He expected her to wrench away from him; his muscles tightened in anticipation of controlling the reaction he purposefully coaxed from her.
But she sank her nails harder into his flesh, and the stings were a precursor of how she would scratch and grip him if they were stretched out onhis bed. He tried to swallow his groan, but some sound escaped against his will. And the molten gold in her eyes almost eclipsed the brown and green.
She’d played him.Turned the tables so completely he ground his teeth together, imprisoning the words that would reveal she’d knocked him on his ass. Those words beingmore, harder, please...
“Gideon,” she whispered.
“Well, don’t youtwo look cozy,” a new, all-too-familiar and despised voice drawled from behind them.
Gideon released Shay, shifting to her side and slipping an arm around her waist. He faced Madison and Julian Reus, careful to compose his features so they betrayed none of the disgust and hatred that burned in his chest for her, or the disdain he harbored for her father.
Underneath those emotions, satisfactionhummed through his veins.Good. He’d been waiting for their arrival. He’d expected Trevor to be with them, but since he wasn’t glued to Madison’s side, the other man must not be in attendance. That was a disappointment, but Gideon’s cheating ex and her equally deceptive father were good enough.
He switched his attention to Madison. It stunned him that he’d once missed the avaricious, calculatinggleam in her brown eyes. Given her long dark hair, sensuous features and curvaceous body, he couldn’t deny her beauty, but it was hard, like a lacquer that distracted from the coldness beneath.
Love had truly been blind. No. It’d made him dumb and deaf, too.
“I must admit, when we heard the rumors of you being here with Gideon, Shay, we didn’t believe it at first,” Julian said, his toneas amicable as any good politician’s. But his eyes blazed, yelling the things one would never want heard on an open lapel mic. “Your brother didn’t mention you were attending tonight. Or that you were...” he paused deliberately “...seeing someone new. I’m sure he’ll be interested to discover this turn of events.”
If the senator had expected Shay to quail under his not-so-subtle condemnation,he’d sadly underestimated her. “Trevor is a wonderful brother, but he’s just that—my brother. And I don’t require his approval for who I choose to spend time with. Just as he didn’t ask for mine with Madison.” Shay smiled, and it could’ve cut glass. “Although I would’ve gladly offered it.”
Julian blinked, his mouth hardening at the corners. “Your brother and I have much in common. We bothadmire honesty—and loyalty.”
“You don’t really want to go there, do you, Julian?” Gideon interjected, arching an eyebrow. He forced his voice to remain even, bored, but injected a thread of steel through it. He’d be damned if he’d let the man intimidate Shay or belittle her with his condescending bullshit. Especially not in front of him. “I’d be willing to discuss both with you. At length.”
“Let’s go, Daddy.” Madison chuckled, the sound strained, her lovely features tight. Like her father’s, her gaze ordered Gideon to do unnatural things with his own anatomy. “There are more people we need to speak with.”
Shay waited until her soon-to-be sister-in-law and her father were out of earshot, then sighed. “God. This evening just became infinitely longer.”
“I beg to disagree.”He settled a hand on the small of her back again, guiding her forward. “The fun has just begun.”
* * *
Shay breathed deeply as she washed her hands in the Creightons’ bathroom. This moment alone, without the narrow-eyed glares from both Madison and the senator, or the microscopic attention of the other guests, was a mercy.
She hated being the subject of all that speculation. They’dreminded her of vultures, waiting to see who’d get their pick of carrion. Gideon seemed unfazed. But all those sidelong, greedy glances and not-so-quiet whispers... They’d crawled over her like ants attacking a picnic. By the time dinner concluded, she’d nearly raced to the bathroom. To be free. If only for a few moments.
“Can’t stay in here forever,” she said to her reflection.
That wasthe first sign of losing it, right? Talking to oneself. She smiled, shaking her head as she headed toward the restroom door. Her mother used to do the same, mumble to herself as she puttered around the kitchen when Dad wasn’t there to catch her. God, Shay missed her. Missed her hugs, her quiet assurances, her confidence in Shay.
Well, one thing Leida Neal would’ve reprimanded her about washiding like a coward in the bathroom during a dinner party. Snorting lightly, Shay exited the powder room...and nearly collided with Madison.
Damn.
“Hi, Madison.” She greeted her brother’s fiancée with a smile. “I’m sorry if you had to wait. The bathroom’s all yours.”
She shifted to the side, prepared to walk around the other woman, but the futile hope of avoiding a confrontation dieda quick death when Madison stepped to the side as well, blocking Shay’s escape. Madison smiled in turn, but it didn’t reach her chilly brown eyes.
“No hurry, Shay. I was hoping to catch you alone for a few moments,” she purred. “We have so much to catch up on, seeing as we apparently have more in common than I thought.”
“I’m assuming you’re referring to Gideon,” Shay said, resigning herselfto this conversation. It wasn’t one she could’ve circumvented, but she hadn’t anticipated having it outside of the guest restroom.
“You’re a cool one, aren’t you, Shay?” Madison asked, slowly shaking her head. “The other night you never mentioned you knew him. And when I told you about our past, you pretended to be dumb. It seems I underestimated you. I won’t repeat the mistake.”
Angerflickered to life, crackling like dry wood set ablaze. “I didn’t pretend to be dumb, as you put it. Discussing my private life while you were at the table with my brother, your fiancé, didn’t strike me as appropriate. And like I told your father, I don’t need approval for my relationships,” she said, working to keep the bite of rising irritation from her tone. After all, this was her future sister-in-law.Even if more and more she was beginning to question the wisdom of Trevor’s choice. “Now, if I’d known you were attending this dinner party, I would’ve informed you so you weren’t taken by surprise. But I wasn’t aware.”
Several silent moments passed, and a fury-filled tension thickened between them.
