by J. K. Coi
At first, Steve had tried to change their minds. He’d begged and pleaded for his friends to stand by him, watched his mother and sister cry too many times. But it hadn’t taken long to figure out how the world really worked, and he’d become determined that no one would ever see that weakness in him ever again. He’d worked hard to maintain the image of a carefree playboy, knowing it was the best way to make these people forget about how broken and shattered he’d once felt.
Some would say he’d succeeded too well. No one outside of his immediate circle—which included his mother and sister, Ben Harrison and his fiancée, and Meredith—knew who the real Steve Nolan was today.
Ironically, the only other person he knew as intensely private as he was would be April Porter. She was reserved and defensive, nothing like the venomous, superficial people he had become used to.
As they stepped into the wide foyer of the museum, Steve noticed the first of April’s extra security personnel, and it didn’t take long to pick out the rest. He was used to making a production of entrances, but this was a little ridiculous. Too many nondescript black suits; dudes pressing their index finger to their ears and whispering, apparently to no one.
Someone was going to notice, probably the press. And as soon as that happened, the shit was going to hit the fan. Ben was already worried. He’d called in a panic just before Steve had gone to pick up April. Apparently this morning’s incident had been leaked to the most shameless rag on the net, Daily Scoop, which meant it had gone from a single slashed tire story to death threats painted in pig’s blood across his windshield.
Steve had briefly considered cancelling, but he and Ben both agreed that he needed to be visible tonight to prove to the world—and the large number of their local shareholders that would be in attendance at the gala—that he wasn’t running scared, everything was under control, and they didn’t have to worry about putting their money into Optimus Inc.
He and April hadn’t taken more than ten steps through the crowd when someone called his name. “Brace yourself,” he murmured.
“What? Why?” April immediately went into bodyguard mode. She stiffened, at full attention as she scanned everyone’s faces.
He put a quelling hand on her arm and chuckled. “Terrorists are not about to descend,” he said. “But almost as distressing…my mother is bearing down on us.”
Her mouth dropped open as if that was indeed distressing. She smoothed a hand over her hip. “It won’t be that bad,” he promised. “As long as you don’t show any fear, she can’t steal your soul.”
She glared at him. “Are you never serious?”
“It’s bad for the colon. You should keep that in mind, you know.” He grinned then turned to face the approaching woman. “Mother! What a surprise to see you here.”
She smiled like the cat that caught the canary as she looked up at April and leaned in to kiss Steve’s cheek. No air kisses for his mother. No, she planted both lips full on him, leaving a lipstick mark that he’d have to rub away as soon as she left.
“I organized this; you knew very well I would be here. If anyone should be surprised, it’s me.” Her gaze narrowed in April’s direction. “You showed less than no interest in this event when I asked you to come.”
“And I still have no interest in it,” he admitted with a tight-lipped expression, but he squeezed her hand. “But I do have this crazy interest in checking in on you every once in a while.”
His mother beamed, and it was nice to see her happy. She’d shed too many tears since her husband’s death, but now that she’d finally returned from her self-imposed exile, she laughed a lot more, and she seemed to be having no trouble re-forging the society connections that had snapped ten years ago through no fault of her own. Steve only wished that she and Grace would let go of the past completely. He couldn’t bring himself to understand the point of a memorial service for a selfish, stupid man who’d destroyed his family and then taken his own life. There must be some other way to bring much-needed recognition to a worthy charity.
She kissed his cheek again.
“Cut it out. My date is going to get jealous,” he teased, rubbing his cheek.
As if she’d been waiting for the opening, his mother said, “And are you going to introduce us?”
“April Porter, ma’am. I’m pleased to meet you.” Like a drill sergeant, she sharply stuck out her hand. His mother looked down at it with a bemused expression before accepting the offering, and they shook hands—probably more vigorously than his mother had expected.
“I’m Sarah Nolan,” she answered, giving April an up-and-down look of assessment. She knew him well and understood that while the paparazzi might have caught him with a couple of bimbos in the past, he wouldn’t have dared bring someone to a public event being run by his mother without thinking long and hard about it first. “So, Ms. Porter, do I know that name?”
“I’m sorry, I-I don’t think we’ve met before.” April looked a little lost, but Steve understood exactly what was going on.
He leveled his mother with a hard look. That might be the typical first question out of every other matchmaking mama—is the girl’s family good enough?—but she knew better than to judge people by such false qualifications. Her own husband had come from the finest New York stock, with a lineage that went back generations, and look how that had turned out.
She’d seen the warning in his eyes and backed down…a little. “Well then, how did the two of you meet?”
“Oh, well, I’m…” She looked to him, uncertain what to say.
He swore under his breath. He should have warned his mother ahead of time, but he wouldn’t lie to her now. “She’s my bodyguard,” he admitted quietly.
Her socially polite expression turned to one of shock and fear. “Bodyguard? Steven, do you want to explain why you need a bodyguard?”
