“I told you, I wanted to make sure you were safe.”
“But how did you even know I was there?”
“I’m head of security here. There are eyes everywhere, Sophia.”
I scoff. “But why would those eyes care whatIwas doing? Do you sit alone in your room at night and watch security videos? Seems depraved even for you.”
A muscle in his jaw jerks. “In case you’ve forgotten, there’s a FIRE agent with a major hard-on for you out there. Frankly, I’m afraid you’ll get caught in his net or, worse, you might run again. I pulled a lot of strings to get you this arrangement with Godmother. I can’t have River screwing it up by exposing you.”
The high-pitched sound that comes out of my throat is offense made audible. “You can fuck the hell off, Seven. I don’t recall Godmother charging you with being my babysitter. Find someone else to toss off to while you sit home alone watching surveillance videos.”
His face remains impassive, but a tiny muscle in his eye twitches. He drives faster. After a minute or so, I say, “If you must know, I had the best time until I ran into you on the street. Elderberry wine flowed. The fire raged. Music filled the star-scattered sky…”
“And what about River?” he asks through his teeth.
I smooth my skirt. “River was a perfect gentleman.”
Seven pulls into After Dark and parks in a spot near the front reserved for security vehicles. Must be nice.
“You’re honestly telling me that the satyr didn’t try to get up your skirt?” All this time, he’s been focused on the road. Now his clover-colored eyes flash as he turns his head to face me.
I snort. I can’t help it. It’s just so ridiculous. Is Seven actually jealous? After the way he and his father treated me? “No,” I say simply. “I didn’t say that at all. I just said he was aperfectgentleman.” I open the door and stagger out of the car before he can ruin the moment with his own barb.
He’s out and after me in a heartbeat. “Did he take you right there on the beach with the others watching? Is that how you like it now?”
Poker face. That’s all he gets from me. “I thought your security cameras saw everything?”
“Not the beach,” he mumbles.
I stop short, and something clicks. Growing up, Seven would often take me to that beach. I always thought it was to get away from the human guests. Now I realize he was hiding. No one could see us there, maybe especially not leprechaun-run security. The revelation doesn’t sit well. “Too bad for you. You’ll just have to use your imagination.”
He makes a very un-leprechaun-like sound. There’s nothing smooth or elegant about it. It’s all male and completely feral.
“What do you care anyway, Seven? It’s none of your business who’s been up my skirt.”
I’m a little ahead of him when suddenly his arm shoots around my waist and scoops me behind the hedgerow near the front gates. My breath leaves my lungs as I’m smashed against his chest. With the added height of my stilettos, we’re face-to-face, and a flock of butterflies takes flight within me, their wings fluttering against the walls of my stomach and stirring up fizzy bubbles in my blood.
“What if I want it to be my business?” he says, his warm hand pressing into the arch of my back.
“You gave up that right when you abandoned and humiliated me.” I have to say this aloud and repeat it in my head to counteract my body’s exuberance at being in his arms again. Stupid body. I thought it had been the alcohol last night, but I’m completely sober now and it’s all I can do not to be drawn in.
“I didn’t—” He cuts himself off with a shake of his head. “What happened to you was wrong… awful and unforgivable. But I hope you will forgive me one day.”
He releases me, leaving me standing before him, completely speechless. Did Seven Delaney just apologize to me? I’m gaping, trying to decide how to respond, when he straightens, filling every corner of his suit with confidence.
“Change your appearance,” he commands. His shift from apologetic to alpha boss man gives me whiplash. “You’re going to walk in on my arm, and you need to look like my escort. For this to work, no one can recognize you.”
I balk at his bossiness but am too flustered to argue about it. He’s probably right. The rumors traveled far and wide about what happened between us. If people remember, they may avoid me. My goal tonight is to be one of them, to put them at ease.
I use a little luck and make my skin and hair lighter, my eyes and lips larger, and change the shape of my face from an oval to a heart shape. I don’t need a mirror to know I look completely different.
He frowns but holds out his arm. “Let’s go.”
As we walk into the park and head for the club, I realize that not a single human in the dozens entering seemed to notice Seven pulling me behind the bushes or the two of us bounding out of them now. Then I remember I’m with a leprechaun. No one noticed because he’s lucky. One flex of his power and every mind within range was distracted with something else at the precise time he needed them to be. Damn. It’s a reminder of the position I’m in.
Seven is even more powerful now than I remember. He can have anything he wants. He’s a deadly, fire-breathing beast of a man with almost unlimited resources, and I’m over here poking him with a stick and reminding him of that time he hurt my feelings when I was a kid. I seriously need to learn to keep my mouth shut.
At the door to the club, we walk right past the long line of humans waiting to get inside. Seven’s hand rests in the small of my back again in that possessive way that’s becoming an annoying habit. My dress is backless, and his fingers are warm against my bare skin, his thumb dusting over my spine. He escorts me past a man in a black suit at the VIP entrance. The bouncer’s gaze passes right over me as he nods at Seven and opens the door for him.
