Page 29 of Bitter Desire
More clapping and cheering from the crowd had me moving around Law and turning to face him. We were attracting attention in a way that had my skin starting to heat and prick, like ants crawling over me. I sucked in a quick shallow breath, forcing a smile on my face. I wanted to get this over with before it got any bigger. There was no way the MC was going to let up, not when she’d found something to unify and energize the crowd with. I had to go or she was going to keep on us until we left.
I didn't want to leave the ball. Not yet. Not even if it meant getting up on the stage and letting a room of strangers judge me and stare. I could do that...I think. Well, I could try and do that and just zone out like I had when I’d tried acting that time my mother was convinced it would bring me out of my shell. I’d forgotten all of my lines and been terrible, but that didn’t matter. I knew I could fake it enough to stand on a stage and walk around or whatever it was the MC wanted me to do for the crowd.
“Law, you can keep an eye on me from here. Taylor is probably nearby. I’m going to be on stage in front of a crowded room. Nothing is going to happen to me with everyone watching. I’ll be fine,” I insisted.
Law hesitated, his body leaning toward me like he was considering grabbing me and running for it. Part of me wanted him to do that. To sweep me away before I had to walk across the now buzzing ballroom and towards the MC that was still insisting I come up to the front. If he did that we’d be out of here and on our way to the cabin in minutes but...but if he did that then the night was over, and I didn’t want that either.
“Please, Daddy,” I whispered and gave him a weak smile. “I can do this. Trust me.”
Chapter Twelve
LAW
I didn’t know how the hell it happened, but Honey was up on stage and in front of a room of strangers. Strangers that were judging how good she looked, clapping and jeering while she twirled on the stage at the MC’s direction.
I scowled at the MC. Fucking asshole making Honey go up there, but I got it. My girl was the most beautiful woman in the place and if this was for the crowning of the night’s Queen, then she was an idiot not to pull Honey up on stage with a handful of other women that didn’t stand a chance of winning with Honey beside them.
She was smiling brightly and waving at the crowd as if she wanted to be there, but I knew it was an act. I could see the slight shake of her hands as she did it, the way her eyes were darting around the stage. She was ready to bolt the second the thing was over, which I was glad I couldn't tell her was not going to be anytime soon. Not if what I thought was happening was happening.
Honey was going to win this thing. Then she was going to have to stand next to some idiot man that had been picked. They’d probably have to take photos together and dance at least once before this whole fucking thing was done and over with. My fist clenched thinking of another man with his hands on Honey and I let out a deep sigh.
I didn’t like this damn night. Not one fucking bit.
Honey stepped back into the line and I watched her relax slightly. She was better. Not great, but better, with being on stage but out of the limelight. She crossed her hands and tucked them behind her back, watching another woman walk out across the stage with her hands in the air. She was pretty enough, a red head with a cute face and a dress on that made me think of weddings, but she wasn’t Honey.
Honey’s red dress was like a slash of perfection against the pastel and soft colors around her. I normally loved my girl in sweet and soft pastels, the kind of colors that were more at home in a bakery or the soft length of a ribbon, but the deep red on her…
God, it was perfection. It screamed sex and seduction, transforming my sweet girl into a sex goddess incarnate. It was so easy to see her as sensual and strong, the image of confidence and allure with the way she looked right now.
But all of that was an act.
I knew she was nervous up there and would have preferred to stay out of it all. She hated attention like this, which meant she’d gone up there for her own reasons. Whatever reasons they were, they were big enough for her to insist that I let her do this.
Why the hell had she done it?
I rubbed a hand across my jaw and watched the stage. The women were now all lined up, the MC making a show of polling the audience for clapping and cheering to vote for the woman they thought deserved to be crowned the ‘Queen of the Masks’, and just like I expected, my girl won. When the MC held her hand over Honey’s dark head the cheering was deafening. It hadn’t even been close.
“Come up and claim your crown, my lady in red! You are the Queen of the Masks! Come on everyone! Give it up for our new Queen!”
Honey came forward, her fake smile in place. It was brittle and didn’t reach her eyes. I knew that damn smile, because I’d seen it far too many times. Never directed at me, but I’d seen it enough to know it was the one she brought out when she wanted to get through something and quickly. She used it on customers, when she was in an uncomfortable situation on the street, or when she thought she needed to be more polite than the situation called for.
I hated that smile.
The crown turned out to be a huge gold gaudy thing. The MC rested the crown on her head and then motioned for the other women to step off stage. A group of men moved in to take their place and when Honey turned to follow the women, she put a hand on her arm, stopping her.
“Oh, no, no, my Queen! You have to stay here and wait for your King!”
Honey’s smile didn’t falter, and she nodded with a quick, ‘Sorry!’ that had the MC grinning and addressing the crowd.
“She’s so polite and cute, don’t you all think?”
They clapped in agreement showing they did think that, and that was when I started to realize that I knew the woman, thatweknew the woman. She’d been the woman from earlier. The woman that had been talking to Honey when I’d gone looking for her. I hadn’t seen it until now since she’d changed her outfit from the gown she’d worn into a blindingly white pantsuit, but it was definitely the woman.
“What did you say your name was?” the MC asked Honey.
“It’s Honey,” she answered, leaning into the microphone and making the MC slap her chest.
“Well, isn’t that the sweetest name I ever heard. You are just perfect! I could eat you up with a spoon!”
