“I’m enjoying it. The Houstons have been wonderful,” I replied honestly.

  He smiled then, softening the overpowering presence he seemed to exude. “I hear you’re warming up to the horses. I expected you would. Your mother loved them,” he said with a touch of fondness in his tone that took me off guard.

  He had known my mother? I’d not made that connection or considered that. Melanie being her friend was one thing, but I hadn’t placed my mother any further into this circle of people.

  “You knew my mother?” I asked then, always wanting to know more about the woman who had given me life.

  Although he continued to smile, sadness flickered in his eyes. “Yes. Very well.”

  I wanted more than that. How did he know my mother? Where had he met her?

  I wasn’t sure where to start when servers arrived at our table and began placing a salad in front of everyone at the same time. As if it were choreographed.

  From the quick glance I took of the salad, I could see it wasn’t what I was used to. There were things in it that I didn’t recognize. The meat might be lobster. I wasn’t sure. The small amount of lettuce wasn’t normal lettuce, and it sat on top of chunks of avocado. I didn’t care about the food though. I wanted to hear about my mother.

  “Fresh lobster,” Garrett said, as if he were reading my thoughts. “Many believe Maine has the best lobster, but there are those who argue they haven’t had Florida lobster.”

  I had never had lobster. Sure, I’d seen it on television and the cooking shows I would watch on the public broadcasting station, but I had never been able to afford something like lobster. Garrett took a forkful and held it up before putting it in his mouth, as if showing me it was safe to eat.

  I decided to try it since that was where his focus was at the moment, then get the conversation back to my mother.

  Melanie hadn’t told me much. Her details had been sparse. I realized now just how sparse they had been. She’d never mentioned my mother knowing Garrett Hughes.

  The salad was indeed delicious. I took several bites while listening to Garrett engage Kenneth in conversation about the upcoming race. I’d been hearing about the Belmont Stakes at the stables. I knew nothing about horse racing, except what I heard among the trainers and jockeys at the stables. Interrupting their discussion didn’t seem like a way to get Garrett to tell me more about my mother. While I waited, I drank my water and finished the salad.

  A few times, I glanced over at Trev or Saxon to see who they were speaking to. The girl between the two seemed to be more interested in Trev than Saxon, and I wondered if it was always that way. Trev had more money, and his family clearly held more power.

  Blaise was speaking with the lady on his other side. I was happy to be ignored. Especially if my only option was to speak with Blaise. My eyes met Trev’s as I reached for my water. He winked at me, and I smiled back at him. It would have been a much more pleasant dinner if he’d been the brother on my right.

  Who had chosen where we sat anyway?

  “Careful. The senator’s daughter doesn’t like competition,” Blaise said close to my ear.

  I stiffened, startled, then turned my head to see he had leaned close to me. He’d not wanted anyone to hear what he was saying.

  I glared at him. “She doesn’t need to worry.”

  Blaise raised his eyebrows, as if he didn’t believe me. “Why is that?”

  I set my glass down and placed my hands in my lap, fighting the urge to ball them into fists. “Like I told you before, Trev and I are just friends.”

  The corner of Blaise’s full lips curled up slightly. “Then, act like it,” he replied before leaning away from me and reaching for his drink.

  I wanted to yell at him or use my fist to pound on his arm. Not that it would do much good. His arm looked as if it were made of stone. Very nicely carved stone. Even under the tux he was wearing, his broad shoulders and thick, muscular arms were hard to hide.

  The servers arrived again in unison to take away the plates in front of us. It was so smoothly and efficiently done that I wondered if they had to train for this sort of job.

  “Have you tested Madeline’s riding skills?” Garrett asked.

  My head snapped to attention, and I looked from Garrett to Kenneth and Melanie. He appeared to be speaking to them both. About me. It seemed rude, considering I was sitting right here. He could have asked me this question. It was as if I were a child who was unable to answer questions about herself.

  Melanie smiled softly at me in a reassuring way.

