Instead, she laughed and shook her head. “Not that you have any right to regulate traffic to my cookie jar; he hasn’t been anywhere near it in a long time.”
Avery chuckled but he was relieved to know his instincts were right. She deserved better than an asshole like Murdick. “Well, feel free to use me any time you have a point to prove. Especially if it means I get to cop a feel.”
She shook her head, but her smile widened. “Not a chance, fuckboy. We’re starting over, so the rules are back in place.”
Slowing as they approached their destination, he groaned, long and exaggerated, while all too happy to have the barriersback in place. Still, he liked the less angry bantering Legs and couldn’t resist teasing her. “So you can break the rules, but I can’t?”
“That’s right. For your safety, all body parts must remain with their operator. We wouldn’t want you to lose anything important.”
“No, we wouldn’t.” He stopped in front of the hotel hosting the Libraries for Literacy Gala and jumped out. Handing the key to the valet, he rounded the car.
Another valet had already opened her door, so Avery held out his hand without thinking. “Oops, does this count as operator error?”
Blinking against the flashing lights from the paparazzi roped off to one side, she ducked her head and blindly accepted his hand. He should have warned her, but they were like background noise to him, always there but nothing to pay much attention to, not like the flash of leg through the slit hiding in the fullness of her skirt.
He socked that little jewel of convenience away for later, then remembered the rules. No touching. No gliding his hand through the slit in her dress and up her long, silky-smooth thigh to discover other treasures.
Fuck. This was going to be harder than he thought.
With an inward sigh, he hooked his arm through hers to lead her up the red carpet, through the front doors, and into the lobby. A few people he knew, clients mostly, gathered here and there. Some stared at Legs with open curiosity.
He nodded at a few but didn’t stop like he would have had he been alone. Having a woman—a date—on his arm, was all new to him, and if he was honest, it made him a little nervous.
The ballroom was on the second floor, so he headed up the grand staircase. “My family is probably already here.”
When Legs didn’t comment, he looked at her. Outwardly, she seemed to take it all in with the bored elegance of a seasoned debutante, chin high, one hand on his arm, the other holding her dress off the next step. The rapid flutter at the base of her throat and a dewy sheen glistening on her upper lip argued otherwise.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
A rushed breath expelled from her as if she’d been holding it. “No.”
When they reached the landing halfway up, Avery stopped and turned her to face him. “What’s wrong? Do you feel sick?”
Blue eyes darted to those still watching them from below and to others passing them on the stairs. “They’re all staring.”
“Yes, they are.” His smile widened into a grin. “And why wouldn’t they? You’re the most beautiful woman here tonight.”
He’d hoped she’d call him on his bullshit—not that he was lying; she was stunningly beautiful—or give him a snort or a whispered fuck you in that damned sexy voice of hers, but she couldn’t seem to focus on any one thing.
Instead, she pressed a hand to her stomach and swallowed. “What if I can’t do this? I’ve never been to anything like this before. I’m not like these people.”
“We’re just people. Besides, this crowd won’t be much different than the night we met.”
Desperation emanated from her as she lifted her gaze to meet his. “Yeah, but I was on the other side that night. I was invisible, part of the background.”
Cupping her flushed face with his hands, he walked her backward, out of the way of nosy passersby, and lowered his head so that she’d hear him, really hear him. “Believe me, you were not invisible. You walked around as if you owned the place, confident, sexy as hell. I watched you all night.”
That garnered the snort he’d been after, even though he meant every word.
“You’d watch anything in a skirt.”
He grinned. “Only if they have legs like yours.”
“Or boobs like What’s Her Name.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” he said, unable to hide the grimace as he pulled back and grasped her hands.
She laughed, the sound natural, easy, and music to his balls. “Did you ever learn her name?”
