“If only,” I murmur. “I’d give my left nut to be able to take her on a real date. That’s why I asked her to come with me, under the guise of needing her help tonight. Truth be told, that part will be helpful, but I really wanted to spend the night with her and not have to worry about some gold digger.”
The ladies come into view, and we hand over drinks. Cal and Roxanne step away from us as Addy looks anywhere but at me. She starts pointing out some of the attendees and what companies they work for. I take a sip of my drink and watch as she does what she does best, feigning interest in the people she’s pointing out.
“Do you want to dance?” I cut in.
She stops mid-sentence and looks up at me. “But no one’s dancing.”
I shrug. “So? Who says we can’t be the talk of the town?”
I take her glass from her, depositing it on a nearby table, then reach my hand out for hers. Her delicate fingers slide into my palm, and I escort her to the dance floor. I wrap my left arm around her lower back and keep her right hand in mine as we slowly start to sway to the music. She doesn’t even fight me as I take the lead.
“I didn’t know you could dance, Mr. Freeman.”
“Ethan. And yeah, my mom made me take lessons when I was little. She told me when I got older, I could get any girl I wanted if I could dance. She was right. All the girls at the dances wanted to go with me once they learned I knew how. You’re not so bad yourself. When did you learn?”
“About ten years ago. I have some pretty great friends who showed me how.”
“I’ll have to meet these friends of yours sometime.”
She feels so good in my embrace and fits in my arms like she’s meant to be there. I’ve never met anyone like her before. She surprises me at every turn, and that’s no easy feat, especially in my position.
The music changes, and a few people clap as we leave the dance floor. She blushes behind her mask as we walk to the bar and order another drink. She takes the glass of champagne from the bartender and gulps it down, ordering another one.
“Ethan, great to see you again,” a man says behind us. I turn to see Al Costanza, CFO of Black Tie Rentals, walking toward us. I’ve tried to stay as far from this man as possible. He came to me a few years ago, asking about setting up some system securities for the company, and I politely declined, much to the board’s disappointment. There are too many rumors flying around that I don’t want anything to do with.
Addy takes a deep breath before speaking. “That’s Al Costanza—”
I give her hand a gentle squeeze, letting her know I don’t need her help with this one, and she closes her mouth and drinks the next glass of champagne.
“Mr. Costanza, nice to see you again.” I reach my hand out to shake his.
“And who is this beautiful woman on your arm tonight?”
“My date. Ashley,” I lie, as I place my hand on the small of her back. She looks at me, questioning my name choice before she faces him, a beautiful smile plastered to her face.
“Nice to meet you, sir.” She places the flute to her lips to take a generous sip, his eyes never leaving her. “Excuse me, gentlemen. I need to use the ladies’ room.” She finishes her drink and places it on the bar.
She walks off in the direction that Roxanne and Cal are. Addy links arms with Roxanne, and the two ladies head toward the door.
“Beautiful date you have on your arm tonight.” I give him a courteous nod. “So, I have a job I need some help with, and I thought you might be interested. Do you have a few minutes to talk?” He’s saying the words to me, but he’s looking in the direction of Addy and Roxanne.
“I actually need to track down Penn Sandolval, if you’ll excuse me.”
“He couldn’t make it tonight, but we’ve been business partners for years, I know what type of services he’s looking for. Let’s chat.”
I sigh, left with no other options, and agree to the damn conversation.
Chapter 9
Addison
“Eady, ladies’ room, now,” I whisper into Eden’s ear, giving Cal a warm smile.
“Excuse us, Cal. We need to use the ladies’ room. I’ll be right back,” Eden says to Cal with a little grin.
We calmly walk to the ladies’ room, but my stomach is doing flips.Is Ethan ashamed of me?
We check the stalls, and when I know the coast is clear, she locks the door. She pulls her mask off and watches me, waiting for me to tell her why I’m in a panic.