  “She’s not ready to get on a horse just yet,” Kenneth informed him. It seemed odd for him to be answering when he barely knew me. Yet he smiled as if he knew every detail about my days at Moses Mile.

  Garrett frowned and turned to me. “You don’t want to ride?” he asked me, as if this was unheard of. Something completely foreign to him.

  “Until I arrived at Moses Mile, I’d never seen a horse up close. I’ve warmed up to them, and I do trust a few, but I’m not sure I trust myself not to panic and spook them,” I explained.

  He glanced over my head and looked at Blaise. “Teach her,” he said.

  Blaise? Teach me? Uh, no thank you.

  Blaise didn’t reply, but Garrett seemed pleased, so I assumed he had nodded his head. I looked back at him with my own frown this time. Had he agreed to that? Why? I’d rather Trev or Saxon teach me. Blaise glanced at me for a brief moment, then turned his attention back to the lady on his other side.

  “Blaise is the best teacher you could have. He can outride my best jockey, and he outweighs him by forty pounds,” Garrett assured me with a smile.

  The soup was brought next, and I didn’t even taste it as I ate. My thoughts were on Blaise and getting out of lessons with him. Besides, Garrett wasn’t my keeper. Why did I have to do anything he said?

  The entrée was enjoyed by everyone, it seemed, and I managed to respond to those who spoke to me without sounding like an idiot. Melanie seemed off, however, and her gaze kept finding mine. I wondered if she, too, was thinking of a way to get me out of lessons with Blaise. I sure hoped so.

  Once dessert was taken away, the band began to play again, and people were making their way to the dance floor. Saxon stood, and my eyes went to his. His mouth curved into a crooked grin, and I knew what was coming next. I watched him as he made his way around the table, then stopped behind me.

  “You promised me a dance,” he said.

  I took the napkin from my lap and placed it on the table, then met Melanie’s gaze. She was smiling, but there was something in her eyes I didn’t understand. Concern? Fear?

  “I always knew Saxon was the smart one,” Garrett said, and there was a tinkering laugh from Melanie that sounded more like relief.

  How odd.

  I turned to look up at Saxon and placed my hand in his, then stood. I knew he was only doing this to get us both away from the table. I’d much rather be dancing with him than feeling as if I was being watched and judged by every person at that table.

  Thankfully, in my inner-city school, ballroom dancing had been offered one semester as an alternative to physical education. I was one of four students who took it, and that was the only semester that the dance instructor donated her time to the school. Her goodwill had been short-lived, but it had lasted long enough that I felt confident enough to dance with Saxon.

  As I fell in step with his lead, I managed to relax and enjoy myself. It had been a while since I’d danced, and never had I done so outside of the school gymnasium.

  “You’re good at this,” he said to me.

  I tilted my head back so I could look up at him and smiled. “You expected me to step all over your feet, didn’t you?”

  He smirked. “Maybe.”

  His hand was warm on my bare back, and our bodies were close enough that they brushed against each other; however, there was no spark. It was comfortable. Easy. I trusted Saxon. He wasn’t complicated or full of himself.

  “You handled yourself well with Garrett,” he told me.

  I sighed, thinking of how nervous and uncomfortable I’d been. “I’m just glad it’s over,” I admitted.

  Saxon leaned closer to me then, his mouth hovering near my ear. “Blaise is headed this way,” he whispered, then straightened back up, holding me away from him so we barely touched at all.

  Before I could respond to his information, another hand was on my back—lower than Saxon’s hand was—and Saxon stopped dancing. He let my hand go and stepped back with a smile, then gave me a nod before walking away from me. Confused by the sudden change, I turned to see Blaise behind me.

  His teeth were clenched tightly, causing his chiseled jaw to stand out even more. He turned me toward him completely and pressed my body against his as one of his hands threaded with mine. I had never danced like this before. Never this close to someone else. The arms holding me felt like iron bars, but I didn’t intend to try and break free of them. My mind was turning so quickly that I had little time to adjust to the change when we began to move.

