“A red carpet?”
“We’re on the West Coast. The parties are more dramatic.” Nix would love it here.
Paxton slips his arm around my waist, pulling me snugly into his side. I find myself leaning into him, enjoying his warmth and closeness. I tend to like my space, but with Paxton, I want him as close as possible. That possessiveness I have for him is only growing.
We stop and pause for a few pictures. Paxton is charming and polite. I force a smile, wanting to blend in.
“Paxton, who’s the girl?” a male asks from the other side of the rope that is keeping them at bay. He’s dressed down compared to most, a camera in hand.
“She’s—”
“His fiancée,” I tell him myself. The words are slipping past my lips before I can stop them. That has never been a problem for me before. Hell, Paxton was just saying how I think before I speak. This man is ruining me, and the messed-up part is I don’t want him to stop.
“Interesting. You got a name?” I glance up at Paxton, and he lifts a brow, silently telling me he can take over the conversation or I can keep going. This might be a thing I need to get used to.
“Naomi.”
“You got a last name, Naomi?” Is this an interrogation? People are too nosy here. Where I’m from, you mind your own business.
“That will do, Rodger,” Paxton says, cutting in and guiding me up the stairs into the hotel where the event is being hosted. “It won’t take them long to dig your name up.”
“I suppose it was only a matter of time.” I glance around the ballroom filled with pretty people, all dolled up. “Have you thought about what others might think here if you marry a Marino?”
I’m seeing the Paxton image here is rather clean-cut to the public. I’m sure those politicians and people in power prefer that. It makes it easier for them to be seen with him.
“I don’t care. If I need to, I can walk away from here.”
“But you built a name for yourself here.” How could he so easily walk away from that? I have spent my whole life building up who I am to the outside world.
“It’s all pointless if I can’t have you.”
“You’re too charming.” Everything he says is past perfect. This better not be a game; I really don’t want to have to kill him.
“I am wooing you.” He snags a glass of champagne off one of the trays as the server passes by, handing it to me.
“I have agreed to marry you already,” I remind him before taking a sip, my eyes flicking around the room and recognizing a few of the faces I’d studied up on earlier. I notice a lot of people watching us, and most are female.
That green-headed monster tries to rear its head again, but I push it down, not wanting to make a scene. I mean, it’s my first date. I don’t think kidnapping and murdering an attendee would go over well.
“I’m not going to give you a reason to change your mind.”
“Are there any females here I should know about?” I said I wouldn’t murder anyone, not that I wouldn’t ask questions.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you have a thing for blondes?” I notice two women really eyeing him up, and I know one is a senator’s wife. They were on one of my information cards.
“I have a preference for black, curly hair, but in certain lighting, brunette.” What does that mean? He must see I’m not getting what he means. “Your hair appears almost black, but in the light or sun, it’s a shiny dark brown.”
“I’m being serious.”
“So am I, Sunshine.”
“Well, one of your blondes is closing in,” I tell him, taking another sip of my drink. I fight the irritation I have over the way her eyes are eating him up. It’s clear we are together; my body presses against him, his arm firmly around me.
“Paxton, I didn’t think you’d be here tonight. I was told you were out of the city.” She gives him a bright smile, completely ignoring me. Who told her this? I want a name.
“My fiancée took off to California, and I couldn’t help but chase after her.” He turns his head to look down at me. “She keeps me on my toes.” The woman finally flicks a glance my way, acknowledging I’m standing there. All the ways I could kill her flash through my mind, but I manage to control myself.
