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“Thank you,” I said, caving in with a smile.
* * *
That night,I was reluctant to leave Dylan with the teenage babysitter—and two armed guards—but I also felt like I needed to stay near Stone, especially when the survivors of the Longroad pack were coming to the dance.
But when I came down the stairs, Dylan was already happily chatting to the babysitter. She looked up at me with a smile and a greeting, which drew Dylan’s attention.
His mouth fell open. Then he scrambled to his feet. “Mommy! You look pretty!”
“Your mom always looks pretty.” It was Shaw’s low voice, soaked in sex, that rumbled behind me.
I turned to find Shaw looking sexy and impeccable in a suit, his dark hair perfectly styled. I couldn’t believe he was mine.
Shaw’s jaw had dropped open too. “You look beautiful,” he said finally.
“I think you left him speechless for a moment,” Karissa observed, leaning in the doorway. She wore a gunmetal gray gown that hugged her curves. “That’s a rare feat.”
I kissed Dylan goodbye. Then Shaw offered me one arm and Karissa the other. The three of us walked out into the forest together, though I glanced back at the house. Dylan was being watched carefully.
The forest looked magical. A teak dance floor had been laid, and it had spaces cut out for tree trunks that spread their branches overheard. The trees were full of lights, and music drifted through the forest.
“It’s magical,” I managed.
“You’re magical.” Shaw said, and I knew he had a hundred lines, but somehow he still sounded like he meant it.
“Look.” Karissa froze, her gaze locked on someone across the crowd. “He’s never come out before.”
Liam, tall and handsome in his suit, was walking across the dance floor carrying two flutes of champagne.
“We’re going to get drinks,” Karissa said, grabbing Shaw by the arm and dragging her away.
Shaw looked annoyed, though he let his sister tow him along, and I caught his words before they faded into the music. “You know, I love Amelia too—"
I’d never seen Liam dressed up like this, and I felt suddenly shy as he joined me, holding out the other glass of champagne. Liam was almost always shirtless, except for jeans, and barefoot. He looks so different now that he had cut his hair.
“You look lovely,” he said as he handed me a glass.
“You too.” A charge seemed to flow between our fingers when they touched. I took a long sip of champagne.
I could tell he was really trying to be whatever he thought he needed to be. But I didn’t want him to become someone else for my sake. “I like you just the way you are, you know.”
He gave me a skeptical look. “You mean crazy?”
I borrowed a page from Cole’s book and placed my hand over his mouth. “You’re not crazy.”
He arched his eyebrows as if to saytry me, then bit me lightly on the palm.
I pulled away, laughing,
He caught my hand. “Would you dance with me?”
“You know how to dance?”
“Lord, no. I hoped you could lead like when you taught me before.” His smile was bright and unabashed and I smiled back just as whole-heartedly.
I danced with Liam, then found myself with Cole later. He pulled me into a shady spot of trees where we were almost hidden from the party.
"What is it?" I asked, breathless already.
