Page 32 of Strange Seduction (Strange #2)

Heart Breaks and Promises.

Day Nine.

I’ve never seen so many men with crisp hairlines and starched collars in one room in my life. Every third guy looked like he stepped out of a trust fund starter pack— Rolex, tight smile, vague trauma .

And yet… none of them held a candle to my trust fund baby.

Theo stood just ahead of me, talking to some guy I’d already forgotten the name of. His hand rested lightly on my back, thumb moving in small circles like he knew I needed the grounding.

Or maybe he needed it. Either way, I wasn’t moving.

“Is this what rich people do for fun?” I muttered under my breath when the guy left.

He turned his head slightly, lips barely moving. “Only the boring ones.”

I grinned.

The ballroom was all velvet drapes and gold accents. Tall ceilings, chandeliers, and passed hors d’oeuvres that were doing the most for so little reward. Some type of shrimp tartare on a black sesame crisp. Not even a full bite. I popped one in my mouth anyway.

The dress I wore tonight was satin and the color of spilled champagne. Strapless, with a high slit that kept getting Theo’s attention when he thought I wasn’t looking.

He picked it.

I let him.

The day was stressful enough for him, so being in control of this one thing was me giving him a win. The matching heels were technically a crime against arches, but they made my legs look long and my walk look expensive, so I committed.

Theo looked at me now, eyes dropping down my body.

“You good?” he asked softly.

I nodded with the same fake smile I’ve been passing out like bland shrimp sesame crisp at this party. He noticed and shook his head in amusement before leading me to another boring conversation.

We moved through the crowd slowly, stopping every few feet so he could shake hands, trade greetings, and talk numbers. I tuned most of it out. Not because I wasn’t interested—I was—but because I wasn’t here to perform.

I wasn’t on display.

I was here with him .

And judging by the way his hand stayed anchored to my back, he was just as aware of that as I was.

“So this is the infamous Carmen,” a woman said, sliding up beside us with a champagne flute and too-white teeth.

My face scrunched up, but I tried to smile politely. “Infamous?”

“She’s joking,” Theo murmured beside me, pressing a kiss to the side of my head.

Huh.

“I’m Leah. Theo and I used to work together.”

Doubt: She’s pretty.

Stop.

I nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

Her eyes flicked down to my dress, then back up to Theo. “You picked well.”

He smiled tightly.

Leah addressed me again. “Are you visiting or finally moving over?”

“Visiting,” I said overly sweetly.

“Aw, I know Theodore is dying to have you stay.”

Strangely enough, when she talked to me, her eyes remained on Theo.

“It was all he talked about when we worked together. Kinda annoying to hear about another woman while working with a man, am I right?”

Doubt: Is—is she hinting at something?

My eyes narrowed, and I took in her appearance. She had pretty, beach-waved hair, light freckles, and the cutest crooked teeth that I could tell she’d never been punched in. But by the way she was looking at Theo, that may not be the case by the end of the night.

The bitch was playing a dangerous game.

Doubt: There’s definitely something going on with them.

No, there isn’t. Please shut the fuck up.

Doubt: Alright. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.

If Theodore Clayton ever decided to cheat on me with a White woman, I’d burn all his shit down, Waiting To Exhale style.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I tend to be interesting enough that men don’t need to bring up other women around me.”

She blinked. Theo bit back a laugh as he sipped his whiskey.

With a tired grin, I grabbed a fresh glass of champagne off a passing tray.

“Excuse me. I need air,” I said, already walking to the nearest exit.

I didn’t need air. I just needed five minutes away from women who made conversation feel like war.

The balcony was quiet, lit by soft gold lights and the moon overhead. I leaned against the stone railing and let myself breathe and indulge in silence. But a few seconds later, I felt him behind me.

“That wasn’t very nice, Sweetness.” I could feel the amusement in his tone.

I blew out hard. “Yeah?”

“Am I gonna have to apologize for your behavior again tonight?”

I faced him. “Depends. You messing around with Linda?”

“No,” he scoffed. “And I’m offended you even asked me that.”

“Well, she likes you.”

“I know.” His eyes stayed on me.

“You know?”

“She told me when we worked together. I terminated the contract immediately after.”

My shoulders relaxed. “Really?”

“Of course, really.” He cupped my face as he stepped closer. “I’m committed to you, Carmen. I ever shown you otherwise?”

I looked down at the whiskey he still nursed. “No.”

“Good,” he rubbed my cheek with his thumb. “Now relax, okay? I’m yours.”

I exhaled deeply and relaxed into his touch. “And I’m yours.”

