“Am I one of them?”
I considered saying no, but even I wasn’tthatstupid. If I pissed her off, Alex would inevitably find out about it and I was trying to prove that I was responsible, not that I was leaving a fresh wave of beautiful enemies in my wake.
So I tried to pull myself into the conversation, to be present, and to act like the guy everyone expected me to be. The man Jacque thought I was. The guy who always had someone on his arm, but who never stayed.
No matter what I did, though, I just couldn’t concentrate on what these women were saying. The other two were from important companies as well. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that I should focus. I also knew that they were all hot and all interested, but when I glanced back at Jacque after only looking away for a second, she was gone.
Fuck.
My eyes narrowed as I scanned the room, finally straightening up a little, but I still saw nothing. Without even really thinking about it, I stepped away from the bar—and the women I was supposed to be talking to—muttering a quick, faint apology even as I was already backing away.
“Excuse me,” I said. “I see someone I need to check in with real quick. Have a wonderful evening.”
I moved fast through the crowd, still searching until eventually, when my heart was nearly beating straight out of my chest, I saw her. Just a flash of red and that dark hair, hurrying away from the main bar area.
Shit, she’s running. Why thehellis she running?
Logically, I knew I shouldn’t follow her. Especially since she was probably leaving because of me, but that string around my heart refused to let me even consider letting her go, so instead, I followed, finding her gripping the edge of a railing in another part of the venue seconds later.
It looked like the glass doors in front of her could open, turning that wall into a balcony, but they were closed tonight and it looked like that was a good thing. Jacque was breathing a little harder than usual, her head bowed as she gripped the metal like it was the only thing keeping her from opening those doors and flinging herself off the balcony—or maybe it wasmeshe wanted throw right out of the tenth story window.
Yeah, that probably makes more sense.
Twenty minutes later, however, not only had shenottossed me out the window, but I was walking her to her room. We stood side by side in the elevator, quiet, but it wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable.
While the air was thick with all the things we hadn’t said, just being with her again made everything feel easy. Everything, that was, except stepping into the lobby with her by my side.
The hotel we were in was busy, with more conferences and celebrations going on down here and men in suits everywhere. We crossed from the elevator bank to the exit, but every set of eyes that landed on her lingered for much too long.
Conversations buzzed around us and glasses clinked, but that didn’t stop what felt like every guy in here checking her out. I gritted my teeth, fighting against the instinct to tuck her against my side and run.
One guy blatantly looked her up and down like he was about to devour her, and my fragile hold on my self-control slipped. I reached for her elbow and took it gently, stepping just a little closer to her before I could stop myself.
She glanced at me, those honey-brown eyes questioning, but she didn’t push me away or say it wasn’t necessary, so I didn’t let go.
“You’re aware that glaring at strangers isn’t a great look on anyone, right?” she said quietly, a hint of amusement threading through her voice.
“I’m not glaring.”
She raised an eyebrow and I sighed but finally conceded. “Okay, maybe a little.”
“A little?” she echoed, chuckling as we finally reached the exit doors.
We pushed through them side by side, walking out into the crisp night air together. She burrowed a little closer to me, not saying much as we crossed the street. The hotel she was staying at was literally right across the street, and minutes later, we were in another elevator, ascending to her floor.
I glanced at her reflection in the mirrored wall, noticing that she kept her eyes downcast. I nudged her arm with my elbow, waiting for her to look up at me, but when she did, there was a flicker of heat in her gaze I wasn’t expecting.
My body roared to life no matter what I tried to tell it, my mind suddenly less focused on how I was going to convince her I was serious and more focused on trying to figure out what the hell was happening right now.
The elevator doors slid open with a soft hiss and I followed her out into the hallway without a second thought. She didn’t stop me or tell me I didn’t have to walk her all the way to her door, so that was what I did.
When we reached her room, she finally turned to face me, keycard already in her hand and a strange expression on her face. It sort of looked like she was doubting herself right now, which seriously wasn’t like her.
“Thank you for walking me,” she said softly.
“Yeah. Of course.”
She hesitated, not turning away or opening the door but definitely considering something. “Do you want to come in for a moment?”
