He grins, obviously enjoying my discomfort. “Okay, darlin’. But since they’re not here, how about you let me get you a drink? A girl like you shouldn’t be hidden away in the corner.”
“I’m not even old enough to drink.”
“And yet, you’re holding a cocktail,” he says, dropping a wink. “Bad girl.”
“Definitely not one of those.”
“Don’t worry, I like it,” he says, lowering his voice to a flirty, conspiratorial tone. He holds out a hand, and I reluctantly let him take mine, the manners instilled too deeply in me to refuse. My injury is healed up enough that I could definitely ward him off if I wanted, but so far, he doesn’t strike me as dangerous. I’m not used to men coming onto me, so it’s a little disconcerting, but he’s also good-looking enough that I’m flattered at the same time.
“Walker Delacroix,” he says, lifting my hand to skim his lips across the back of my knuckles. “Pleased to meet you…?”
“Mercy Soules.”
“Soules?” he asks. “Any relation to Andrew Soules?”
“That’s—was—my dad.”
“I didn’t know he had a daughter,” he says. “Though now that I’ve met you, I can see why he kept you hidden away from scoundrels like me. And you must be Saint’s sister. How’s that kid doing?”
“Fine.”
“I’m surprised to see his sister at a party like this.”
“What’s wrong with this party?”
“Oh, nothing,” he says, grinning and stroking the back of my hand. “It’s the best kind of party, if you ask me. Hosted by a family of ill repute.”
“Ah,” I say, nodding and retracting my hand from his, since apparently he has no intention of releasing it. “Your family. Where are the Sinners, anyway?”
“That’s a clever nickname,” he says. “Fitting, I suppose. We are all sinners, after all. Aren’t we, Mercy Soules?”
“I guess.”
“Last I saw, they were hazing some frat pledges from the team upstairs,” Nate says. He melted back into the shadows on the veranda, so quiet I almost forgot he was there.
“Hazing?” I ask, turning to him. “Isn’t that illegal?”
Behind me, Walker chuckles.
“I’m sorry, is that funny to you?” I ask, wheeling on him. “I guess it would be, considering your family is into making girls disappear.”
“Myfamily is into no such thing,” he says, his voice going from flirty and teasing to icy cold. “I suggest you don’t go around making that kind of baseless accusation against the Delacroix name, or any other family with a reputation as spotless as ours.”
He sets his drink down on the railing, turns, and storms off.
“Wow,” Nate says. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen my cousin walk away from a hot girl without even asking her out.”
“Great,” I say, still a little shaken from Walker’s abrupt about-face. “I’m boy repellent. Just what every girl wants to hear.”
“Oh,” Nate says, looking taken aback. “I didn’t know you were interested.”
“I’m not,” I say. “I’m going to go check on Manson. Not sure he’s built for hazing.”
“I heard you’d been hanging around with him,” Nate says, falling into step with me when I walk away. “How’d that happen?”
“That’s a great question,” I say. “It just happened, I guess.”
“If you think he can’t stand up to anyone, you underestimate him.”
