“I didn’t catch your name.”
“That’s because I didn’t throw it at you,” I retort.
His lips twitch, but he doesn’t walk away. He waits.
Is heinterestedin me?No. Not after how I’ve treated him. Besides, my heart’s too damaged, too tender to even think about pushing it into someone’s hands so that they can carve it up like a steak.
But that doesn’t stop me from telling him. “It’s Addison.”
“Addison,” he repeats.
He says my name like he invented it. Like he created the way those sounds work together.
My gaze grazes over his warm eyes, the wavy charcoal hair that’s cut short, the sides just covering the tips of his ears. A foreign sensation stirs in my belly. It feels like a bolt of electricity sparking, sending flares pulsing to my toes.
“Thornrose,” I add.
The warmth in his eyes instantly vanishes, and his gaze turns icy. His shoulders tighten before he turns on his heel and walks away.
Rude.
But before I can wonder why he did that, a hand grips my arm and drags me off. My aunt gives tight smiles to the crowd as she yanks me into the belly of it, and more dancers take their place on the marble floor.
“Addie, just what were you thinking?” Ovie snaps in her dramatically Southern way.
“I, uh, I’m…I’m sorry for leaving.”
“Not leaving, what you werejustdoing.”
What is she talking about?“I don’t under?—”
“What are the chances that I’d see you here, Addison?”
Time stops at the sound of that voice,hisvoice. The world tips and my knees threaten to buckle, but I keep my spine straight as I slowly spin around and see Edward.
All the blood drains from my face. He’s standing before me, his sandy hair in a high pompadour, the hair on the sides of his head freshly shaved down. He smiles, and his teeth glint.
“What are you doing here?” I hiss.
He waves his hands theatrically. “I’m doing what everyone else is doing—picking a bride from one of the Thornrose sisters.”
He steps back and cocks his head toward Blair, who, to myabsolute horror, is standing beside him. He leans forward and whispers, “Let’s not make a scene, shall we?”
Not make a scene.That’s what he told me when he dumped me literally a day ago.One day.And now he’s here at my family’s ball, trying to win over my sister.
“From what I hear, she has quite a bit of magic.”
Blair gives me a worried smile. She’s probably wondering why I’m not over the hedges and long gone. How I wish that I’d just ran off instead of feeling the need to challenge what’s-his-name. Whatishis name?
“Good seeing you again, Addison,” Edward says flippantly, clearly blowing me off before turning to speak with Blair.
Oh no. That’s not going to happen. So I say very loudly, “Edward, are you looking for that magical woman you so desperately want?”
His spine snaps tight, and I swear that the hairs on the back of his neck rise to attention.
Lucky for him, I’m not done. “The Thornroses are the perfect family to marry into if you want a wife who’s ripe with power. Don’t you think?”
He laughs nervously and turns back to face me. “Now Addie, you know as well as I do that?—”
