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I go still.
Not because I disagree, but because I’m used to polite company. The kind that doesn’t name things like this.
I swallow down my rising emotions. I don’t hate that he named it; I’m just not used to talking about it with anyone but my brothers. “She wishes she had a daughter more like her.”
“In what way?”
“In all the ways.” When he simply continues watching me with that fierce look like he’s waiting for more, I elaborate. “Mom thinks I should try to stand out more. She thinks I’m too quiet, too modest, too... average, when she’d prefer I dress up and sparkle more.”
“She wants you to use your beauty more than your brains.”
Now, I really still.
He’s nailed it.
“Yes. And in answer to your original question, yes, she’s always like that.”
His eyes search mine for a long moment. Then, he curses quietly, but no less intensely than the way he’s watching me. “Fuck.”
I nod slowly. “That about covers it.”
He works his jaw, and it looks like he’s trying hard to keep all his thoughts to himself now.
I offer him a smile. “Let’s forget that happened and move on to food. It is what you came here for, after all.”
I turn to walk further into the room but his hand wraps around my wrist and pulls me back. When he’s got his eyes on me again, he says, “I won’t forget that happened. And just so we’re on the same page here, food is the least of my priorities tonight.”
His words are like heat on bare skin.
Impossible to ignore and felt long after they’re spoken.
Before I can form a response, his grip shifts, sliding from my wrist to my hand. Deliberate but gentle. And then he threads our fingers together and guides me into the party.
Just like that, he’s in control.
Of the moment. Of me.
And I’m nothing short of bewildered by it all.
That he called my mother out when no one else ever has.
That he just made it clear he’s not here for the food.
That my hand is in his.
That I am here, at my parents’ anniversary party, with Gage Black, who up until just earlier this week was a man I wanted nothing to do with, but who I’m now finding difficult to take my eyes off.
That he just made it clearhe’s not here for the food.
Somehow, I manage to keep my bewilderment to myself and smile at my parents’ friends like I’m not a hot mess on the inside as I follow Gage. He walks with purpose, his presence impossible to ignore. And the strangest sensation washes over me. For the first time at a party, I feel safe. Like I don’t have to be so on guard. I think Gage would step in if I needed him to.
I’m having a moment over these thoughts when my brother appears in front of us.
“Well, hello there, Sir,” he says as he runs his gaze down Gage’s body, blatantly appreciative. Tim never learned how tokeep a thought to himself. His eyes sparkle as he looks at me. “You’ve been keeping secrets, sis. You never told us that Mr. Periodgate himself was now a permanent fixture in your life.”
If the floor swallowed me whole right now, I wouldn’t be mad about it.
My cheeks heat as Gage’s lips twitch and his gaze comes to me.