Shit. “It’s no big deal, but I should have called you, and I meant to but the time got away from me. I’m sorry. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow, okay?”
“What kind of trouble are you in?” Her voice had gotten very thin.
“No trouble,” he assured her firmly. He was the one to kiss her on the cheek this time, silently pleading with her to let it go. “Everything’s fine, I promise.”
She looked slightly appeased, but a frown line creased her forehead. “I’ll expect your call first thing in the morning.”
He raised his right hand. “Bright and early, hangover or no.”
A gentleman wearing a headset who appeared to belong to the museum appeared at his mother’s side and tapped her on the shoulder with a subtle clearing of his throat. She squeezed her eyes shut and sighed before pasting on a smile that looked much less natural than before he’d spilled the beans, and he only blamed himself.
“Hey, I know you have work to do tonight, so we’ll be on our way,” he told her. “Don’t worry about anything, okay?”
She nodded, but the shadows in her eyes didn’t go away, and he knew she was reliving the night a gunshot had rung out through the house and she’d run into her own bedroom and found her husband’s blood splashed all over the walls. The night she’d realized everything had been falling apart around her for months and Robert had kept her completely in the dark until it was way too late.
He hated that he’d scared her and made her feel the same way as she had that day. When she squeezed his hand one last time and disappeared back into the crowd, he heaved a sigh of regret.
Blinking, he looked around at all the lights and decorations. “I should have told her that everything looked great. Do you think she wants me to tell her that everything looks great?”
April put her hand on his arm. “It does look great, and I’m sure she knows it. I’m so sorry, Nolan. I froze when your mother asked who I was. I should have come up with something instead of putting you in that position.”
He shook his head. “It’s my fault. I should have told her what was going on sooner. I kept putting it off because I didn’t want her to wor
ry.”
He looked down and realized he had her hand in a grip so tight her fingers must have gone numb, but she hadn’t said a word. He let go abruptly. “I’ll talk to her and my sister tomorrow.”
“I can have our guys keep an eye on her for the balance of the evening,” she suggested. “So far, we’ve had no reason to believe that the attacks against you have any possibility of extending to your family, but I’ll suggest we keep some light surveillance on Mrs. Nolan and your sister until we’re certain that the matter is resolved.”
He hadn’t wanted to admit that this whole thing might touch them, but he couldn’t risk it a minute longer. He nodded. “Thanks.”
Her mouth dropped open. “What was that? Did you just accept my professional judgment? Did you just say thank you?”
He really had been an asshole.
She turned her head and murmured in a low voice, talking into a microphone, arranging protection for his mother right away. The idea that he needed April and her agency to protect him and his family still drove him insane, but he realized just how grateful he was to have her.
The crowd was getting to him. The laughter and clinking of glassware had become abrasive. He needed to move, and this was no place for a boxing match.
He slipped his arm around his bodyguard’s waist and smiled when she let out a gasp of surprise. “I think it’s time to dance,” he murmured in her ear.
“Ah, wouldn’t you like to make the rounds first, or get a drink?”
“Do you need a drink?” he asked.
“I don’t drink when I’m on the job.”
“I thought you were on a date.”
“I might have to agree with you,” she teased with a grin. “After all, I met your mother and everything.”
“And how many other guys have introduced you to their parents?”
She pursed her lips and shook her head, eyes sparkling like they were made of stars. “I’m not telling you that.”
“Well, at the moment, I have absolutely no interest in alcohol, or mingling.” He gazed into them and was mesmerized. “Or anything else but you. Don’t make me wait any longer to hold you in my arms. That’s the only reason we’re still here.”
Her eyes flashed as she glowered up at him, making her even more bewitching. “Your mother was right, wasn’t she? You had no intention of coming to this thing at all, did you?”
He shrugged. “I won’t deny that the temptation to get you all decked out and show you my moves was definitely a deciding factor.”
She raised a sculpted eyebrow, but he recognized the playful smile tugging at her mouth. “Your moves?”
With a chuckle, he steered her into the Great Hall. Tables had been set up along the perimeter and the wait at the bar was long and three lines deep, but they were headed for the center of the almost deserted dance floor. The alcohol hadn’t been flowing long enough yet for most people to drum up enough bravery for dancing. April herself suddenly looked nervous, glancing over her shoulder as if marking the nearest exit.
He stopped and let go of her, but held out his arm in invitation.
“Maybe we should—”
“Dance with me, April Porter.” His voice lowered. “Here. Now.”
To his surprise, she took a deep breath and closed the distance between them. She laid one hand on his forearm and the other in his open palm, but as the band started to play a modern waltz she stiffened almost immediately. Panic lit her eyes and she bit her lip harder than usual.
With a soft smile, he ducked his head to whisper in her ear. “There’s nothing to it. Just follow my lead.”
