AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I couldn’t help but laugh, leaning into his touch as his thumb brushed over my racing pulse. “Good. I’m not bein’ paid to have fun tonight, so don’t try to make me have some.”
His eyes softened behind the mask. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Was he for real?
Was I really face-to-face—well, sort of, considering the masks—with a man who wouldn’t be like the rest? A man who hadn’t batted an eye when I’d said it was the work that was fun for me, and who even seemed to agree? Not only that, but in an effort to spend time with me, he’d found a way to speak my language.
All of that combined made it an offer I couldn’t refuse.
“You know what? Let’s do it,” I said, beaming up at him.
And for a brief, electrifying moment, it seemed a little like he was transfixed by my smile. His eyes were rooted to my mouth, and his answering smile below the mask had the same effect on me.
It was... dazzling.
I didn’t even know him. I didn’t know if he was someone I’d seen but never talked to at another event for Laney, or maybe a celebrity friend of Riley’s. And yet, here I was, feeling like he knew me in a way I’d always wanted to be known.
Not that I had time for a relationship with everything on my plate these days. But, if this was just a magical night strolling under the Nashville stars with a stranger whogot me…
I was one hundred percent on board with that.
He shook his head slightly, then his hand slid from my wrist to twine our fingers. I inhaled the mingling scents of perfume and food as he led me through the crowd, suddenly feeling a bit dizzy.
Was it because he held my hand?
Was it because I was being led onto a dark patio by a masked man, and even though this whole thing probably should’ve made me wish for a can of pepper spray, instead, I found myself utterly thrilled by it?
The steady beat of the music faded as we slipped out the tall French doors into the cool night air. We strolled across the stone patio beneath the twinkling blanket of stars, and away from the party’s constant motion, I became aware of the stilted cadence of my breathing.
He still held my hand.
That was weird, right?
Just in case, I pulled mine free, wrapping my arms around myself with a small shiver. It was chilly, though. It had nothing to do with missing the warmth of the stranger’s hand.
“Cold?”
I nodded, and he immediately took off his jacket, his movements revealing strong muscles under the black linen shirt he’d worn under it. He draped it over my shoulders, and the scent of pine with a hint of cinnamon had me wondering if thiswas how he always smelled, or if it was a special choice around the holidays.
“Better?”
“Much,” I replied. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
I glanced up at the man beside me, and for once in my life, I had no idea what to say. Never mind the fact that I didn’t know who this guy was, with his chiseled profile cutting a striking silhouette in the moonlight. At this point, I was starting to wonder who the heck I was, and what happened to the outgoing, no-nonsense woman I’d always been.
“I’m glad I came tonight,” he said, rubbing a hand over his smooth jaw as we walked deeper ontothe massive patio at the back of the house.
“Did you consider not comin’?”
He chuckled, and the sound lit something in my chest that I hadn’t even known was dim. “Oh, yeah. I wasn’t sure it’d be worth my brother’s wrath.”
“What does your brother have to do with it? Is he here?”
“Nah, he... wouldn’t make the guestlist for this party.”
Considering how exclusive the party was, that statement applied a heck of a lot of people. But something about the man’s tone told me there was more to the story, and I folded my arms, waiting for him to go on.
