“So am I.” Damn you, Wyatt Rinaldi! He wouldn’t let me off the hook. He was too curious for hisowngood.
“Wait…wait…” Something flickered in his eyes before he cocked his head to the side. When his gaze landed on me again, I just knew he realized what I was doing here tonight. “Oh, no. Gisele, you bad,badgirl!”
“Shut it down, Wyatt!” The man knew me too well. He immediately figured out my motives without needing confirmation from me. My horrified, stricken expression saiditall.
“But he’s too oldforyou!”
“Twenty-seven isnotold!”
“Yeah, but the man has sophisticated tastes…and you’re a knockout, babe, but you lack experience. You’ll bore him within minutes. Maybe evenseconds.”
Thanks for the vote of confidence,ass-hat!
His words cut through me. Although I knew it wasn’t his intention, it still affected me greatly. “It’s quite rude of you tosaythat.”
Wyatt’s face softened as he used his forefinger to lift my chin. “I care about you. That’s why I’m willing to make myself a sacrificial lamb so you can gain experience from yours truly.” Although his demeanor was playful, I also knew he meanteveryword.
“Not happening, ever.” He’d been attempting to get into my pants ever since I turned fifteen. Nothing had changed since then. It was not as though he wasn’t busy sifting through one socialite after the other. He was just a flirt, a pervert of epicproportions.
“How you pierce my heart, Gisele.” He feigned hurt with aridiculouspout.
My patience was running thin. “Move. I have a man to engage and seduce for thenight.”
“All right.” He held up his hand. “The offer’s on the table. Anytime. I’m only ten houses down.Visit meanytime.”
He finally let me go. “Be careful, Gi. He wasn’t dubbedvoraciousbeastfornothing.
“Bye, Wyatt!” I huffed out, somewhat infuriated as Icontinuedon.
“Don’t let him eat you out…for your own sake!” he threw out for extraintimidation.
I flicked a finger as I strutted the hallway. His laughter echoed as I reached the double doors and strolled towards the opposite side of thegarden.
I’d bore Jared? Wyatt’s words rung in my ears. As Gisele, it was a given. But as Lexi Anne, boring wouldn’t be in his dictionarytonight.
Taking a deep steady breath, I hovered in the background. It gave me a great vantage point to see the throng of people from the back, mingling and drinking to their heart’s content. Hank Rinaldi would show himself five minutes before dinner was set to serve. I would be sharing Jared’s table, along with six otherpeople.
Jared St. James, as expected, had arrived and was now circling the crowd of CFOs and CEOs. As my father’s second in command, Jared knew the lot. I took a moment to appreciate him. The ache still thrived, but this time, it was mixed with exhilaration. Seeing him smiling and seeming so in-control of himself made me a little faint. My heart skittered. Breathless and out of sorts, the list of things this man made me feel was rather long. For years, I had pretended he didn’t affect me as much. On the occasion that my father invited him for dinner, I’d sit right across him and pretend my heart wasn’t thumping loudly against my ribs. Blair made sure I’d be seated to his left since his right was reserved for his plus one. But basing from what I had seen, no woman hung off his arm, as I hadpredicted.
Straightening my Dior black satin mini dress, I quickly gazed down to check that my sparkling stilettos were properly in place. My black painted toenails glinted back at me, my long, toned stems tanned andaglow.
He’s here. You’re ready.Go getyourman.
Strutting through the pathway that was specifically set-up on the manicured lawn, I stood a good ten feet away, eyes honed on one man, brazenly appreciating him without an ounce of decorum. While the guests milled and conversed, a few admiring looks came my way, but I didn’t budge my unwavering stare. I was on a mission, and getting distracted wasn’t part of the plan. It was as if I summoned him, or maybe he felt the weight of my stare, because the man cocked his head to the side, intense cerulean blues boring into mine with great magnitude. The men he was surrounded by continued their conversations. He managed to continue the flow of conversation without looking away. His eyes remained, unglued as our gazes locked andbattled.
My insides curled and twisted with immense apprehension and excitement. Despite managing to get his attention, his unreadable face made it difficult to know what the man truly wasthinking.
As the seconds ticked by, my confidence was being flayed layer upon layer. The intensity of his eyes made me feel faint. My breathing hitched. My confined breasts ached. My body involuntarily reacted to him in the most primal manner, and I knew then I truly was swimming in shark infested waters. No, this wasn’t a kiddie pool. This man would devour me, no holdsbarred.
Blushing and beyond disconcerted, I hesitantly looked away, as if needing a reprieve. When I directed my sight towards where he stood, I saw my enigma continuedgawking.
My heart ricocheted. It teetered. Galloped. It skyrocketed to nirvana and to hell and everything in between. Disconcerted as uncertainty filled me, I hastily broke contact and began making my way towards my designated table. Since most people weren’t seated yet, I gathered my bearings as I stood behind my assigned seat before glancing over to where Hank and Josephine were making their way into his party. Wyatt, Ethan, and Blair hovered close to them. Vivienne was kept glancing about the crowd as Ethan whispered something inherear.
While I trying to decipher what Ethan was telling my friend, I felt someone right behind me, making me stiffen, standing ramrod straight as my capability to breathe had all butleftme.
“Business or pleasure?” His distinctive deep, toe-curling, thong-drenching, heart-attack-inducing voice hotly grazed the back of my neck. His Australian accent more pronounced thanbefore.
HAIL MOTHER OFINSANITY.