my first time,” she replied as she took another sip. “I don’t do much drinking. None at all, actually. I’m usually practicing or performing.” Or working as a floating executive assistant, but she kept that part out. It was just a stop on the way to her ultimate goal of playing professionally for an orchestra. “Leaves little time for happy hour.”
“How did you decide on the cello?”
