I wobble forward, desperate for the darkness of that hallway, but as he looks at me his body language changes. His shoulders half turn in my direction, his eyes—which were narrowed and bored before—widen, and his eyebrows hitch upward.
God, let me disappear.
I swear he starts to step in my direction, but a leggy blonde in a short black dress steps into his space, immediately blocking my view. Two other men join them, and I turn my head, my hair falling over my right eye as I flee.
Against my better judgment, when I reach the hallway, I take one more look over my shoulder, and all my fantasies are shattered.
The blonde leans in and gives him a kiss on the cheek, and my heart feels like it’s just cracked in half.
Chapter Two
Damon
SOMETHING’S WRONG.
There’s a tension in my chest. Some scent on the air that has my heart beating faster. And when I scan the crowd and my eyes land on her, all my questions are answered.
When our eyes meet, I feel it down in my balls. The length of my cock grows five inches in an instant, showing off down my pant leg to anyone that would look closely enough.
When I realize I’m gripping the beer bottle in my hand so tight it’s about to break, I take a shaking breath and try to figure out what the fuck is happening.
Because I’ve never reacted to a woman like this. It’s instantaneous. My stomach is knotted, and I want a lick of her more than I want to breathe.
She’s tiny, like most of the women here, but there’s an innocence surrounding her that has my needle going into the red.
She’s also young.
So fucking young, I have to wonder if she’s even legal. My dick doesn’t seem to care, but I do.
I wish I didn’t, but I do.
She licks her red lips and pretends I didn’t just catch her looking at me, but I stare right back, letting her know I’ve seen her. I start to make mental notes about her; dark hair falling around her shoulders and down her chest, small tits but perfect to fit in my hands, pale skin…too pale. It makes me want to check she’s okay, to make sure she isn’t sick and to care for her if she is.
I know right now, before the night is through, I will use all the resources at my disposal to figure out who she is so I can get her close enough to touch. Not because I want to.
Because I need to.
She keeps her eyes low, then peeks back up at me from under those dark lashes, showing off the most brilliant blue eyes I’ve ever seen, eyes to match the beads on her gown, sparkling in the light from the chandeliers above our heads. She tries to look nonchalant when she realizes I’ve caught her looking, stepping slowly away, but I need more.
My muscles tense as I turn to head in her direction, but before I can chase after her I find myself surrounded. Laney, Andre and Michael crowd around me, and my view of her is gone.
“Excuse me,” I mutter, trying to remember my manners as I barge my way out past the three of them. I know I need to be polite—Andre and Michael leased my place for their party tonight and Laney is supposed to be my date—but if they don’t move aside in a moment I’m going to start using my elbows to make a path.
“Where you going?” Laney laughs as she leans in to kiss my cheek.
As much of a gentleman as I try to be, I can’t help the cringe that shakes though me at that contact. “Don’t do that,” I mutter, sidestepping away and ignoring the disappointment on her face.
Margaret, my secretary, set up this date, and if it wasn’t for my love for her—a woman who has practically become a second mother to me over the years—I never would have come.
Truth is, I rarely accept invitations to these events. They’re not my thing. But at least here I can introduce Laney to people and then step away, knowing she’s having a good time, rather than sitting across from each other in some restaurant, searching for topics of conversation for hours and then breathing a sigh of relief when the evening ends.
Margaret said it was my Christmas present to her to at least give it a try, and that’s what I’ve done, but there’s nothing there and there never will be. I know Laney’s hoping this might be her golden ticket; she made it clear when I picked her up tonight that she was offering anything and everything, all I needed to do was give the word.
Well, sorry, but I hate that shit.
She doesn’t even know me and with one word I’m sure she’d lick the bottoms of my shoes if I’d ask.