She shrugs. “I don’t have to stay. I just would like the option.”
I cock my head, resisting a smile. I understand this woman better than she realizes.
It’s control she wants.
She won’t get that with me, but for the moment, I’m willing to give her the illusion of control.
“I’m beginning to see what you really want,” I say. “It’s not so much that you want to stay. It’s that you want to be the one to decide, isn’t it?”
She stays silent for a few minutes as people bustle around us in the lobby. The MADD Gala must be breaking up.
Finally, when the chaos in the lobby settles a bit, “I can’t go back to your bed, Braden.”
I sear her with my gaze. “You can.”
“No, I can’t. It just doesn’t feel…”
I move into her space, feeling the heat that surrounds both of us. “You want to say it doesn’t feel right, Skye. But you’re not that good an actress. It’s a lie, and you know it.”
I close what little distance remains between us, bend down, breathe onto her ear.
“Come home with me,” I whisper, “and you can leave whenever you want.”
Chapter Nineteen
She goes limp in my arms for a timeless moment.
And I know I have her.
I pull back slightly.
“I…have to tell Tessa,” she says.
I take her hand and lead her back to the ballroom. Tessa is sitting at our table when we get there. Her purse is still there, too, and she doesn’t seem the least bit annoyed at Skye for abandoning it.
“What have you two been up to?” she asks.
“We just—” Skye begins.
“We’re leaving,” I say. “Can I give you a lift home?”
“I think I’ll stay, actually. Garrett and I are hitting it off. Peter’s a mess, though.”
“What’s wrong?” Skye asks.
“He’s terrified of you,” Tessa says to me, smiling. “Though you don’t seem all that scary to me.”
She’s flirting, and Skye doesn’t like it. I can tell by the way she goes slightly rigid.
I like that Skye doesn’t like it. I like it a lot.
As for Peter, good. I want him scared of me. I don’t want him near Skye. I don’t particularly want Garrett near Tessa, either, but that’s not my business.
“He just wants a contract with my company,” I say, “and he thinks I won’t give it to him because he was dancing with Skye.”
“Oh. Is that true?”
“No. I’m not giving it to him anyway. The decision has already been made.”