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Surprise flickered through me and she shook her head.
“You didn’t think I would recognize your eyes?”
“I didn’t know if you would or not,” I admitted. I could have continued to play dumb, but that would have been rude when she called me out. Still… “I also didn’t think you would dance with me if you knew.”
“Being wrong must be difficult for you,” she said, an element of challenge in her tone. “I know how much you like being right.”
I snorted, then swirled us away from the path that would take us back toward her escort. He stood at the edge of the dance floor, hands folded and waiting. Only I didn’t think he missed a single step of our dance.
“If I asked you to leave with me—” I peered down at her, studying her eyes under the gleam of the lights. It was harder to make them out. The shadows hid her from me. “Would you do it?”
“Leave the party?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t.”
“You can do anything,” I reminded her. “You are not bound to being here.” Not like I was. There was a singular freedom in her not being a Reed. The bitter irony in that wasn’t lost on me.
“Perhaps,” she said with a slight shrug. “Perhaps not. Either way, I’m not leaving. I came with Milo.”
Rather than say something puckish, I kept my mouth shut.
“I plan to leave with him.”
That put a dent in my resistance. “Do you know how much I wish you weren’t with him?”
“No,” she said, the music making it harder to hear her. “Although I already know how little you think of him.”
“It’s not him,” I told her. “It’s you—and your—” I bit off the words. “You deserve more. You deserve better. He’s never going to be a part of this world. I hate that he’s even touched you, and every step he takes deeper here… the worse it’s going to get.”
“Are you worried about him?” Genuine curiosity inhabited that question.
“Considering who his father is? Yes.” That cost me nothing to admit. “I’m worried about you too.”
“Thank you,” she said and I frowned, not that she could see it. “Thank you for being concerned.”
On the opposite side of the dance floor, I guided her off and through the crowd. Holding fast to her hand, I tugged her with me and when I pressed the latch for one of the secret doors, it opened and I hauled her through before I closed it.
The abrupt cessation to the music was jarring and I stared down at her.
“Adam?” Her question and uncertainty hung in the air. “What are you doing?”
“I haven’t decided yet.” The alcove was off a hall in the house, causing it to be quiet and dark. The guests weren’t supposed to be here, but I knew every inch of this house.
“I have to go back…”
“Not yet.” I tightened my grip on her hand. “Give me this moment.”
“You asked for a dance, I said one…and you took more.”
“I know. You let me.”
“Now you’re asking for a moment.”
“Yes. Give me this moment,” I said, lifting a hand to her jaw. While my gloves kept me from touching her skin, I could imagine how soft it was. “Give this to me, and I’ll let you go back to him.”
“I’m not a possession for you to control.”