“I know,” he said in a low voice. “You good?”

I nodded.

He slid his arms around me, pulling me into his chest anyway. “Do you need more time out here?”

I sighed, leaning into him. “No. I’m good.”

He kissed my shoulder. “I love you, okay?”

“I love you, too.” I leaned up and kissed him. Slow. Lingering. When I pulled back, I smirked. “I hope you know I expect a very long and intimate spa date after this.”

He grinned. “Baby, I already booked the reservation.”

“Theo!” Carter called out as we returned to the event space, his voice cutting through the ambient clinking of champagne flutes and low conversation. “You just missed Jack making a scene.”

Theo let out a quiet groan, rubbing the back of his neck as we slowed near the edge of the crowd.

“Goodnight, Carter,” I greeted when he got close to us.

“Carmen!” He said before giving me a small kiss on both cheeks. “You look stunning, darling. That dress suits you well.”

“Thank you!” I said,doing a spin. “ Brunello Cucinelli. ”

“Really!” He motioned to his well-tailored suit. “Same here!”

We both gushed over the details in both our outfits before Theo cut in with a dramatic groan.

“What happened with Jack?” he asked.

Carter straightened and fell back into his professional aura. “Martin showed interest in one of the beachfront properties, and Jack swooped in like a vulture five minutes later, waving his checkbook around. Bastard took over the whole thing.”

“Sounds about right,” Theo muttered. “If Martin so much as breathes in a direction, Jack has to do something louder.”

I blinked. “Wait—who are Martin and Jack?”

Carter leaned in a little, grinning like he’d been waiting for someone to ask. “Martin Blake and Jack Stanton. Longtime rivals. Big names in property investment.”

“Jack’s got this obsession with being first,” Theo added. “Especially when Martin’s involved. It’s like…if Martin shows interest in something, Jack takes it personally and has to one-up him.”

“Every time,” Carter agreed. “It’s petty, but entertaining.”

I glanced around the room, eyes landing on the display tables again—the ones crowded with investors, PR reps, and media.

“Is that why all of these projects are getting ridiculous offers?” I asked. “Because of their rivalry?”

“Sometimes,” Theo said, with a wink. “Sometimes it’s ‘cause our work is ridiculously good.”

I blushed a little. What could I say? The man looked good in that suit with the hair I retwisted earlier. It was getting harder and harder to keep Brunello Cucinelli on my body.

“Tonight was a great success, Tee.” Carter broke our quiet intimacy. “Just about all projects sold within the hour. All except one at least.”

Theo stiffened at that, and I knew what that meant instantly. I stepped closer to him. “Your project’s the only one without an offer?”

He didn’t answer right away.

He shook his head and offered a small shrug. “Nah, but it’s okay. I knew it wasn’t ready yet. We got a lot of investors for the company projects, though, so that’s good. I’ll just go back to the drawing board on mine.”

“But it’s already perfect,” I said without hesitation.

He didn’t respond. Just took a mouthful of his whiskey instead of his usual sip. Theo rarely drank hard, so that told me everything.

This was his chance to debut something personal, something I pushed him to display, and it was getting overshadowed. He wouldn’t admit it, but it stung him. It had to, and I couldn’t let that slide.

Time to intervene.

I downed the rest of my champagne and handed him the glass. “I’ll be right back, y’all.”

Carter nodded and Theo gave me a curious glance, but didn’t stop me.

I made my way to his display, and I lowered my neckline a touch, softening my expression.

My stride became slower, more deliberate as I swayed my hips seductively.

When I reached the table, I started pacing around the model with exaggerated interest—tilting my head, sighing, and dragging a finger along the edge like I was utterly mystified and lost.

Finally, a fish bit.

“You lost, honey?” came a voice behind me.

I turned and found a middle-aged man basically eye fucking me through some pretty thick frames. I thanked God I left my overly jealous boyfriend on the other side of the room because he would ruin what I was trying to do with a well-earned punch to this man’s face.

I blinked up at him with a sweet, clueless smile. “Oh no, I was just looking at this little dollhouse. It’s so pretty, I want to know more about it. Can you help me?”

I watched his eyes shift like he’d just found a beautiful idiot to impress. Predictable men with oversized egos were my favorite kind of tool.

“Well, it’s not a dollhouse, my dear,” he chuckled. “This is a display. We’re here tonight to look at projects this company wants us to invest in.”

“Oh, I get it now! So like… you pay people to build stuff? You must be very rich.”

He puffed up immediately. “Well, I like to think so.”

“I like rich and smart people,” I purred.

He blushed.