Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 234779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1174(@200wpm)___ 939(@250wpm)___ 783(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 234779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1174(@200wpm)___ 939(@250wpm)___ 783(@300wpm)
I feel like a real princess dancing with her prince in a fairy tale made just for me. Hunter holds me close to him and we dance through several songs, then we take a break to grab champagne and watch the other guests milling about.
We don’t go back to our table right away. Preferring to spend a little time alone, Hunter leans against an empty stretch of the ornate, gilded wall and drags me against him.
“Are you having more fun now?” he asks.
I nod happily, taking a sip of my champagne and gazing up at him. “I am. And I know I’ve never really had champagne except when I’m with you, but personally, I think this is the best champagne I’ve ever tasted.”
A voice I don’t recognize suddenly steals my attention from Hunter. When I look up and see the man from the hall, my heart stops.
“I prefer Cristal myself, but I can’t very well complain about Dom, can I?”
Perhaps because I’ve stiffened in his embrace, Hunter scowls at the stranger instead of being friendly like he normally would. “And who might you be?”
I tug on Hunter’s arm. He looks down at me, and I lean up to whisper. “This is the guy from the hall.”
Hunter’s confusion clears. His eyes harden ever so slightly, but his lips tilt up in a deliberately casual smile.
The man from the hall steps forward, meeting Hunter’s gaze and extending his hand. “Caleb Grant. We haven’t met, but I think we’re going to be fast friends.”
Hunter extends his hand toward Caleb. “Oh, do you?”
Like Hunter, this man opted not to go with a traditional black tux tonight. Unlike Hunter, he made the daring choice to wear a rich green velvet tuxedo jacket—not a look a lot of men could pull off, but he’s pulling it off quite well.
He’s undeniably attractive, lean but well-built with golden hair, secretive blue eyes, and a mischievous smile.
His mischief doesn’t feel like Hunter’s, though—mostly playful and harmless. No, there’s much more calculation in the man standing before us, but if he’s grown up in this world, I can imagine why.
And it feels like he has grown up in this world. I found it so daunting to step into tonight, but this man has never been an outsider here. To him, this was his playground. I bet he knows every nook, every cranny, every dirty little secret.
And now he knows who Hunter is, because I opened my big, stupid mouth and told him.
Out of all the people at the party, I wonder if he’s the absolute worst person I could have shared that information with.
My stomach rocks with nerves, but Hunter shakes Caleb’s hand, sizing the man up.
“What makes you think that?” Hunter asks casually.
Rather than answer him, Caleb’s gaze shifts to me as he drops his hand. “And you are?”
I don’t answer. I instantly dislike him, and I make it no secret as I narrow my eyes at him.
Hunter squeezes my waist. “This is my girlfriend, Riley.”
I look over at Hunter uncertainly, but he nods for me to go ahead, so I try to be a little less cagey as I look back at the stranger. Since he shook Hunter’s hand, I offer mine, too. “Riley Bishop.”
“Lovely to meet you, Riley.” He takes my hand, but he doesn’t shake it. He brings it to his lips and kisses it.
I jerk my hand away, regarding him even more warily than I did before.
He smiles, his eyes dancing with amusement.
“There you are!”
My gaze darts away from him as a beautiful girl with long blonde hair in a tight red dress stops next to Caleb. She hands him a glass of champagne, keeping one for herself, then glances at us as she takes a sip.
Her expression is open and friendly, not at all measured and calculated like his. She has blonde hair like him, but if I had the impression for even a moment that she might be his sister, he eliminates it when he slides a hand around her waist a little too intimately for her to be a relation.
“Sorry,” he says to her. “I didn’t mean to leave you holding the alcohol. I saw someone I wanted to say hello to.”
The girl must not be into public displays of affection. She peels his hand off her almost absently as she flashes us a smile. “Hi, I’m Zoey. Are you friends of Caleb’s?”
The girl has a faint southern accent that makes her sound even sweeter, so I don’t think she’s from New York originally.
Without giving us a chance to answer, Caleb introduces us to her. “This is Hunter Maxwell and his girlfriend, Riley Bishop.”
Hunter regards Caleb carefully. “I didn’t tell you my name.”
“Didn’t you?” Caleb takes a sip of his champagne, holding Hunter’s gaze.
The girl he called Zoey frowns, looking over at him with a look of mild disapproval on her face. “You’re not makin’ trouble, are you, Caleb?”