Heat exploded in her cheeks the moment he realized she didn’t know how to dance.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered, drawing back. “This isn’t going to work. We should probably just stop before I embarrass—”
He tipped her chin up and smiled into her face. “It’s easy. If you can dance around an opponent in the boxing ring, you can do this,” he promised.
April was completely out of her element, and she couldn’t pretend otherwise any longer. This place, these people…it wasn’t her. Champagne and dancing, dresses and small talk. Life with her rough and tumble father in a dusty boxing club hadn’t prepared her for this. Of all the disgusting things Jeremy had said about her to his buddies, he’d been right about that.
She caught a glimpse of John across the room, looking completely inconspicuous. That was her. She lived on the sidelines of these people’s lives…and it was completely fine. She’d never wanted anything more.
Until now.
Is this really the kind of life she wanted? No. It wasn’t the fancy party or dressing up that made her heart race. It was him. Steve Nolan. Just him.
Despite his past, he walked through this stuck-up crowd like he owned it…and she had absolutely no doubt that before long, he would. It was easy to see that Nolan was destined for great things, and if she was going to spend any amount of time with him above and beyond the parameters of this particular assignment, these types of events were going to become a regular occurrence.
Good thing there was no chance of that happening.
She glanced over his shoulder. There were a few people milling about on the fringes of the dance floor. One guy wearing a trench coat who turned away before she could catch a glimpse of his face, a couple who swayed to the music as if they were seconds away from joining in the dancing, too, and others who were more interested in the conversation than the music.
Thank God, nobody seemed to care what she and Nolan were doing. Her colleagues watching on the sidelines already knew that her cover was as Nolan’s date for the night, so she wouldn’t have to worry they would think she was acting unprofessional…even if she totally was.
But since it was clearer than ever that what they had between them was short-lived, she wanted to live every moment of it to the fullest.
He tipped her chin again, silently demanding her full attention, daring her to leave doubt and insecurities at the door.
She nodded. “Let’s hope you’re Fred Astaire, because that’s the only way we’re going to look good out on this dance floor.” She smiled nervously.
His gaze flared. “You’re irresistible. You could stand here without moving a muscle and every guy in this place would still want to cut in on me…but I’m not going to let them,” he promised.
His arm curled around her waist. Instead of holding their clasped hands out at arm’s length, he tucked them up against his chest and pulled her closer so their bodies were in continual contact all the way down to her thighs. Anticipation and desire coursed through her veins, warming her from her fingertips to her toes.
He grinned. “What is it?” she asked.
He bent forward and whispered in her ear, “Don’t look now, but you’re dancing.”
It was true. She’d been caught by the intent look in his eyes for the last several minutes and hadn’t even realized that he was slowly but expertly guiding her across the floor. Her hand rested on his arm, and he covered her fingers with his and tucked her other hand against his chest as they moved together. His heartbeat was strong and steady, calming her nervousness but heightening her awareness of him.
God, he was hot—the kind of hot that melted her bones and left her overwhelmed and dizzy with need. He made her feel graceful, feminine, and desired. She swayed, letting the music penetrate deeper until the moment extended into forever and there was nothing between them but anticipation and promise. It was intoxicating, like sultry tendrils of delicate smoke that weaved around their legs and pulled them closer.
The music changed, and she realized there were quite a few more people on the floor with them now. She glanced over Nolan’s shoulder, something was twinging her instincts. She sharpened her gaze but Nolan noticed what she was doing and chuckled. “You can’t clock out for even one evening, can you?”
She bit her lip. “I’m sorry, I just have to—”
“It’s okay. I kind of like that you’re so committed to y
our work. After all, I am your work.”
If she was really committed, she wouldn’t be here pretending to be someone she wasn’t, a part of her whispered. She’d be dressed in her ugly suit, watching from the other side of the room while Nolan danced with someone else, maybe the leggy redhead from the restaurant, or the woman who’d called his cell phone while they were in the store, Meredith.
The song ended, and they stopped dancing, but he didn’t let her go, not immediately.
Her whole body hummed, and she forgot all about where they were, the clothes that made her feel like an imposter, and even her job. She drowned in the unspoken promises he made with his touch and his gaze, sliding her hands up the lapels of his jacket and around the nape of his neck almost against her will.
His eyes sparkled as he moved to guide her off the dance floor, his smoldering attention fixed on her to the exclusion of all else.
It happened so fast. A movement out of the corner of her eye as she looked up at Nolan, a figure on an intercept course with them as they departed the dance floor. Trench coat. She’d noticed him earlier, but now she was seeing him from the front instead of the back. It was the same man who’d been watching them through the storefront window, the same man from the hotel surveillance video.
He was fixated on Nolan and pushed his way through the few people between them. When he stuffed his hand in his pocket, she reacted instinctively, throwing herself in front of Nolan. Her ankle twisted in her heels, and she slipped across the glossy marble floor. She held on to her balance with a grimace and yelled for backup.
Nolan didn’t drop back behind her. He tried to get around her, his face a mask of fury as he locked onto the man still advancing toward them.