Page 24 of Seductive Hearts

It would be simple to give in.

She would forget Landon existed.

For once, I wasn’t going to let my impulses rule my actions. “We should try to keep it as safe as possible. Remember, there are plenty of people here who know our families.” As it was, we were dancing too close, though I would be damned if I let her go. Not yet. I wanted to soak in every moment, knowing the clock was ticking. She’d drop our act the second Landon made prolonged eye contact.

Her mouth fell open slightly before she nodded, tightening her jaw. “You’re right, of course. I don’t need any middle-of-the-night phone calls from Mom and Dad.”

That wasn’t enough to keep us from dancing. We stayed on the floor through three songs until a speech from Landon brought everybody into the house.

Except, I didn’t hear a word of it.

How could I when I was so deeply interested in the woman holding onto my arm while gazing adoringly at a man who would never be as interested in her as he was in himself?

8

ROSE

What a night. Everything went perfectly. Landon had noticed me. He had remembered my offer to go for coffee. He was interested, finally, and all I had to do was capitalize on that interest.

For once, Colton had come through.

Knowing him, he would never let me live it down.

“I think we did our job.” He was moody by the time an hour had passed, not that I expected much else. Obviously, he had a chip on his shoulder about Landon. What a shock. He didn’t like somebody who was basically the opposite of him.

I gritted my teeth in something close to a smile, looking up into his arrogant face. “But we’ve only been here an hour. Doesn’t that look shitty, walking out early?”

“And when did I give you the idea I care about looking shitty?” He had a point there. “We got what we came for. I’m sick of hanging around here, making nice. Doesn’t the hypocrisy get to you?”

He had a point there too. It was a little too ass-kissy around here.

With a smirk, he added, “Though if you would like to stick around and make sure Landon is extra jealous, we can negotiate.”

I couldn’t get a read on him. He turned me down on the dance floor, which was probably for the best, but now he wanted to flirt. Maybe he was right, and it would be better if we were apart for the rest of the night.

We were halfway to the front courtyard to pick up his car by the time I started going through tomorrow’s agenda in my head. It was a habit. And in this case, it was also a necessary distraction. It didn’t matter how wrong Colton was for me in every conceivable way. Sometimes, it mattered more that a man looked like sex on two legs in a tuxedo, especially if the man happened to have once occupied a big part of my heart.

If he had gone in for a kiss on the dance floor, I would’ve kissed him back. And I would have meant it, and that was scary. Dangerous. I was supposed to be in this for Landon, wasn’t I?

“Oh, shit. I totally forgot.” Checking my phone, I confirmed the meeting scheduled in the morning. “I’m supposed to be meeting with our moms first thing over brunch to discuss a few design changes, but I left them at the store. Can we swing by there on the way home?”

“Do I have chauffeur stamped on my forehead?” he grumbled, rolling his eyes, but he sighed in the end. “Make it fast. I would like to salvage some of this night, if possible.”

It shouldn’t have bothered me to know he was going out after dropping me off at home. Why did I suddenly feel hot and bitter inside? Let him go out, get wasted, screw a handful of strangers. So long as he showed up to work.

We passed the ride to the store in silence. I would have thanked him if he didn’t insist on being such a dick, from hot to cold with no warning, infuriatingly unpredictable.

“You don’t have to come with me,” I insisted when he cut the engine once he parked at the curb. “I’ll be in and out.”

“I love it when you say dirty shit like that.” His snide chuckles followed me across the sidewalk and up to the front door, which I unlocked before turning off the alarm.

The sweet smell of freshly cut wood filled the air, and I couldn’t help grinning. We would keep a decorative façade mounted on the building’s exterior to make it look like the window casements were original to the structure. Still, the truth was the originals needed to be replaced after sneaky termites had destroyed a lot of the wood. That was a big part of the first phase which would be completed by week’s end.

“I know they’re around here somewhere.” It wasn’t like I drank a lot at the party, but for some reason, I was unsteady on my feet, fumbling around. The far back corner of the floor would be closed off and used as an office, but for now, there was nothing but a few tables and chairs for Colton and anyone else who needed to use them.

“Take your time,” he muttered as I went through the materials. “I have all night.”

“Relax,” I snapped. Apparently, I wasn’t allowed to have a good night. “I’m sure there are still plenty of skanks in dark corners just waiting for you to bless them with your presence.”

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