Page 132 of Hidden Ties

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Somehow, I don’t believe you have that problem often.”

“You’d be surprised.”

A sense of unease at his words overshadowed the ease she had begun to feel. Kent was a highly attractive man; she couldn’t imagine him ever having any problem of finding himself in a friend zone. Several of the women they had passed as theystrolled through the booths had given him inviting looks, despite him holding her hand. A sliver of distrust made her scoot slightly away from him.

“There’s something you should know about me.” Her expression turned serious. “I don’t like to be lied to. If you’re out for sex, be honest. I would much rather you be honest with me than be deceptive to get me in bed. At least if I did decide to have sex with you, there wouldn’t be any hard feelings when you move on.”

His expression mirrored hers. “I swear,” he said earnestly, “I would never lie to you for sex.”

Staring into his eyes, she believed him.

Sighing, she felt her unease slip away again. Hearing the truth in his voice dispelled any misgivings she had. What reason would Kent have to lie other than sex? He made more money than her, had a prestigious job, and everyone liked him at the office. She really didn’t have anything to bring to the relationship other than herself. If he just wanted sex, he could take his pick from much more successful and prettier women than her.

As long as she kept her head on straight and didn’t let her baser instincts get carried away before risking her heart, she wanted to take a chance that he was feeling the same attraction for her as she was toward him. What was the worst thing that could happen? She had never jumped in bed with any man before. She couldn’t imagine it would be any different with Kent. He didn’t come across as a man who could knock your socks off; he was more the type who would be slow and trustworthy.

“I work two jobs, and I help out my sister with her two children,” she told him honestly. “But if you want to go out when I’m free, I wouldn’t say no if you asked.”

“Sage …” His voice dropped an octave, sending her pulse haywire. “Be prepared. I plan to make plenty of time to spend with you.”

TWENTY-THREE

As they left the restaurant, he couldn’t be more pleased with how the night was going. Sage had relaxed her guard and was acting as carefree as when they had first arrived downtown. Intuitively, he had known what she had been thinking when she caught herself flirting with him. It was as if she had suddenly drawn a curtain closed over her expression.

Shrewdly, he knew the best way to get her to lower her guard was to lower his, or appear to be willing to do so. The calculated maneuver had worked, and as they ate, her personality had come out. He had discovered Sage had a wry sense of humor, she wasn’t afraid to give her opinion on any subject he brought up, and had a well-rounded love for music. More than once during their meal, they could hear a song being played by the DJ at the festival. The country songs, he pretended to gag on, while she would sing along just to irritate him. There wasn’t a song she didn’t know. He had prepared to be bored out of his mind, so the unexpectedness of enjoying himself could derail his plans if he wasn’t careful.

Sage wasn’t the first woman he’d had to use to further his ends. It had never made him feel good when he did, so he only used them as a last resort, but it didn’t overly bother him, either.Much as he hated to use Sage, it was too late to turn back. Time was running out as it was.

Outside, he was quick to notice the crowd had doubled in size. He placed his arm lightly around Sage’s waist as they strolled through the crowd. Surveying the crush of people, he also noticed the crowd had become rougher, more belligerent, many eyeing the milling crowd as prey.

Fuck, the seedier elements of Kansas City had left their domains and were on the prowl for easy victims who were too intoxicated to notice the danger they were in until it was too late.

“We should be leaving,” he suggested, bringing Sage to a stop by his side.

“Not yet. I have a couple more stalls whose craft beer I want to sample.”

Seeing that the one she was pointing at wasn’t far, he gave in to the plea in her eyes. “Okay.”

They got in the long line. As he looked around, his eyes were caught by a familiar set of shoulders. As if alerted he was being stared at, Wraith turned around. His brother’s eyes dropped to Sage, the quirk of his lips letting him know Wraith had spotted the protective arm he had around her.

Fuck. The front of the stall Sage was determined to go to was next to where Wraith was standing alongside other Phantom members.

The line started moving before he could talk Sage into leaving again. Silently, he shook his head at Wraith not to talk to him. Stepping to the side, Kent was able to use his body to block Sage from seeing the obscene gesture Wraith gave him.

Sage was practically jumping up and down when they stepped forward. Going onto her tippy-toes, she tried to look over the shoulder of the two men in front of them. “I’ve been looking forward to this one,” she told him enthusiastically. “I …”

A booming voice from behind the counter of the stall drowned out what she had been about to say.

“Is that you, little Chopin?”

Recognizing the voice, Kent immediately lowered his head.

“Twister!” Sage screeched, tearing away from him to fling herself through the crowd toward the man who came from behind the stall to meet her halfway.

Jerking his head up, for a stunned moment, he was unable to react at seeing the look of pure joy transform Sage’s features.

There wasn’t anything special about Sage’s facial features. She was attractive, but there was nothing to make her stand out. In fact, if he didn’t need her, Kent didn’t think he would have given her a second glance until he had seen her body at Matthias’ house. The woman he was looking at now bore no resemblance to the woman he had become used to.

Watching her fling herself into the arms of the burly ex-president of the Phantoms shook him to his core at how much she had been holding back.