Page 110 of Untouchable

“Have we met somewhere before?” Wes asked, peering at her more closely.

Kelly blinked. Surely he hadn’t been one of her one-night stands. There were a lot. She didn’t remember all their names, but she was sure she’d remember their faces. “I don’t think so. I probably have a common face.”

She added that last bit on purpose to steer the conversation in a different direction, and Caleb didn’t let her down. He made a sound of rough objection. “The last thing you are is common, Blossom.”

She smiled at him sappily, but her relief was short lived.

“I’m sure I’ve seen you before. That hair is unmistakable.” Wes was clearly serious. His observation of her had grown intense.

If he’d interned at Reliant, there was a small chance he’d seen a picture of her as a child on her father’s desk and somehow made the connection to her now. Frustrated by his persistence and anxious about the slim possibility, she said tartly, “I’ve never been to Paris. And, not to imply anything rude, but you’re not exactly in my peer group, so there’s no way our paths crossed when I was younger.”

Caleb laughed uninhibitedly at the implication that Wes was old, and the topic finally shifted.

They chatted for a few minutes, but then Caleb went to round them up some more drinks. As soon as he stepped away, Wes said with another smile, “Now that he’s gone, you can give me the real scoop.”

She lifted her eyebrows, but her heart gave a little leap since it sounded like Wes believed there was some secret about her to be known. Surely he wouldn’t be going back to the idea that he’d seen her before. She was absolutely convinced he hadn’t. “What scoop?” Her mind was buzzing a little from the alcohol. She shouldn’t have drunk the third glass of champagne. She wasn’t as sharp as she needed to be.

“How did you and Caleb meet?”

She let out a breath of relief, trying not to reflect it on her face. “We just ran into each other by accident. At a park actually. He was there with Ralph.” Wes evidently knew who Ralph was, so she continued, “I thought he was a client I was supposed to meet, so we started talking. We hit it off.”

What had actually happened was they’d fucked each other like animals before they knew each other’s names, but no need to be quite so detailed about their first encounter.

“What do you do?” he asked.

“I paint pet portraits. It sounds kind of fluffy, but there are a surprising number of people who want to have their pets memorialized that way.”

Wes chuckled. “I guess so. So you’re from the area?”

“Yeah. I grew up in DC, and I still live here.”

“Where did you go to school?”

Kelly was starting to get uncomfortable with all the questions. Wes was probably just being friendly, but he was obviously curious about her and convinced he’d seen her somewhere before. Plus, she preferred to avoid personal questions.

The more information she gave about herself, the easier it would be for someone to find out who she really was.

Her mother had gone to great lengths to fake the records, but still… She didn’t want to give anyone any clues that could be followed.

No one was perfectly safe.

In response to his question, she mentioned the private high school she’d gone to and glanced around for Caleb, hoping he would come soon and rescue her. But he’d been waylaid by an elderly woman and clearly couldn’t get away immediately.

“That’s a really good school,” Wes said.

“Yeah. Don’t get the wrong idea though. I’m not that smart.” She was feeling trapped and rattled, although the conversation shouldn’t have been particularly dangerous. She really wished she hadn’t drunk so much since her mind wasn’t working as quickly as it needed to. “The Watsons were donors, which is the only reason I was admitted.”

“The Watsons?”

Kelly blinked, trying to figure out what he was asking. Then she realized her mistake. Most kids didn’t call their parents by their last name the way she did her adoptive parents. She frozefor a moment, a wave of terror overwhelming her at the idea she’d somehow given herself away, but she pushed through it.

She’d given away nothing. She just needed to focus again.

“My folks,” she explained, trying to make it sound casual.

“You call them the Watsons?”

Damn it. Why didn’t he just let things go? “Yeah. It was the cool thing to do with kids my age, and I just got in the habit.”