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Great, I wondered where his real date was. She’d have to show up soon and then he’d wonder why he had two blind dates.
“Selena,” I told him, taking the hand he offered. His tux was immaculate and expensive, his sleeves crisp and white. But his hand felt rough against mine, and as I slid my thumb over his knuckles in a quick caress, I brushed callouses. Interesting. It seemed likely he got his hands dirty…but I already knew that from the dossier. Aiden was the heir apparent in the family business.
“Aiden,” he said, as if there was anyone in this room who didn’t know who he was. He offered me his arm. “Did Dominic tell you all about me?”
“Yes,” I said as I slid my hand over the crook of his arm. His muscles felt hard and solid beneath the expensive material.
I expected him to lead me onto the dance floor, but instead he steered me to a doorway that led up from the ballroom. “Let’s take a moment away from the party. Are you all right?”
My heart raced, concerned about where he was taking me. Maybe he knew I didn’t belong here and he’d just been quietly removing me from the crowd. Maybe he didn’t want to ruin daddy’s party with a murder. “I’m fine.”
Then we emerged onto the catwalk overlooking the ballroom below. Beneath us, the party glittered, music rising.
“Judging from the look on your face… I’m sorry that Anthony was so badly behaved,” he said. “He’s a business associate of my father’s, but he’s hardly a friend.”
“I understand,” I said.
He led me down the hall past several rooms with ornate closed wooden doors to a small alcove at the end, which overlooked the dance floor but was recessed back, hidden in shadows. An enormous gilt mirror hung from the floor to the ceiling, framed by velvet curtains, and beautifully-lit art hung to either side.
It was a great place to set up to take down a target, if I could find a clean way to exit once the place erupted into chaos.
But for now, Aiden had stopped, one hand on the railing overlooking the dance floor. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Selena.”
Downstairs, I caught a glimpse of Anthony and the big blond exiting the dance floor, and I tilted my head to one side. Blondie was part of Aiden’s security team, I was sure of it. Was Aiden so obsessed with his honor that Anthony was going to get his ass kicked for hassling Aiden’s ‘date’?
How fucking delightful. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well.”
“I suppose Dominic told you about how I don’t like to waste time on first dates,” he said, his voice gravelly in my ear as he pressed me against the marble railing. His lips pressed the side of my throat, just below my neck.
“I thought you said Anthony was badly behaved,” I said swiftly. Aiden was sex personified and I felt a stirring of heat when I felt his cock press behind me, but this was just too much, too quickly. “Yet here you are.”
His hand swept up the nape of my neck, moving my hair to the side. Despite myself, my back arched subtly, inviting his lips to find that particular electric spot again. His soft voice stirred my hair as he murmured, “I’m an entirely different story, and you know it.”
Maybe he could read how attracted I was to him. But he was still an arrogant prick.
“I don’t think I’m the right blind date for you,” I said, turning in his arms.
He braced his hands to either side of me, leaning in with that big, powerful body. The noise of the crowd felt far below; all I could see was his all-consuming green eyes.
“Oh?” His breath was against my ear as he leaned in, and my back arched slightly over the railing in my nervousness. I shouldn’t have turned, because now I was pressed against his cock, which rubbed against me even through his trousers and the sleek material of my dress. “Let’s see if you are the right date for me.”
He leaned forward and his lips swept over mine. He smelled intoxicating and his lips were soft and sure as they pressed mine in a tentative kiss. For a second, I was stunned, and I couldn’t quite get my brain to work the way it was supposed to. I should be moving a step ahead to seduce him.
I should kiss him back. But even as I was thinking that, even as part of mewantedto kiss him back, I set my hands on his broad chest and pushed him back.
He straightened, though he still had me pressed against the marble railing. I couldn’t help but think how easy it would be for him to scoop and grab my legs, to force me over the railing to fall into the canapes below as the dancers scattered and screamed.
“I think you are,” he said quietly. “Most women will let me do whatever I want to them. They just want to get close to my power. I like someone with a little more spirit.”
The moment between us felt tense and charged.
Then he took a step back, and for the first time, I felt like I could draw a strangled breath.
“I have some official duties to attend to,” he said, sounding regretful. “But I’ll find you later.”
“Promise?” I asked with an arch smile, though I would make sure he didn’t find me later.
I was going to murder his daddy and get the hell out of here before I could get myself into any more trouble.
