Page 26 of Divine Sense

“I wasn’t giving themtrouble,I simply told them that the person I wanted to protect me tonight wasn’t here yet,” shepurred with a confident smile, raising a brow at me in challenge. Now at the bottom of the steps, she didn’t need me to hold her hand to steady her any longer, but I didn’t want to let her go. Wary of being noticed holding her hand, I gently pulled away and straightened my suit jacket. She took a step closer and brought her hands to my chest, straightening my tie and causing every muscle in my body to seize up.

“You need to let my people do their job, Miss Sinclair,” I pressed, looking down at her as her hands were still lingering on my chest. I knew I should move away from her, anyone at this party could see us any moment, but it was as if my legs had cement blocks around them. She had completely transfixed me with the simple straightening of a tie.

“Ugh, not this ‘Miss Sinclair’ business again.” Her plump lips pressed together in annoyance and she looped one of her arms under mine, pulling me next to her as we walked through a room full of people. I tried to swallow the lump that was forming in my throat as the unease of being this close to her in a public setting started to grow inside of me. She was the daughter of one of my most important clients and I didn’t want people to think anything was going on between us when there wasn’t.

“‘Miss Sinclair’ feels appropriate for the setting,flower,” I repeated my words to her from when she ambushed me in my office two weeks ago. When I tipped my head towards her ear and growled out the nickname I’d given her, she smirked and licked her lips in satisfaction since she got what she wanted.This girl always seemed to get what she wanted when it came to me.

She walked me around the room, keeping her arm looped around mine and introduced me to several people I didn’t know. Some were friends of the family who lived further outside of the city, others were prominent business owners in the area whom I’d heard of before but never had the chance to meet. With each new person we approached, she would introduce me as herfriend and rave about the work my company was doing for her family.

“Sweetgrass Security is the best of the best.”

“Mr. Vesey and his team are true professionals and so wonderful to work with.”

“Youmustreach out and set up a time to meet with him. He listens to your needs and does what he can to exceed your expectations. He always goes the extra mile for his clients.”

As much as I tried to deny it, it was nice to walk through the room with her on my arm. She felt like she belonged there and with each new person we met, the more I relaxed with having her there. I reveled in getting to watch her be poised and graceful with her guests and loved the sound of my name on her lips. More than a few times she would pat my arm or rest her hand on mine and each time she did, I wished that time would stop for a few extra moments just so I could feel her hand in mine a little while longer.

“Someone sure is complimentary tonight,” I commented after she introduced me to yet another new potential client. I was going to have to refill the stash of business cards I kept in my wallet as I had nearly handed them all out over the course of an hour walking around with Magnolia.

“As I told you before, this party is a great networking opportunity. I’m simply following through on my promise to make it worth your while to come.” She flicked her eyes up to me confidently and started to move towards a different part of the house, pulling me along with her as she went, when a shrill voice came from behind us.

“Magnolia Sinclair, who in God’s name are you—” the voice shrieked in a hush tone but stopped when she grabbed Magnolia’s arm to turn her around and noticed who she had been walking with. “Oh, hello Mr. Vesey.” Susan Sinclair gaveme a curt smile and pinched her face up at me. When her eyes darted back to her daughter, they clouded over with disapproval.

“Magnolia, I didn’t know Mr. Vesey was going to be here tonight. Did you invite him?” She kept her voice low and even but didn’t look at me when she spoke. My eyes flickered between the two women as the air grew thick and heated between the three of us. When Magnolia didn’t respond, I stepped in to save her.

“Good evening, Mrs. Sinclair.” I stepped towards her to place a cordial peck on her cheek before continuing, “This is a wonderful party you’re having tonight. I’m here as one of my men fell sick and needed someone to take his place. Your daughter was just showing me around and introducing me to some of your guests.” My eyes found Magnolia who was watching me intensely, her mouth in the shape of a small O as she watched me cover for her. She gave me a grateful smile and then turned to her mother again who looked at both of us in disbelief.

“I see. Well, thank you for stepping up and taking his place. I’m sure you have better things to do with your Saturday night than spend it here.”

“There’s no place I’d rather be,” I stated without missing a beat, wrapping my arm a little bit tighter around Magnolia’s. Susan’s expression grew cold and she glared at me through thin eyes before she turned to her daughter once more.

“While it’s very kind of you to show Mr. Vesey around, the Bates are here and you must go say hello to them.”

Magnolia released me finally but only to cross her arms in front of her in protest and I watched as her eyes bugged out of her face in shock.

“What do you mean,the Bates are here? Is Daniel here too? Did you invite him to come tonight?” Her voice came out heatedand she snarled at her mother. I wasn’t sure who the Bates were, but clearly their being here upset her.

“Magnolia, don’t,” Susan snapped, aggressively swiping a hand across the air. “You will go over there and say hello to them and you will apologize to Daniel like I’ve been instructing you to do for weeks now.” She turned and spoke to me now with an arrogant look on her face. “Enjoy the party, Mr. Vesey. Now go do your job and keep our family safe.”

I didn’t even have the chance to respond before she grabbed her daughter by the wrist and pulled her away from me. As they left, Magnolia turned over her shoulder and gave me a look of apology. I watched them disappear into a crowd of people and couldn’t deny how much I missed the feeling of having her on my arm.

17

MAGNOLIA

He wore green.

When I first saw him from the top of the stairs, I couldn’t help but notice the deep emerald tie he wore with his tuxedo that matched my dress almost perfectly. My eyes stayed glued to him as I descended the stairs and my heart fluttered when he came to me without hesitation. When he growled his name for me into my ear, the vibration of his voice shot straight down my spine and warmed my insides. Just being close to him did something to me and while he wasn’t ready to admit it, I knew he felt the same about me.

Walking around the party with him next to me felt so natural, almost as if we were always supposed to be together that way. Getting to listen to him speak about the work he did made my insides bubble with pride. There was still so much to him I didn’t know, but what was clear as day was how much his work meant to him. And more than that, how much thepeoplewho worked for him meant to him. He spoke about his team as if they were family, which was a stark contrast to how my own father spoke about the people who worked for him. In his eyes, people weredisposable as soon as they no longer served a purpose or could help him get a little bit further in life. Kolbi, though, spoke of his employees with admiration and care.

“Magnolia,” my mother hissed at me, pulling me out of my thoughts and back into the present. She had been scolding me for not telling her that he would be here tonight and after years of verbal lashings, I’ve mastered the art of tuning her out when needed. She pulled me tightly by the wrist and I winced as she dug her perfectly manicured nails into the soft spot of skin.

“You’re hurting me,” I snarled back, trying to pull my arm free of her. I couldn’t believe how rude she’d been to Kolbi and while I wanted nothing more than to call her out on it, now wasn’t the time. She was dragging me through the formal living room towards the back corner where I saw two very familiar looking people standing. I swallowed hard when we finally reached them and painted on a polite smile.

“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Bates.” I gave them a small nod and they both looked down their noses at me as if I wasn’t worthy of sharing the same airspace as them.I don’t know why I was the one being treated this way, Daniel was the one who stepped out on me.

“Hello, Magnolia, you look lovely tonight.” While her words said one thing, the tone of Lilian Bates’s voice said another. Mr. Bates looked at me through squinted eyes and had his face pinched up as if he’d smelled something foul.

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