  I lifted my eyes from his chest to meet Blaise’s eyes. They were hard and cold. As if touching me and dancing with me were being forced upon him at gunpoint. I stiffened, and his gaze dropped to mine. The darkness in his eyes made me feel breathless. As if I knew I should be terrified, but instead, I was intrigued.

  “What are you doing?” I asked him.

  We both knew he didn’t want to be dancing with me, and it couldn’t be for his father’s sake. He didn’t care what Garrett thought of him.

  “Dancing, Madeline,” he replied through his clenched teeth.

  “I can see that, Blaise,” I replied with a forced smile. “I meant, what are you doing, dancing with me?”

  His hand flexed as it rested on my back, but he said nothing more.

  I decided to finish the dance. Get it over with. Whatever point he was making would be made. We continued on in silence. The only thing changing between us was my traitorous body enjoying the feeling of his. I told myself any man who was built like him would feel the same way and that my body didn’t take into account personalities.

  I tried to focus on anything else in the room to distract me when my eyes found Trev’s. He was watching us closely, and I could tell he seemed worried about me. I managed to give him a reassuring smile. The song would end soon. I would survive this.

  “The dress fits you perfectly,” Blaise said in a low voice, startling me. I hadn’t expected him to speak again.

  My eyes flew back up to meet his. He wasn’t looking at me, but his jaw moved, and I knew he was aware of my gaze on his face.

  “Melanie buys my clothes,” I told him, feeling as if I should say something.

  It appeared as if a smirk wanted to tug at his lips, but he managed to stop it. Either that or I had imagined it. Blaise inhaled deeply. I was in tune with every move he made. Even his breathing. I didn’t want to be. This meant nothing to him. He was being forced to dance with me. That was all I could think of that made sense.

  “Where did you learn to dance?” he asked me.

  This time, when I looked up at him, our eyes met. He was watching me. The green was darker in this lighting. Almost like a storm cloud over the sea. He was waiting on me to answer him. Nothing more. But my heart sped up, and when I opened my mouth to speak, I forgot my words.

  What had he asked me?

  “Who taught you to dance?” he asked me again.

  “School,” I said before I forgot the question. Maybe it was the champagne. It was affecting me. That was all this was.

  He said nothing else, and the song finally ended. Blaise didn’t let me go. Instead, his left hand slid from my back to my hip, where he firmly held me. I watched his throat muscles move as he swallowed hard before his gaze swung toward the table, where I knew Saxon and Trev were waiting on me to escape.

  Another song started, and more couples walked onto the dance floor. Blaise’s hand continued to hold on to my hip. Just below my waistline. It felt possessive. Something I shouldn’t want at all, yet I was unable to move away from him.

  Did those at our table notice this? Our standing here, his hand on me, as if I belonged to him?

  I turned toward them, nervous of the reactions I would see. Although I was doing nothing wrong, it felt as if I were walking a thin line between sanity and danger.

  Trev’s eyes met mine, and he gave me a nod. I was sure that meant our exit was almost here. Trev stood up, and I glanced over at Saxon to see what his move was going to be.

  He nodded his head toward the door, then mouthed the words, I’ll get you.

  There was no time for me to make a decision on what to do next. Blaise made it for me. He eased his grip on my hip, and I started to step back when the heat from his palm pressed firmly against my back once again.

  “Come.” The singular word was said as he began moving us off the dance floor. He guided me through the other couples dancing, but not toward our table.

  I turned to look back at the others. Saxon was watching us as he spoke to his mother. She didn’t seem to notice Blaise leading me out of the room. I didn’t get to see if anyone else was watching before we were in a wide hallway I didn’t recognize. We hadn’t come into the ballroom this way.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, my voice sounding strange to my ears.

  Blaise said nothing as his pace increased until we were walking into another room. It was empty, and the only light in the room was the moonlight streaming in from the floor-to-ceiling windows.

