Page 16 of Touch in the Dark

How the hell does she know people at this party? Jenna said she is staying here, this place belongs to Remi Molyneaux. Elsa is a makeup artist. Could she have worked on the movie? Back when I knew her, she wasn’t working in the movie industry.

The guy beside her says something that makes her laugh and my jaw clenches. Who the fuck is he? I’ve never seen him in any films. Not that it’s any of my business who she is with.

“You gonna go talk to her or what?”

I turn to look at Archer. At a champagne and caviar party, he’s managed to find a bottle of beer.

“No,” I tell him. “Where’d you get the beer?”

“The bar,” he deadpans.

“Could have got me one.”

“I’m not your servant,” he scoffs, his eyes moving back to Elsa. “Who’s the guy?”

“How would I know?”

He shrugs, his lip kicks up slightly in a half grin. “You either need to go say hi or stop staring, dude. It’s creepy.”

Her eyes turn and meet mine right then. The smile falters, our eyes lock and don’t release. Not even when the guy beside her says something.

“You are screwed my friend,” Archer says at my side.

I barely even hear him, but don’t I fucking know it.

Chapter Five

It’s like a freaking homing beacon the way our eyes lock on one another. All sounds around me dim to a low buzz. Even Chase, like someone muted him. And it is only after a few insane moments of staring into those endless blue eyes, I realise what a rude ass I’m being. I visibly shake myself and pull my eyes from him, fully aware he doesn’t do the same. I am going to make a wild guess and say Jenna didn’t let him know I will be here tonight. He looks too shocked.

He looks super-hot is what he looks. If I didn’t already know he’d just stepped foot off a GQ photoshoot, that would be exactly how I would describe the way he looks right now. The suit is practically moulded to him, and the way his shirt is unbuttoned almost down his sternum, another trigger for me where Nick Chambers is concerned, that hint of smooth chest, making you want to take a peek under the shirt. He knows what he is doing when he dresses like that.

Shit.

“You okay?” Chase asks.

“What? Yeah, sorry I’m fine.”

“Starstruck by all the celebrities,” he grins. “Tell me about it, did you see BreakNeck just came in here. Shit, I’ve loved that band for years.”

“Really? How nice,” I take a big gulp of my champagne.

“How nice,” he laughs, giving me an arched brow look. “You do realise your heart rate is going haywire,” he helpfully points out. “Do you have a crush on one of them?”

“What?” I smooth hair back away from my face, seems I did a terrible job of disguising my reaction to Nick. How can he possibly know? His finger trails over my neck, pausing on my pulse, I feel it pounding under the light touch. “How did you see that?”

“I’m a doctor.”

“You’re… Wait, you are?” my eyes widen as I focus back on him.

He laughs. “Yep, Remi never told you that part.”

“Remi didn’t tell me a lot of things,” I point out, which makes Chase laugh.

“I’m an expert in body language, and something tells me you just got either a shock, a thrill or you got horny.”

“God,” I try to shrug off his words. It would be wrong to nod and say it was all three, right? Especially given what Remi is hoping to achieve by ‘gifting’ me Chase. The embarrassment factor shoots up again and my cheeks pink.

“So, which one is it, I only see Archer Harris and Nick Chambers. The other two are taken, I doubt you’re the kind of woman who’d go after a guy in a relationship.”

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