Liar.
He chuckled low. “Let me guess. You're alone here tonight. Not a lot of friends. Prefer a nice quiet life with zero excitement?”
That smarted. “You think you know me so well?”
“Oh, I see you, Sprite.”
I scratched my nose at that. “Sprite?”
“That's how you look to me. There is something delicate about you.”
If that comeback didn’t get my hackles up, nothing would. “I'm not delicate.”
“Sure you're not. And as beautiful as you look in a cocktail dress, I can somehow picture you with a short Pixie cut giving someone a proper what-for. To me, that screams Sprite.”
“Fine. Now I’ll just call you Basil.”
He chuckled again, this time the motion giving him a slight crease at his eyes. “Oh, yeah? What the hell is that supposed to mean, love?”
“Like in old books. You're the guy everyone loves to hate. You have it all. The money, the house, the name. All of it without even trying or a sad day to show for it.”
“You think you see me so well, Sprite?”
I gave him a sharp nod. “One hundred percent. You're clearly gorgeous, but you’re typical. You're rich and think that makes you worthy. It doesn't. Especially since it does nothing to improve your personality.”
“Wow, tell me how you really feel, why don't you?”
Over his shoulder, I spotted one of Connor’s men, the same one who had been staring at me earlier.
My back went rigid as my heart rate kicked in, and I turned, attempting to flee.
Saint held my hand tight. “Where the hell are you going? They haven't even taken our pictures yet.”
“Sorry, handsome, I have somewhere to be.”
I glanced over his shoulder again and tried to take my hand out of his. He finally glanced over his shoulder and saw the hulking brute coming our way, and he stopped fighting me. But he didn't let me go. Instead, he allowed me to tug him through the crowd and said, “Clearly we are going on an adventure. So, Kaya, tell me where we're going?”
“Where I'm going, you mean. Goddammit, let me go.”
“Is that geezer chasing you?”
“That is none of your business.”
"Seems like my business if you're dragging me along with you.”
I tried to shake his hand away again. “I don't want you with me. For fuck’s sake, why are you so irritating?”
“You know, you're not the first woman to say that to me.”
“Shocker.” I dragged him out into the hall where there were more people. But as I glanced around, all I saw were threats. Anyone in a tux could be after me.
Where had it all gone wrong tonight?
Maybe walking into the open where Connor Lohman's men could get a good look at you was the first bad move.
Coming here had been a risk. But how had they figured me out so quickly?
Doesn't matter now. Run.
Through the crowd, I tried to lose Saint, but he was surprisingly agile. When we reached the end of the hallway and I was trying to go right, he immediately took me left into a small alcove . “Hey, stop moving.”
My eyes went wide at him. “What the hell are you doing? I need to get out of here.”
“I get that. Something is clearly wrong. Why don't you tell me what it is and I can help you.”
I laughed. “Sorry, billionaire, as helpful as you could be, you can’t save me from this shit show about to start. I need to go.”
Pushing further against the wall he used his big body to cover mine.
“You could talk to me. Everyone needs a friend sometimes. Are you in trouble?”
I blinked rapidly, looking into the cool green of his eyes. I was stuck. I did not have any other options. And he was offering help.
Just once in my life I wanted to be able to trust someone. To get help when I needed it. But I still knew deep down that trusting the wrong person could get me killed. Help from Saint was not going to be an option. I shook my head. “No, I got this.”
His smirk was borderline insulting. “Are you sure about that? Currently you're running from a charity ballroom. Tell me Kaya, who is after you? I can help more than you know.”
Maybe he can help. Maybe for once you don't need to do everything on your own.
And I was tempted. So very tempted to just reach out and take the help as it was being offered. But I knew how that would end up. Owed favors. And you never knew people's motivations for wanting to help you.
“Come on. Out with it, Kaya.”
“Would you be quiet and let me think for just a moment?”
I angled my head to peek around the alcove we were tucked in, and I could see the bald head of one of the men searching the crowd for me. Over Saint’s shoulder I could see the other hallway with two dark-haired men looking for someone. It had to be me.
All this time I had lived quietly. Been nondescript. Lived a perfectly bland life. Then one night, the one frigging night I stand out into the light from the shadows, this happens.
She was right all along.
My mother hadn't made up the threats that constantly plagued us. There had been a point in my teen years when I was convinced she'd made it all up. That there was no danger. She wasn't being chased.
And thinking back to that, I'd been a teenager desperate for a solid foundation. A place to call home. I'd said some things that I could never take back. Calling into judgment her abilities as a mother. And all that time she had not been lying. That boogeyman in the dark was here now. He was hunting me. And I had seconds to make the right decision.
Saint switched our hold as he pulled us from the alcove and turned us down a darkened corridor, once again tucking me away from prying eyes. “Talk to me,” he begged. “You clearly need help, and if you would just tell me what’s happening, I could help you. If you're in some kind of trouble, you need to say so. Clearly you can't run from them in a cocktail dress in heels. You're in trouble. Let me—”
Again, over Saint's shoulder I could see the tall man checking the alcove where we’d previously been hidden. Shit. Shit. Shit. He was absolutely looking for me, and I was out of options. There was nowhere to hide. All because I'd come looking for Connor Lohman. Because I hadn't been able to resist the urge to speak to him. One little misstep and I had led him and his men straight to me.
My gaze met Saint’s. “What are the chances you won't take this the wrong way?”
His brow furrowed. “What do you mean the wrong w—”
I didn't wait for the rest of his question. I just pulled him close, angled my head, and planted my lips over his, slipping my hands into his hair and tugging him forward so that his whole body covered mine. I knew this way we would look like a passionate couple that had slipped away for some much needed alone time.
I knew we would be instantly dismissed, hiding in plain sight.
What I did not know was the way the electrical charge would shoot up my spine, sending bursts of awareness and tingles to every single nerve ending, making me pulse all over, particularly between my thighs.
What I did not know was that despite the sardonic twist of his lips, I could never have guessed that Jasper Saint knew how to kiss like an absolute pro.
After a shocked gasp, he growled low in the back of his throat, dug his strong hands into my hair, fisting it ever so gently, then adjusted my head just so and dove in with licks into my mouth and the scraping of teeth. He backed me up to make sure I felt the full press of his thick erection.