Page 26 of The Billionaire's Masquerade Ball

He looked down, seemingly surprised. Blood dripped from beneath his jacket. In a swift motion he took it off. Cynder gasped, seeing how blood soaked through the white sleeve of his dress shirt. “I guess I am,” he said.

“You must have cut yourself on the crystal when you were trying to get Patrick out,” she said.

He rolled up his sleeve, revealing a long, straight slice up his forearm. It wasn’t gaping, so probably didn’t stitches, but definitely needed something. Cynder grabbed a dish towel and pressed it to his arm. “Let me find a first-aid kit or something. They usually have one in the kitchen. Sit down. I’ll be right back.”

Xander didn’t argue as she pointed to a clear spot on the stainless-steel counter, far from the broken crystal. When she returned with the red plastic kit, Xander was watching her from a seated position on the counter, swinging his legs. She bit her lip and ducked to hide her smile. If he would recognize any part of her, that would be it. Setting the kit down, she stood in front of him.

He held out his arm and didn’t resist as she ever-so-gently removed the towel from his arm. “You’re not going to break me,” he said. “Some people think I’m pretty tough.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep.”

“We’ll see how you do when I put hydrogen peroxide on it.”

“Want to place a bet?”

“On whether or not you cry?”

Xander threw back his head and laughed. She took that moment to dab a gauze pad soaked in hydrogen peroxide on his cut. He hissed. “Okay, maybe that does hurt. But I’m not crying.”

“Good thing we never made a bet.”

Cynder, what are you doing?

She wasn’t wearing her mask now, but found herself again flirting with Xander. She loved the sound of his laugh and hearing the teasing lilt in his voice. Maybe Lucy was right. She was really falling for him.

Of course, he had no idea who she was. And the fact that he was flirting back now, when he had just been flirting with what he thought was another woman less than an hour ago—ugh. Womanizer, indeed. Or maybe he was just being friendly now. She pressed the gauze a little harder.

“Okay, that really stings,” he said, flinching.

“Sorry. I never said I was a nurse.”

“Clearly not. It’s not really bleeding anymore.”

“Almost done.” The truth was that she didn’t want him to leave. She wanted more time and more excuses to hold onto his arm. Cynder dug around in the kit. Because it was a long, thin cut, there wasn’t really a way to bandage it without wrapping up his whole forearm. She found a tube of antibiotic ointment.

One of the men who worked for the staffing company Cynder knew walked over and cleared his throat. “I think that they’re starting to finish up out front.”

Cynder uncapped the tube of ointment. “I’m going to be tied up for a moment,” she said, scouring her mind for his name. “Do you mind trying to make sure things run smoothly? You know everything that needs to be done, I think.”

“I can handle that.”

“Thank you, Matt.”

He seemed pleased with the task or with the fact that she remembered his name. Within moments he was gone, leaving Cynder nearly alone with Xander in the kitchen. Some of the catering staff packed up at the far end along a counter, but most of the support staff was out in the ballroom, starting the teardown process that would take a few more hours.

“Is this going to hurt?” Xander asked, pulling his arm back.

Cynder smiled and took him by the elbow, stretching his arm back out gently. “Depends on how much of a baby you are. We could bet on it, if you like.”

He laughed again and she relished in the sound. “If I ever get really injured, I want to hire you as my nurse. Okay?”

“I’m very expensive,” she said.

“I think I could afford you.”

Cynder had done all that she could do for his arm, but didn’t want the moment to end. Xander took her by the elbow. The touch reminded her of dancing with him earlier. Had that just been an hour or two ago? It felt like so much longer. He slid his hand down her arm until he was holding her hand loosely, palm to palm. It wasn’t exactly flirtatious, but it also was more intimate than should have been comfortable for two people who just met. Cynder couldn’t make herself pull away.

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