I couldn’t resist the urge to come out here. To see her again. But it’s also time for me to walk away and never look back.
I take one step, and Scarlett slips through the crowd to stop right in front of me.
Jesus.She smells fucking incredible. I can’t even describe it because I’ve never experienced anything like it.
I have to get away from her.
“Thank you for taking care of ... that,” she says, a tinge of pink darkening her cheeks. “I apologize for my ... issues following me into your club. It won’t happen again.”
She’s apologizing to me? Seriously? When I enjoyed scaring that preppy little prick?
She continues smiling up at me with expectation, and I realize I haven’t replied.
What the hell kind of spell did this woman cast on me?I try to snap out of it, but I find myself getting sucked deeper into those stormy gray eyes of hers.
A prude?How could that fucker be so blind? There’s heat burning so close to the surface that wouldn’t take more than a single spark to ignite.
His loss is my gain.
As soon as the thought jumps into my brain, I shake my head and pull myself back to reality.
I can’t have her. Remember that.
“You don’t need to apologize,” I say, then clear my throat because there’s a lump in it that wasn’t there a minute ago. “You’re not responsible for the actions of everyone who walks through the door.”
The music gets louder as the DJ spins with more intensity.
Scarlett presses closer, until there’s only an inch between us, and for the first time in years, I’m afraid to move. I’m afraid to fucking breathe.
She’s so damn close.
So close she’s testing my self-control. Something I thought was ironclad until right now.
She leans in, and I freeze.
“No, really. I’m a professional, and when I make appearances, I don’t bring drama with me. It won’t happen again. Would you have a drink with us? Join the celebration?” Her lips are slicked with red, and her delicate tongue swipes across the bottom one.
Fucking hell. I can’t stand this close to her. It’s not fucking safe.
“I—”
“I brought you a glass, Mr. Legend. Just in case,” Astra says as she hands me a champagne flute. Up here, for the VIP section, I insisted on crystal and not barware. The bubbles sparkle as they catch the light.
Absentmindedly, I reach for it, but I’m trapped in the gray pools of Scarlett’s eyes. Somehow, I find myself clinking my glass against hers as a smile lights up her face and turns those eyes to quicksilver.
What in the actual fuck is happening to me right now?
I don’t think shit like this. I don’t feel shit like this.
And then she fucking laughs. It sounds like pure, unadulterated happiness, and I realize I’m fuckingscrewed.
Fuck. Me.
I chug the champagne, not tasting a thing as I watch her drink, but my throat is dry. The longer I watch, the bigger her smile gets and the pinker her cheeks turn.
No.She can’t ... this can’t ...
In the middle of my denial, the air shifts behind me, and my self-preservation instincts roar to life. I turn my head, even though the last thing I want to do is look away from the most intoxicating sight of my life.