“Call me. We can discuss it and my donation.”
Anderson smiled. “Will do. Have fun tonight. Nikki’s occupied with my brother, but I saw Angelina Troy walk in alone. She could be Mia’s twin. Did you know she just landed her first movie role?”
He’d forgotten America’s Sweetheart, Mia Troy, even had a sister. “I’ll keep my eye out for her.”
Gray left Anderson and Selena and crossed the dance floor in search of Nadia.
He spotted her legs first. They were damn hard to miss. She’d trained as a ballerina for years and it showed. She knew it, too. And wore the shortest skintight dress she could find and high heels to show them off.
Three men chatted around her while she sipped a cocktail and looked bored—until she saw him.
“You’re here.” She hugged him, her overly sweet perfume reminding him of cake.
“I said I’d come. Just got stuck in traffic.” Actually, he’d arrived late to miss the paparazzi that would be camped outside the entrance.
Nadia wrapped her arm around his waist, leaning into him, and he fought the urge to push her away. This is part of our cover.
“Please excuse us. We have some catching up to do,” Gray said to the men she’d been talking to.
“There are some empty booths near the back,” she said in her accented English.
The crowd made it impossible to keep much distance between them, and Nadia took full advantage of the situation. More than once, her breast brushed his back. He knew they had to make it look real, but he hated this.
“This is about as quiet and private as we’re going to get in here.” Gray stopped at the booth farthest from the crowded dance floor.
“If I knew for sure my mother and he latest boy toy were gone, I’d invite you back to our suite.” She sat down and slid in further.
He never approved of extramarital affairs, but in this case, it kept him safely away from Nadia’s hotel room.
“But here, we can have a few drinks, and discuss business.” He sat next to her, and she moved closer to him right away.
Gray looked around for a waiter. He needed a very strong drink.
“You’re right. We can have fun here.” Nadia’s hand disappeared under the table. “I wanted to see you when I was in New York last month.” Her hand traveled up his thigh. “I heard you were out of the country.”
Damn it. She was really playing up the role tonight. Reaching under the table, he removed her hand. “I’m overseeing several international projects right now, including some in Western Europe which my brother used to handle.”
“You must be busy.”
He wanted to wrap this meeting up. “So do you have any information for me?”
Before Nadia could answer, Gray heard his cousin’s voice.
“I thought I saw you come in. Christopher didn’t believe me.”
If he didn’t look up, he could pretend he hadn’t heard Sara’s voice, and she’d go away.
“When did you arrive in California?” Sara asked, not taking the hint.
So much for that idea. “Hi, Sara.” Gray looked at his cousin and her fiancé. “Christopher.”
“She’s never going to let me live it down that I was wrong,” Christopher said.
Sara ignored Christopher and looked at Nadia.
“Nadia, it’s nice to see you again.” Sara looked at him again.
“You’ve met?” Gray asked.