“Wow.” A hand slipped around my waist. “Let’s get you a beer.”
Slowly, I came back to my senses and turned my face toward Kaz. I hadn’t even noticed him cross the room. “No, thanks.”
“You look like you’re about to go nuclear.” His lips brushed against my hair, his voice low enough so that only I could hear. “Take a breath.”
I allowed him to steer me into the kitchen, away from Mason and her. I hadn’t even said hello, let alone introduced myself, but I didn’t think I could do it in this state. Shock mixed with anguish. Betrayal underlined with hurt.
It was one thing to imagine him with someone else, but seeing it in real life? My heart was stuttering out an uneven rhythm as I attempted to get my emotions in check. I shouldn’t care. He could do whatever he wanted. It shouldn’t matter to me.
Only for some fucked-up reason, it did.
“I’m fine,” I forced out, shielded from the living room by the fridge and Kaz’s tall body. “Just a dizzy spell.”
“Right. And I’m Mother freaking Teresa.”
We stared at each other. His green eyes narrowed with something I could misinterpret as concern.
“You don’t need to lie to me, Molly.”
“Oh, please.” I huffed a sad chuckle. “If there’s anyone I should most definitely lie to, it’s you.” What was I saying? I shouldn’t be entertaining this conversation. Kaz could never know there was a chance I still felt something for Mason.
“Why?” he asked softly, and only then did it register that his arm was still snug around my waist, his body mere inches away.
I stiffened, lowered my eyes, yet for some reason, I allowed myself to remain close to him. “Never mind.”
Kaz’s touch began to burn through my clothes, his spicy, male scent making my pulse race.
“Do you have feelings for him?”
I unraveled Kaz’s arm from around me and shook my head. “Of course not.”
My voice came out firm, but inside, everything was crumbling. How could I be over Mason if in the span of a week he’d managed to turn me into an uncertain mess? If seeing him with someone else felt like arriving in my personal hell? There was an ache in my chest whenever he was around, as if my heart had become aware of a gaping wound that had never healed.
Maybe what I needed was closure. A confrontation about why he’d led me on for years only to never make a move when he finally had the chance. An explanation for how he could leave me so easily and yet take what I thought of him dropping out to heart.
Or maybe that was a Pandora’s box I didn’t want to open, because chances are I wouldn’t like the answer. Mason had moved on. He had a girlfriend, for fuck’s sake, and I’d become someone he only tolerated because of work.
Work. That’s what I was here for.
“Look, like I said, I just felt a bit dizzy. Sorry for worrying you.”
After a while, Kaz’s penetrating gaze moved from my face down to my body. His lips twitched into a half-hearted smirk. “All right. You look hot, by the way.”
I bit down on my lip. “Inappropriate.”
Kaz dragged his palm over his mouth, keeping his gaze angled down. “Yeah, maybe a bit.”
I looked down at myself. Trinity had sent me a gorgeous silk slip dress that looked like shiny black water cascading down my body. It was a little too big, but the cut was forgiving, and it was without a doubt the nicest piece of clothing I’d ever worn. I’d slipped a leather jacket Ade had gifted me a few years ago over the dress and completed the look with a pair of wine-colored velvet boots. Before I left my apartment, a buzz of excitement had managed to build up beneath my skin.Perhaps this party would be fun after all.
There was nothing quite as bitter as realizing the naivety of one’s expectations.
“I meant your comment, not my outfit,” I said, slapping Kaz’s chest lightly.
He grinned in earnest and captured my hand in his. “Fine. You look beautiful. Is that better?”
I eyed him nervously, all too aware that he was still extremely close, and that a blush was starting to rise up my cheeks. “Sure. Thanks, or whatever.” Tugging my hand out of his, I opened the fridge and reached for a beer before thinking better of it. I needed to keep my wits about me tonight, and I didn’t need alcohol to handle the scene awaiting me in the living room.
Not waiting to see if Kaz would follow me, I marched out of the kitchen and headed directly for the armchair.
