Page 18 of The Billionaire's Masquerade Ball

She laughed and her body relaxed the smallest bit. “No.”

He stroked his thumb over the smooth skin on her hand, at the same time questioning what in the world he was doing. “My breath, then? You certainly seem bent on running away from me.”

She tilted her head slightly and really looked at him. For a second time that night, hope bloomed in his chest.

“Is it any better up here?”

“Depends how you define better,” he said. “It’s quieter. And the company just improved by a lot.”

She smiled at this. He kicked the chair next to his, tugging slightly at her hand. He still got the feeling that at the slightest misstep, she would be off again. When she sat down, he was relieved, even though she pulled her hand away from his. From where they sat, they could see part of the room between the rails of the balcony. The lighting was dim and to the crowd below, they were probably invisible.

Xander tried not to stare at her as she looked out over the room, but it was hard. His eyes fell to her gown, a gorgeous dark blue. No—not blue, a midnight black. Or both? It seemed to shimmer and change color as she moved, leaning toward the balcony spindles to look below. He had an urge to grab and pull her back, just in case they gave way. Why did he feel so protective?

He studied her face beneath the mask. Even from what he could see, she was stunning. Then again, so were most of the women here. But that’s where the similarity ended. Most of the other women were stunning and vapid. At least that’s how they portrayed themselves. It could have been the part they thought they had to play.

Xander thought of his own image, wondering how many other people were wearing figurative masks. Good thing this woman didn’t seem to know him or his reputation. Yet. What about when she did? Would she still be interested? Was she even interested now?

He shouldn’t care. He didn’t need her to be interested. It felt like playing with fire, but maybe just for these few minutes, Xander could pretend like he hadn’t sworn off relationships. Just for a moment, he could dream.

His gaze followed hers to the people dancing below. There were small groups clustered around the center of the floor, eating and drinking and probably not thinking one little bit about the fact that this was all to raise funding for research and support of pancreatic cancer. Jake and Shelby had disappeared from view, but he saw Wyatt talking with Gail near the buffet tables. He looked serious and was gesturing with his hands in a controlled way. Looked like something wasn’t going according to plan. Something to worry about later.

Leaning back, Xander turned a bit toward her. He never felt like he had to struggle for words, but couldn’t seem to start a conversation with this woman. He felt like she had somehow stripped his sensibilities. It had been so long since he actually cared what a woman thought about him.

“Kind of nice up here, avoiding all the small talk,” he said.

She turned toward him. “Isn’t that small talk?”

Xander laughed. “I guess so.”

The corner of her mouth flicked up, just a nudge. “I think by nature, balconies above galas should be small-talk-free zones. Starting … now.”

“Perfect.” There was a moment or two of silence and then she giggled. Xander grinned. “Why don’t we start here, then: What are you escaping?”

She gave him a sideways glance. “Why do you think that’s what I’m doing?”

“I assumed since that’s what I was doing that maybe you were doing the same. Am I wrong?”

She tilted her head toward him, studying his face. His heart sped up. Did she recognize him? But there was no familiarity from what he could see. He was thankful for the mask to hide behind, but it was also hard to read her with her eyes hooded beneath her gold mask.

“You nailed it,” she said with a heavy sigh. “But you first. What are you escaping?”

He looked away, watching as a man in a well-cut tux held up a waiter carrying a tray of hors d’oeuvres. The man ate every single one right from the silver tray and then dropped a handful of bills among the crumbs and empty wrappers.

“I’m tired of playing a part,” Xander said. “I feel a little stuck. I thought some distance and a few minutes to breathe might help.”

“Is it helping?”

He leaned on the arm of the chair, bringing him just a little closer to her. “I’m not sure yet. Ask me again in a few minutes. Your turn. What are you escaping?”

She scanned the crowd, her hands twisting on the rails. “Several things. Reality being the first.”

“What’s so wrong with your reality?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it again. “Pass.”

“You can’t pass. We’re in a small-talk-free zone.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I have to go too deep. I’m skipping that one.”

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