Page 2 of Forbidden Mistress

He laughs a little under his breath and sets his drink down on the bar. We stand there for a moment in awkward silence before he turns to face me. My breath is caught in my lungs, and I take a sip of my champagne to cover up my discomfort.

His gaze flicks over me, from head to toe. “I like your costume.”

I smile awkwardly and tug on the hem of my short white skirt. The top crosses over my chest, but because I’m on the curvier side, it creates some serious cleavage. An extra few pounds does have its advantages. “You don’t think it’s too revealing?”

He chuckles. “Oh, yes. But in a good way.”

I glance over his mask. “Are you an elf or a woodland creature or something?”

“The Green Man,” he says.

“Oh, cool.” I nod politely like I know what that is.

He holds out his hand as if to shake mine. “My name is Lucien.” His voice is a deep, accented baritone. He sounds British. And he has a sexy name, too. My panties are instantly wet. “What’s your name?”

I blink at him. My name? Fuck, what is my name? My mind goes blank for a second. Then all at once, I remember. “Cassandra Fitzgerald.” I clear my throat. “Cassie, actually. That’s what most people call me.”

“Cassandra,” he repeats, my name rolling off his tongue like a wicked promise. “What do you say we go outside where it’s quieter and talk?”

Yes.

“Um, I should wait for my stepmom. She’s on her way, and if she doesn’t find me standing here, she’ll start blowing up my phone,” I laugh. My stepmom? Christ, my game is so off.

Lucien steps closer to me, and his gaze rakes down my body again.

My nipples harden under his scrutiny, and I swallow. “Well, maybe I can go outside for a few minutes,” I say.

The smile on his face is fucking gorgeous and makes my stomach flip a little. He reaches out and brushes his fingertips down my arm. “What I have in mind will take longer than a few minutes.”

I laugh, my breath coming shallow and quick. Just as I open my mouth to say something cute and witty, I feel a presence behind me. Lucien’s gaze shifts to something just beyond my shoulder.

Something tightens in my belly, and I get an uneasy feeling.

Liam.

I smell him before I see him. A thick, delicious cloud of cologne envelops me, tugging at every female cell in my body. Oh, yesss. A signature scent, I think they call it. Dunhill Black. He’s worn it for as long as I can remember.

“Mr. Force,” Lucien says, grating out the name, annoyance thick in his tone. “Good evening.”

I’m too afraid to turn around. I don’t want to see him. If the beautiful marble floor could open up and swallow me whole, that would be ideal. But that’s not going to happen, and if I just stand here, it’s going to look suspicious. So I do the only thing I can do; I straighten my shoulders and slowly turn around until I’m half-facing Liam.

“Liam,” I say, in feigned excitement. “Your mom said you wouldn’t be here.”

He’s taller than I remember, broad-shouldered, with dark brown hair, and equally dark eyes behind a plain black mask. I swallow, remembering the last time his eyes were fixed on me from a distance, at my dad’s funeral.

Liam’s gaze flicks over me quickly, and it feels...intimate. Possessive. Without a word to me, he leans in and says something to Lucien that I can’t hear. His words are swallowed by the music. I strain to catch a word or a phrase, but I can’t hear anything.

Liam pulls back and slaps Lucien on the arm good-naturedly, turns, winks at me, and then disappears into the crowd without so much as a word to me.

I stare after him with narrowed eyes. What the fuck?

“What’d he say to you?” I ask Lucien.

With that sly smile, Lucien leans in and whispers in my ear. “I think it’s best if we revisit this later. It was a pleasure, Cassandra.” Then he slips a business card into my pocket and turns to leave.

Anger bubbles up from my chest. I didn’t even get a chance to ask him one legal question! What the hell did Liam say to him? Whatever it was, it scared him away. What a fucking cock-blocker! I can’t believe him.

I set down my champagne flute and go on the hunt for Liam. Any hesitation I had about seeing him again is completely eviscerated by what he just did. Swoop in, destroy my night, then leave without a word?

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