Page 22 of Before I Knew

“Two of my brothers are here, they’re behind you, staring at me and wondering why I’m dancing.”

“You don’t dance? You seem to be good at it.”

The heat of her seared me through her dress and my tuxedo, and I had to swallow hard not to do anything that would shame us both. “I don’t dance. I can, but I don’t.”

“Then why with me?” she asked, her voice a little breathy.

“I think you know, Blakely.”

“So how many brothers do you have here?” she asked, changing the subject. I didn’t mind, both of us needed to take a step to breathe if the way that her pulse fluttered against her neck was any indication.

“James and Flynn are here because it was our turn. My parents are out of town, or my mother and father would be here. Mother enjoys attending these events.”

I hoped the bite wasn’t in my tone at that, considering she liked all of her sons at these things so she could show us off.

“So three of you. That’s a good number then.”

I shook my head as I twirled her during the next song, both of us not having realized the song had even changed. “It’s not even a full fifty percent. There are a lot of us.”

“I knew you had a few brothers, but I hadn’t really paid attention too much beyond that.”

“There’s more than a few of us. Not all of us work with Cage Enterprises though. However we do all have a stake in the company because it’s our family. If that makes sense.”

“Not in the slightest,” she said with a laugh, her eyes shining.

“Understandable. We are here as a family to show our support, to donate, and to do what our family requires.”

“I would say that sounds annoying, but you get to eat some decent food, and probably make business deals along the way.”

I raised a brow at her but nodded. “Yes. That is always a perk. What about you? You’re here with Howard Enterprises?”

I could feel eyes on me, and I knew it wasn’t just those who were curious who I was dancing with. No, the proprietor of Howard Enterprises was probably not happy about the woman who worked for him dancing in my arms. But there was nothing I could do about that. Nothing I wanted to do about that.

“Yes. Dancing with you is probably a mistake.”

“He doesn’t hate me that much, does he?” I asked, honestly curious.

“No. I don’t think so. I think he just wants to one-up you.”

“So does you dancing with me have anything to do with that?” I asked, oddly curious.

Her eyes narrowed, and she stopped dancing. I cursed under my breath and was grateful we were at the edge of the dance floor.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

“No you did. He didn’taskme to dance with you. You’re the one who asked me to dance. And I knew it was going to be a mistake. He wants to beat you in everything all the time. So me dancing with the enemy probably isn’t a good idea.”

“I’m the enemy, am I?” I asked, my voice low.

She swallowed hard and shook her head. “No. It’s not so dramatic as that.”

“Good.”

I lifted her hand up to my lips and kissed it again, a bare brush of my mouth against her skin, and her intake of breath was all I needed to hear.

“You need to stop doing that.”

“I don’t know if I want to.”

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