Page 66 of Chandelier Enthralled
“Not until you’ve told me what this place is.”
I pulled out my phone. “Ask your brother.”
She placed her hand atop my phone and lowered it. “I’d rather not.”
Willa was too magnetic—that Cole charisma was seriously addictive.
No time to drink her in or admire her feistiness.
“Either you give me the keys, or I’ll search you.”
“Go on then.”
She oozed the confidence of a woman of privilege. A woman who knew her worth.
I clutched the steering wheel. “You can’t be seen here.”
“But you can?” Reluctantly, she handed over the car keys.
Our hands touched and I tried to ignore that spark. I tucked the keys into a pocket.
There, in the distance, familiar slitted headlights appeared—the chauffeur driven town car that belonged to Jewel Hadley. The same one that had stalked me the other night when I’d tried to leave the club. Jewel had climbed out of that same car and cursed me with her presence—resulting in a night spent in a chilly lifeguard hut.
With a flick of my wrist, I turned the headlights off.
“Down,” I commanded, voice low and urgent.
Willa’s eyes darted to the chauffeured car, registering recognition of the elegant woman climbing out. “Is that…?”
Without answering, I reached over and put my hand at her nape, pulling her head down into my lap. Her soft gasp filled the air, a mixture of surprise and unspoken tension. But I didn’t let go. My hand stayed firm, pressing her down as I kept my eyes locked on Jewel Hadley.
Willa’s new boss—that fact alone caused a chill to shudder up my spine. Something sinister was going on. A game played at the highest level—Willa might have a thing for chess, but this was the real world. No amount of strategizing would outmaneuver the woman standing outside of Pendulum, her every move as calculated as the queen on a chessboard.
Still, I couldn’t shake the memory of how effortlessly Willa had used her talent to protect her queen, only to sacrifice her in the end.
She was certainly brave.
Jewel ascended the steps of the club. For a moment, she hesitated, glancing in our direction. My pulse quickened, but her gaze slid past the car, oblivious, before she turned away.
I started the engine, the hum filling the charged silence, and I drove away from the curb without saying a word.
Willa’s forehead rested on my lap, her hands gripping my thighs, her fingernails pressing into my skin, sending a sharp jolt through me that awakened something raw and untamed. Her face was far too close to my groin, her warm breath brushing against me like a match poised to ignite.
What had started as a calculated move had spiraled into something dangerous. I was supposed to be her protector—sent by Cameron—yet here I was, fighting the instincts of the very danger I was shielding her from.
I accelerated, heading fast for the entrance to the freeway.
“Get up,” I said.
“When the view is this impressive?”
I peered down at her. “Seriously?”
She didn’t obey—yet. Her dark locks spilled across my lap, soft and untamed, exuding a dreamy vulnerability that felt almost otherworldly, a moment steeped in allure. This felt like the most natural thing in the world, to be this close, this intimate, even though we hardly knew each other.
“Now that’s trust,” she said, and giggled nervously.
Again, I grabbed her neck and lifted her head gently.
