“You’re quiet. And tense. Did I miss something?” She narrowed her eyes and glanced around the room. “Frederick is still here.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m just trying to figure out how to get him out of that crowd. Without drawing attention to myself.”
He watched her shift her focus to Frederick and his spirited crew. Despite his frustration, a smile tugged at his lips. She’d been the perfect combination of sophistication, warmth, and grace all evening. He could see how people must want to donate generously at her charity galas. People were delighted to talk to her. They were drawn to her. She listened intently to their stories and anecdotes with genuine interest. She didn’t patronize them with false sincerity. She actually cared.
Even Mrs. Pennington’s twenty-three minute—he counted—narrative of her French Bulldog’s struggle with seasonal allergies.
Tayla’s kind nature and listening ear were not only admirable, they were very helpful. She kept people engaged and talking in the right direction, enabling Leland, Knox, and himself to go unnoticed when they needed to slip aGPS tracker in an unsuspecting pocket or stick a bug on the back of a jacket.
Jason adjusted his cufflinks and tried to not look tense—if Tayla noticed, someone else might. “The next time he goes to the bathroom, I’ll try to bump into him in the hall.”
He could feel Tayla’s skeptical glance.
“Just because it didn’t work last time doesn’t prove anything. Maybe this time he’ll be alone. What grown man walks to the bathroom with four buddies?”
Tayla shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought that was a girl thing.”
“Me too.” He scanned the room for the hundredth time. “The only idea I have will require some luck.”
“What’s your idea?”
“When the band starts playing again, hopefully he’ll ask one of the girls in his group to dance. If he does, you and I can dance our way over to them and accidentally bump into him. Maybe you could step on his foot? That would be great.”
She looked amused. Then doubtful. “That might require too much luck. I can definitely step on his foot if weget close to him, but I think he’s only ventured onto the dance floor a couple of times all night.”
“I know. We should have taken advantage of the opportunity then.”
Her lips twisted to the right, and her eyes narrowed. He realized this was her concentrating-face. And it was so attractive. How was he going to—
“I could ask him to dance.”
He pivoted to face her. “What?”
“Maybe he would say ‘yes.’” Hope sparked in her eyes. “While we’re dancing, I could step on his foot right when you walk by, or you could bump into us—”
He tried not to scowl. But whatever his face was doing, it effectively extinguished her spark of hope.
Her brows creased. “What’s wrong? Isn’t that what you wanted? Wouldn’t that work?”
Of course it would work. But he’d watched Frederick grope two different women since he arrived at the party. The thought of Tayla in his arms spilled acid in his stomach. He turned his head to watch the crowd. Mainly because he didn’t want her to read his face. “No. I mean, yeah, it might work. But it isn’t safe.”
“Not safe? On the dance floor?”
It wouldn’t be safe for Frederick. If he touched her . . .“Yeah. It’s too risky. We’ll wait for an easier opportunity.”
He could feel her eyes on him and finally turned to meet her gaze. Those crystal blue eyes searched his. She nodded slowly. “Okay, you’re the boss.”
Her eyes floated back to the throng of guests. Then she grabbed his arm. “We just got lucky!”
His head snapped to Frederick, who was now in the center of a drunken brawl. It wasn’t the distraction he ordered, but it would work. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
She nodded. “Go, go!”
He jogged over to the melee and started peeling people off Frederick, who had apparently insulted the wrong cricket team. Hotel security, and even Chance Chesson, aided Jason in his effort to quell the disruption. In less than a minute, the most unruly guests were escorted out of the ballroom, while the others promised to calm down.
Frederick shook Jason’s hand and thanked him repeatedly for “saving” him. Jason enjoyed the irony with a straight face. After he tagged him with a listening device.
He glanced back to Tayla. But she wasn’t there.
