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“And you’re what exactly to the high lady?” I asked, still trying to figure out the motive behind the offer without revealing anything myself.
“Consort,” Stefan answered in a clipped tone, some of his arrogance deflating.
And that’s when I remembered where I’d first seen Stefan. At the Summer Ball, he’d stood next to Cole Tragon, shifting uneasily on his feet as Cole and I had exchanged barbs. And then I did not see him again for months, until Lady Tragon’s soiree the other day.
“Hmm,” I mused.
“So, you know Luke and Rhett?” I guessed, changing the subject.
He had called me Al, so that meant he knew Luke, Rhett, or both. Hanging out with Cole was an immediate red flag, but if he knew Luke and Rhett, then maybe he wasn’t so bad.
He nodded his head. “They told meallabout you.”
“You can’t believe half of what those guys say,” I joked.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” he replied, his voice smoldering.
“So, what are you going to play for me next?” I asked, sidestepping his overt flirting. He was being a bit heavy-handed for the usual High Court games.
“Absolutely anything you want,” he said, suggesting it was more than just my choice of songs that he would be willing to give to me.
I rolled my eyes at his persistence.
“How about you just play the next one for me, ok?” I replied.
“Deal. But you have to promise to think about my offer,” he said.
And then he turned away, flashing me one more mischievous smile over his shoulder before heading back into the parlor to get back to his performance. I took my lower lip between my teeth, biting it and thinking about everything Stefan had said as he disappeared back into the main room. Then I went back to the party, joining Luke as Stefan played in the background.
“It’s weird to see Jay here,” Luke said.
“Yeah, why?” I replied, still distracted by my conversation with Stefan.
“It’s just that he never used to come to these kinds of things before. This definitely would have been something he would have sent me to handle for him. Before you, he used to only go to House Heroux functions and then maybe the seasonal galas,” Luke explained.
“And the King and the entire High Council too,” Luke whistled. “This must be the best attended liaison dinner of all time. Normally, it would just be me and some other agents on behalf of each House.”
“Speaking of House agents. I’ve heard you’ve been telling lies about me to Lord Stefan,” I said, changing the subject.
Luke gave me a sideways assessing gaze before responding.
“Only if it’s a lie to say you’re the most brilliant woman I know. Hot, too,” he said, wagging his eyebrows at me.
“Luke,” I exclaimed, “save it for the other ladies. I know your gamesall too well, and they don’t work on me,” I continued, playfully bumping my shoulders into his.
His brick wall of a body was unfazed by my effort.
“Don’t they?” he asked confidently, flashing me one of his white toothy grins, the kind of smile that could melt a glacier.
“They just need a firm hand,” Cole said loudly enough for everyone standing in the vast room to hear.
He was standing with Rhett and Lord Preston, and his husband, Jamie. Jay stood next to the King talking across the room. High Lady Tragon and Gloria had run off somewhere long ago. Stefan was across the room, beginning to pack up his guitar for the evening.
Other than the high lady’s unusual job offer, everything had gone well so far that night. If we ended the night then, I had no doubt that I’d passed the informal social test necessary to progress out of the liaison program. All I had to do was leave without rocking the boat. But I’d heard this diatribe by Cole before, his snipes about the idea of a Golden Court and the lesser fae wanting to be called the gilded, not lesser, fae instead.
Approaching Cole, I retorted, “Cole, the only firm hand you know about is the one you give yourself every night alone in your bedroom.”
Rhett barked out a laugh, and Lord Preston made a more discreet snicker. Our exchange had immediately drawn the eyes of everyone else in the room to us.
