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I turn my head and watch him fight his way out of the dense crowd of people. “Jesus. Let’s go upstairs.”
He leads me to a flight of stairs, and we climb them. When we emerge into the next floor, the party has thinned significantly. Here I can see couples dancing, and small groups talking. White-uniformed staff circle the party, offering champagne and hors d’oeuvres from sparkling silver trays. The atmosphere up here is way less stuffy that it was downstairs.
Cole smiles at me, his eyes sparkling. “Hi.”
“Hi back. This is not what I was expecting when you said you wanted me to attend a cocktail party.”
“It’s not what I expected either. But let’s take our coats off, have a drink, and circulate for a minute before we give up.”
Cole slides his hand around my waist and my breath catches. Yesterday he insisted on buying me things. And today he’s acting sort of like… well, like we’re on a date. What I’m supposed to make of this, I don’t know.
We hand our coats to a passing waiter. Cole looks me up and down. I flap a hand at him, but I can’t stop a grin from spreading across my face.
He offers me his hand. When I take it, he turns me around, whistling. “You look… I don’t have the right word. Ravishing is the closest one I can think of.”
“Cole…” I feel butterflies in my stomach at his words. It’s as if the world melts away and it’s just the two of us, smiling softly and standing close together.
“Wine, sir?” A waiter with a small silver tray offers.
Cole snags us both glasses of wine while I follow the window along the wall. Toward the back of the room, there is a small nook with a huge painting and a loveseat directly underneath it.
I head back and see Cole looking around for me. Tugging at the hem of my dress, I trot forward, surprising him with my hand on the back of his dark sweater.
Cole’s look of surprise and anxiety vanishes the second he turns his head and sees me. He looks me up and down; I watch his gaze snag on my neckline near my hint of cleavage.
“That dress was worth every penny.” Cole hands my glass of wine to me. “You’ve been turning heads since you took your coat off.”
“Turning heads?” I scrunch my face up in confusion. “I don’t know about that.”
“I do. I saw it.”
I sip my wine to hide my blush. “If you say so. I am dressed more provocatively than I usually do. This dress looked tamer on the mannequin last night than it does on me.”
He smirks. “Mannequins don’t have perky tits or asses that just won’t quit. I think if more mannequins looked like you do in that dress, stores wouldn’t be able to keep the shelves stocked.”
Perky tits? An ass that just won’t quit? Those are things I would have expected to hear from Cole’s brother Rex, maybe. Coming from the same guy that told me he wanted an ‘honest business relationship’, it’s more confusing than anything.
“Stop it.” I laugh politely and smack his arm. “You’re awful. You are buttering me up for something, but I don’t know what.”
He licks his lower lip and gives me a smoldering smile. “No butter. I’m just telling it like it is. You’re an extremely attractive woman.”
I grin and roll my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I don’t want to hear it, Mr. Sexile. All of that attraction and chemistry is nothing but pent-up sexual energy.”
That makes him laugh. “Perhaps.”
“Let’s get the meet and greet portion of this event over with so we can relax,” I suggest. Linking my arm in Cole’s, I turn to face the crowd. “Who do you need to meet?”
At that moment, I feel like yacht pulling away from the dock. Everyone in the room suddenly leans toward the dock. Several people yelp. I grab Cole’s hand as he steadies himself.
“Are we going somewhere?” he asks. “What the hell? We are supposed to stay at the dock! I don’t mind being on the water, but… how are we going to leave?”
Peering out the window, I purse my lips.
“I’m pretty sure this is officially a booze cruise. The yacht is probably going to do a couple big laps.”
“Ah, hell. I forgot that booze cruises were a thing.”
“Oh the tradition is very much alive and well in the Cape.”
