“I like him,” she said when Christian went to the restroom. “Such a handsome young man. Charming too.”
I stared at her. “Do you…have a crush on him?”
She snorted. “Of course not! I’m too old to have crushes. Besides, he only has eyes for you.”
My face warmed. “I don’t…”
“It is true.” She coughed and picked up her teacup. “He doesn’t…he…” Her hands shook as she brought the cup closer to her mouth. It almost touched her lips before she dropped it, and it shattered into a dozen jagged pieces.
Maura’s mouth fell open. Her eyes widened and took on a familiar wild look.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” I said quickly. “It’s just a cup. I’ll get the nurses to—”
“It’s not just a cup!” Her breathing quickened. “It’s broken and it’s…it’s…” Her gaze darted around the room.
“Everything will be fine.” I kept my voice calm despite the way my stomach dropped. She was growing visibly agitated, and once she got agitated, it was near impossible to calm her down without sedation. “I’ll call a nurse and they’ll clean it up. They’re—”
“Already on their way.” Christian’s voice cut into the conversation. I hadn’t heard him come in, but he moved quickly through the room and knelt in front of her. “There are new cups in the community room, along with puzzles. Would you like to do one together?”
Maura’s eyes were still bright with panic, but her breaths slowed into something resembling normal. “Puzzle?”
“A jigsaw puzzle,” he confirmed. “Their newest one. You’ll be the first person to complete it.”
“I…yes. I like puzzles.” She released her stranglehold on her armrest. “I did a puzzle of a poodle once. I used to own a poodle. It’s my favorite dog breed…”
She went off on a tangent about the best and worst dog breeds as Christian guided her to the community room.
I followed them, my throat tight.
“Thank you,” I said once Maura was happily settled with her tea and puzzle. “For…” I gestured toward the hallway where her room was situated. “And for coming with me.”
“There are worse ways to spend my day.” Christian laced his fingers through mine and placed our hands on his thigh. “Thank you for inviting me.”
I looked down at our entwined hands and couldn’t stop my heart from expanding so much it made it hard to breathe.
I am in so much trouble.
That night, after we visited Maura, Christian and I attended our first business event for him as a real couple.
The significance wasn’t lost on me, though the actual event bored me to tears. It was some tech gathering, and I spent most of it smiling, nodding, and pretending I cared about what people were saying while Christian networked.
“The EU is killing us with its regulations,” the man he was talking to grumbled. “It’s untenable!”
I stifled a yawn while Christian answered him.
Tech regulation wasn’t nearly as interesting as baby turtles.
While the other man droned on about some new law that just passed, I placed a hand on Christian’s arm and whispered, “I’m going to the restroom. I’ll be right back.”
He nodded, and I slipped away before I had to listen to one more complaint about the EU.
There wasn’t a line for the restroom, so I took the opportunity to fix my hair and makeup and check my notifications. My follower count was still growing, but it was slower now than in the beginning stages of our “relationship.”
I didn’t care as much as I used to. Joining the million-follower club made getting big partnerships easier, but it’d also made me realize how little the number meant on a personal level.
I slipped my phone into my clutch and exited the restroom.
I made it halfway back to Christian when the hairs on the back of my neck rose. I recognized that chill; it was what I felt when someone was watching me.
My head jerked up, and I scanned the room frantically for anything—or anyone—suspicious.
Nothing. Just a bunch of people in suits, grousing about the latest regulatory laws and bragging about their companies’ market caps.
You’re being paranoid. Your stalker is not here. This is a closed event—
A scream rose but stuck in my throat when someone grabbed my ass and squeezed. Hard.
I whipped around and stared in disbelief at the man leering at me.
He winked at me and moseyed on past like he hadn’t full-on groped me in the middle of a professional event.
I was too stunned to say anything before he left.
The interaction had lasted less than a minute, but that was enough to make me feel like I was coated in a layer of grime I could never scrub off.
“What’s wrong?” Christian picked up on my discomfort the instant I returned to his side.
He’d had his back turned, so he hadn’t seen what happened. The man he’d been talking to had also wandered off, leaving us alone.
“Nothing.” I shifted beneath his skeptical gaze before I admitted, “Someone groped me on my way back from the restroom.”
Christian stilled.
“Who?” His tone was calm, almost pleasant, but it contained something that evoked an arctic chill beneath my skin.
My body betrayed the small voice warning me not to tell him.
I instinctively flicked my eyes toward the bar, where the man who’d groped me was hitting on an uninterested-looking woman.
Christian followed my gaze.
“I see.” His inflection didn’t change, but foreboding slithered down my spine like the cool, scaly skin of a snake.
Some people burned hot when they were angry, but Christian ran cold. The quieter he got, the more people needed to worry.
“It’s not a big deal,” I said anxiously. I didn’t want him doing anything that might get him into trouble or that he might regret later. “It was only a passing grab. Not worth making a scene over.”
“I won’t make a scene.” Christian set his empty champagne glass on a nearby table, his face unreadable. “In fact, I’m done here. Are you ready to leave?”
I nodded and breathed a silent sigh of relief. Thank God.
Between the mind-numbing conversations and the jerk who couldn’t keep his hands to himself, I was ready to put the night behind me.
Still, when we exited the building and walked to Christian’s car, I couldn’t shake the sense that whoever had raised my inner alarms earlier hadn’t been the man who groped me, but someone else entirely.
35
CHRISTIAN
The door closed with a quiet snick behind me.
In the hush of my satellite office, it sounded like a gunshot.
The man seated inside jumped, his knee banging against my desk as he swiveled to face me.
I recognized him from last night’s tech event. Some low-level entrepreneur who’d weaseled his way into the gathering.
I’d let him wait in here alone because I wasn’t worried about him stealing or snooping. I reserved my satellite office for more…unsavory conversations, and it didn’t contain anything except basic office furniture.