  I could hear my heart beating in my ears. We were alone.

  Did I want to be alone with Blaise, or was I frightened? Should I be?

  There was no time to figure out what I was feeling exactly. Blaise’s hand left me, and he took several steps away from me before stopping. His back was to me, so I couldn’t see his expression. I could see his shoulders rise and fall as he took a deep breath.

  “Trev and Saxon will be looking for me,” I said, needing to hear something other than my heartbeat. “We were planning on escaping.”

  “I know,” Blaise replied, then finally turned around to look at me. “And I should have let you go with them.”

  I waited for more of an explanation. There had to be a reason we were alone in an unused room. He made a low sound in his chest, then muttered a curse.

  “I can’t even blame the dress,” he said with clear frustration.

  Then, his gaze scanned down my body, making me feel warm all over. Even my scalp tingled. This was bad. Very bad. I needed to snap out of this, and I was never going to drink alcohol again. Clearly, it made me stupid.

  His intense stare locked on my face. I struggled to pull in a breath as I looked back at him.

  “Why did you bring me in here?” I asked in a whisper, as if I wasn’t sure I wanted a response. Perhaps I didn’t want him to hear me.

  Blaise’s neck flexed, and his nostrils flared as he inhaled sharply. “I wasn’t ready to let you go.”

  Of all the things I had thought he might say, that was not even in the same ballpark. I had no response to that. I simply stared at him. My face felt flushed, and I hoped he didn’t hear my heart beating erratically, the way I did.

  “This is wrong,” he said with a fierceness in his tone, as if I were to blame.

  “What is?” I asked, wondering if I truly wanted an answer to that.

  Blaise closed the distance between us in three long strides, then stopped just inches from his chest touching mine. “You. Me. Us,” he clipped out sharply.

  I wondered if I hadn’t drunk the champagne, would I have reacted differently. I imagined I would have. My temper and defenses seemed to be impaired. The Maddy I knew wouldn’t be standing here, still looking up at him. She’d have never let him bring her in here.

  Maddy on champagne, however, was not very bright.

  “I wasn’t aware there was an us,” I replied. At least I was still honest.

  His right hand cupped the side of my face, and he studied me. His gaze finally rested on my mouth. The look in his eyes made me feel things low in my belly and in the region a little further, which I’d never experienced before. I felt hot. As if my skin were on fire.

  I should leave this room. Run from this room. But my legs wouldn’t move.

  “There isn’t,” was his hoarsely whispered response.

  If the door to the room hadn’t opened and the light from the hallway hadn’t poured into the darkness, I was sure I would have said something I’d regret later.

  A man cleared his throat, and Blaise didn’t drop his hand from my cheek and step away. Instead, his eyes snapped up to glare at whoever stood behind me.

  “It’s Angel,” the deep voice said.

  With those words, Blaise’s hand fell away from my face, and he stepped back.

  “Who’s with her?” Blaise demanded.

  “Huck,” the man replied.

  Blaise didn’t look back at me. There were no words for me. No explanation for what had happened in here. He simply headed for the open door. I turned to watch him go, thinking I had misunderstood. He couldn’t just be leaving me. Without saying anything?

  “Have Saxon get her,” he said to the man who had interrupted us.

  I recognized him from the pool party. One of the rodeo squad. I’d seen him have sex with the red head.

  The man gave him a nod, then stepped back to let Blaise leave. I was frozen with confusion—or was it disappointment? The room had turned cold, and I shivered from the chill. There was no fire warming my skin any longer. That moment was gone.

  “Follow me,” the guy said and turned to leave.

  I had to move or be left in here alone, unsure of where to go. I didn’t want to walk back into the ballroom. I was sure my face would tell them everything. My legs fell into line, and I walked out of the room and into the brightly lit hallway, following behind the guy. He didn’t look back at me or say anything. He didn’t even check to see if I was indeed following him.