"So you are sleeping with him."
"No, I'm not." Not anymore, I wasn't, not that that would matter if Daddy found out. He'd have a coronary.
"What's his name?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Then I'll just go ask."
"You'll do no such thing." I grabbed her before she could spin away, worried she'd do just that for no other reason than because she could. I let out an exasperated sigh and relented. "Nathan. His name is Nathan."
"What's his last name? Where is he from? How'd you meet?" The questions flew at me, one after the other until I held my hand up in a vain attempt to stop her.
"You're as bad as Jacqui with all your questions."
"So? I'm just curious, that's all."
"Well, you're not getting the answers."
"And why not?"
"Because." The answer didn't work any better now than it had all those times when our mother used it on us while we were growing up. Marie tilted her head to one side and lifted both brows in a sign of impatience. I took a deep breath and released it in a hurry, knowing she wouldn't give up until I answered. "Fine. I don't know. I don't know. And at a bar."
She frowned, no doubt mentally aligning my answers with the list of questions she'd thrown at me. Her face cleared a split second before her eyes rounded with surprise. "You slept with him without knowing anything about him?"
I started to tell her that was the whole point of a one-night stand but caught myself just in time. Marie was no more innocent than I was but that didn't mean I planned on sharing the details of my sex life, such as it was, with my nineteen-year-old sister. "I didn't plan on interviewing him as a potential prospect if that's what you mean. We were just having fun."
"Addy, I saw the look he gave you as you ran away. That wasn't the look a man gives a woman he's just having fun with."
"I think you were seeing things."
"No, I wasn't."
"You were. And even if you weren't, it doesn't matter because we're not seeing each other anymore."
"Because you broke things off with him?"
"No. And it doesn't matter now anyway."
"But it does. I think you should go find him and talk to him."
"No, Marie, I can't." I leaned closer and lowered my voice even more. "He's one of Daddy's players. Nothing can happen now, you know that."
"I still think—uh-oh." Her gaze darted to something over my shoulder and the expression on her face caused the bottom of my stomach to drop open. It could only be one of two things—or rather, two people—and I wasn't ready to face either one right now.
"Who is it?"
"Quinn. He just came in looking for you." She pushed against my shoulder, urging me to leave. "Go. I'll take care of him."
"I can handle Quinn."
"I know you can—but wouldn't you rather be handling your hockey player instead?"
"Marie—"
"Just go. If nothing else, you can distract yourself by playing hostess while I distract Quinn."
"The man is a snake, Marie. Don't trust him."
Her gaze settled on mine and for a split second, what I saw in their depths left me unsettled. But she blinked and whatever I thought I saw was gone, leaving me wondering if I had simply imagined it. I started to question her but she waved me away.
"I'll be fine. Now go."
I hesitated a second longer than spun around and hurried off, weaving back and forth until I pushed through the back door and outside. Night air wrapped around me like a warm cloak, oddly comforting after the suffocating heat of the kitchen I'd just escaped. Maybe it wasn't the air itself, still heavy with humidity and the subtle fragrance of flowers. Maybe it was the soft lights twinkling like fairy dust in the trees, or maybe the strains of lively music coming from the small band set up at the back of the house.
Or maybe it was nothing more than the taste of freedom, even though that freedom would be short-lived. I couldn't hide forever, not when I was certain my father was looking for me.
Not when I was certain he'd have a hundred questions waiting for me.
But for now, these few minutes at least, I didn't have to worry about my father or his questions. I didn't have to worry about Quinn's shark smile and wandering hands.
And I didn't have to worry about Nathan. About why his actions the other night had upset me or why I'd reacted the way I had when I saw him tonight.
More importantly, I didn't have to wonder how I'd become so attached to a man I didn't know in such a short amount of time.
For now, for just a few brief wonderful minutes, I didn't have to worry about anything.
The soft whisper of a sole scratching against stone echoed behind me and I stiffened, knowing those few precious moments of freedom were gone before they really started. I turned, already knowing who I'd see standing there and anticipating it as much as I dreaded it.
Piercing blue eyes met mine and even through the shadows surrounding us, I could see the hesitation in their depths. The uncertainty. His long hair was slightly mussed, as if he'd been running his fingers through it—as if I'd been running my fingers through it. But it was his mouth that held my attention. Full and soft and devilishly sexy, the small scar at the corner making him look like he was on the verge of smiling right before sharing a secret that nobody else knew.
He rocked back on his heels and jammed his hands into the pockets of his dress pants. I'd never seen him in anything but jeans—if he was wearing clothes at all—and was surprised at how different he looked in a suit, how comfortable he appeared in it.
Well, maybe not quite so comfortable now, not if the way he shifted his weight from one foot to the other meant anything. He cleared his throat, stepped closer then stopped, as if he wasn't sure what I'd do. We stood there, several feet and worlds apart, for the longest time, until he finally opened his mouth and spoke. Just a single word, in a rich voice that captivated and called.
"Addy."
Chapter Nine
Nathan
She was going to bolt. I could see it in the sudden tension that seized her bare shoulders, in the slight widening of dark eyes that finally met mine. Her body leaned back as she shifted the weight on the high heels encasing her feet and I fully expected her to turn and run even though she'd be risking spraining an ankle on the uneven walkway. But she surprised me because instead of running, she calmly clasped her hands in front of her and tilted her head a fraction of an inch, like she was searching a mental directory for my name.
Was that how she wanted to play this? To put on some big show and act like she didn't know me? A low growl vibrated in the back of my throat and it took more self-control than I would have expected to keep the growl from exploding into a howl of frustration.
Especially when a small part of me wondered if maybe it wasn't really an act at all.
Bullshit. She knew exactly who I was—and she was just as stunned to see me as I was to see her. The ramifications of seeing her here hadn't sunk in yet but only because I refused to let them take root. I was having a hard enough time dealing with the fact that she was actually here, standing a few feet in front of me, when I'd convinced myself I would never see her again. I'd deal with everything else later.