Shit.
The wine that had happily glided down my throat earlier now bubbled in the pit of my stomach. I’d hoped that was a technicality, that she would think of Kent as our client but not the team. I was smart enough to know that wouldn’t be the case, but the confirmation doused any hot hopes I had for tonight and beyond with a big bucket of ice-cold reality.
I needed this job, especially if I had to fight my mother to keep her away from Taylor. Aunt Lucy would help me, but lawyers weren’t cheap.
I’d find Silas and make sure I drew a deeper line in the sand this time, despite how much I’d always want to cross it.
The gala had dwindled to just a few, the only guests left the ones interested in the items on auction. The team was mostly gone, with only two players left at their table.
I dipped into the ladies’ room, washing my hands and tapping a soft paper towel against my forehead and the back of my neck to cool the flush running over me. Being strong and responsible was how I’d rolled all my life, and tonight, it exhausted me to my core.
“Leaving so soon?” a male voice slurred behind me right after I stepped out the door, close enough to smell the vodka on his breath.
“I am. Good night.” I gave him a tight smile and picked up my pace back into the dining room. I scanned the space for Silas or Lee or anyone who could help me tell this guy to back off.
“Oh, come on,” he said, grabbing me by my wrist and spinning me until my back was against the wall. “I’ve been watching you.” He was about my height, maybe in his fifties with a very receding line of dark hair. The overhead hallway lights glowed on his bald head, and I would have laughed if I weren’t so terrified.
Where had this guy come from? I hadn’t sensed anyone watching me, but while I was sitting across from Silas, I hadn’t paid attention to anything or anyone else.
“Let me go,” I said, pushing against his chest as it rumbled with a laugh.
“I love them thick,” he said with a gross snicker as he tried to grab my hip. I swatted him away and kicked him in the shins, sending him back far enough to escape his hold.
“You bitch,” he sneered, grabbing my wrist again. For a man who swayed on his feet, his grip was strong enough to hurt. “I was just trying to be?—”
“Get your fucking hands off her!” Silas bellowed as he grabbed the creep by the collar and lifted him up, knocking him against the wall.
“I was just…t-trying to be friendly,” he stammered, his eyes wide and almost sober as he gaped at Silas.
“The fuck you were.” He banged him against the wall again, his head making a clunk loud enough for me to register heads turning in our direction.
“What’s going on?” Lee asked, taking us all in and rushing over to me. “Are you okay, Rachel?”
“Yeah,” I said, not realizing how breathless I was until I tried to talk. Lee caught me as my knees wobbled. “He’s drunk and wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“Everything all right?” A security guard came over and approached Silas, eyeing us both as Silas kept this guy in a grip so tight, he sputtered for air.
“He came up to me when I left the ladies’ room and wouldn’t leave me alone. I pushed him away and was trying to leave, but he grabbed me again. Silas pushed him off me.”
“Hey, big guy,” Lee whispered, tapping Silas’s shoulder. “Let security handle it. She’s okay.”
Silas looked back at me, his chiseled jaw still clenched.
“Optics, dude. We don’t know who is still here and will take this out of context. Let him go, and let security handle it.”
Silas let him go with one last shove and rushed over to me.
“Are you okay?” He took my face in his hands, and I was shaken up enough to let him. I yearned for comfort from the man I’d planned to say goodbye to, so much that I didn’t care if someone saw us and reported back to Gayle that I’d gotten cozy with the team manager.
“I am, just shaken up, But I’ll be fine. I’ll sit for a few minutes until I take a cab home.”
“No, I’ll take you home. And you’re not going to fight me on that. Got it?”
“Got it,” I said, clearing my throat when I caught my voice squeak.
The concoction of feelings I had for Silas swirled in my belly as he led me outside, making my head spin. I was almost grateful Gayle had scared me out of being so reckless tonight.
Once I’d let myself get even a small piece of Silas, I’d want all of him and wouldn’t be able to let him go.
