Page 2 of Assassin's Mark
My gaze dropped to my drink. The tables around us held either men or couples, so I wasn’t mistaken about his focus.Which girl was he interested in? Sarah with her sweet smile? Or maybe Candy, with her unabashed sensuality?
An empty glass stared back at me. I reached for the pitcher.
“Hello, ladies.”
My hand froze on the handle as the words quivered through my body.Look up! Look at him!But I couldn’t; I could only sit there like a dumbass holding the pitcher in my shaking grip and praying I didn’t makea fool of myself.
No fear, remember?
No fear. I tightened my grip, lifted. So far, so good. Somehow I managed to pour a fresh drink without spilling, replace the pitcher on the table. Despite the sick pounding of my heart in my throat, I made myself glance up.
Gray eyes locked with mine.
Lord, he’s beautiful.
I expected him to look away, to focus on one of the other women. He didn’t. He stared—atme. Until the urge to squirm crawled up my spine and my cheeks burst into flames.
“Hello.”
Was that my voice, all breathy and…suggestive? It must’ve been; the other girls were staring, silent, their round eyes just as awed as I’m sure mine were. I looked back to the man looming over our table.
He reached a hand out to me. “I’m Levi.”
My fingers settled into his grip like they had been createdto fit him. “Abby.”
My voice cracked. I cleared my throat.
“Hi, Abby.” He didn’t let go of my hand, didn’t glance around. Just held me captive with those intense eyes. “Would you dance with me?”
Me?
I barely managed not to say it aloud. Instead I looked to Sarah, who was frantically nodding. “Uh, okay. Sure.”
Could I be any more awkward if I tried? Where was the vaunted hostess who demurelyhandled every crisis that arose?
Maybe she’d died along with the dream that someday, somehow, my father would see me as his daughter and not his pawn.
Levi tugged on my hand, urging me to my feet. My body responded to his command automatically, breaking through the nerves that had held me frozen. I didn’t want to be frozen, not anymore. And I didn’t want to miss this, not a minute of it.
