Page 43 of Falling for Them
Grant Ramanathan, one of my top analysts, drags me over to two men and a woman.
“You have to meet these three,” he says under his breath.
As soon as I’m in front of them, he says, “Hey, you three.This is Kingston Tyler, the man behind this whole operation.Kingston, this is Jaxon Marsel, Ryder Callihan, and Olivia Santiago.Jaxon and Ryder own Ironwood Security.”
We shake hands.The three of them are all attractive.Jaxon and Ryder look to be in their early thirties, and Olivia in her twenties.From the way the two men stand with her, their postures alert and protective, I get the impression that they care deeply about her.An engagement ring shines on her fourth finger, and I wonder which of them she’s engaged to.
Of course, the three could be in a relationship together.
We chat for a few minutes about their business.The men are interested in having my company crunch some numbers for them, and the woman wants to know who the caterer is for this event, and whether I might be interested in attending a charity event she’s putting on in the fall.
This is exactly the kind of networking the gala is good for, although tonight it’s exhausting.I just want another normal night, a night where I sit in my office and watch Ella, because I am apparently nothing more than a fucking creepy old man.
While I’m still talking with what I am sure is a happy throuple, a vision in a shimmering blue dress appears at the far end of the ballroom.Ella.
From the corner of my eye, Jaxon and Ryder exchange a look.
“I think he’s in love,” Olivia says on a quiet sigh.
I ignore their speculation and put my attention where it ought to be: Ella.
Her dress is unique, not like any of the other gowns here.Yet she still looks as if she fits in, somehow.Perhaps that’s because the simplicity of the design allows her natural beauty to show through.
I’ve never seen her in anything except her maid uniform.While I’ve always known that dark blue sack wasn’t doing her form any favors, seeing her in this gown, with the plunging neckline revealing so much of her gorgeous skin?Fuck.My cock is hardening right here, right now.I have to get myself under control.
It’s weird, because Joel said he didn’t bring her.Apparently he didn’t—she brought herself.But how?Tickets go for thousands of dollars.I doubt she saved up her maid’s wages for an event like this one.
I don’t know if anyone else notices her.To me, it feels as if all the air has been sucked out of the ballroom, as well as all the light except the glow that surrounds this beautiful woman of my dreams.
Where’s Bash?Doesn’t matter.He’ll find her eventually.Right now, I need to get to her.
What I’ll do with her when I reach her, I have no idea.I’m not thinking clearly, just acting on pure, sinful instinct.
Thirteen
Ella
I’m later than I want to be.It’s going to be hard to find Joel in this huge crowd.
The ballroom is packed.People are dancing, all of them glittering and beautiful.No one else is wearing a vintage dress, and I’m pretty sure there are enough diamonds in this room to buy an island or send a rich asshole into space in a penis rocket.
Maybe I should go.I feel like such an imposter.I’ll probably embarrass Joel, because I’m wearing this gorgeous-yet-second-hand dress.
But I came all this way.Mrs.Dali worked for hours on this dress, even with her bad arthritis.So I can’t leave now—if for no other reason, I owe it to her to stay.
As I move through the crowd of people decked in finery and caterers walking around with trays laden with champagne flutes, two men catch my eye.Mr.Tyler is one of them, and he’s heading my way.Approaching him from the side is Sebastian.He’s just as handsome as Mr.Tyler, with his dark brown hair in a distinguished cut, his sparkling hazel eyes, and a beard that looks like it would be both soft and rough against my skin.
I can imagine them both touching me, holding me down, making me scream with pleasure.
Blinking, I tear my gaze away from them both.This is not the time for the sordid fantasies that have kept me distracted for the past two weeks.My boyfriend gave me a ticket to this event—the right thing to do is find him, not follow filthy dreams.
Someone opens the service door off to the side, one that leads to the kitchens.Finally, I see Joel; he’s in that hallway.I hurry toward him.
Mr.Tyler shouts my name.I lose a brief second to wave at him, pretending his low, resounding call was a simple greeting and not something more.
I swing open the service door and it almost smacks into Joel’s ass…an ass that is currently gripped in two hands tipped with sparkly purple nail polish.
It takes me a full ten seconds to realize what I’m looking at, while the two hands on his ass grip and massage him.
