Page 33 of Reckless Kiss

And the man fired right back, equally as riled up. Then he leaned down and whispered something that made her eyes go round and her jaw clamp shut.

My blood boiled. Every fiber of my being strained to insert myself into the middle of this argument and end the man, but I had zero right to do so. Esme and I were nothing.

We were less than nothing.

We weren’t even friends. Not really.

And yet...my feet moved anyway. My lips and tongue formed words so smooth I shocked even myself. “So we meet again, Dr. Brown. It’s good to see you. You look lovely tonight.” I took her hand and forced a gentle handshake.

She stared at me for a moment, then fell into the part I’d just designed. “Lovely to see you again as well, Mr. Hancock. Perhaps you can grab me a drink and we can catch up in a moment?”

Blocked.“Bourbon tonight?” I guessed, rattling the ice in my own empty cup.

“Prosecco, if you will. I don’t particularly enjoy bourbon,” she lied with the most sincere expression on her face I almost bought it even though she’d enthusiastically drunk bourbon with me twice before.

I took her cue and bowed my head slightly. “Prosecco it is for the lovely lady.”

I had excellent hearing so I was able to tell that they attempted to wait until I was a safe distance away before resuming their conversation. Unfortunately for them, I heard a little.

“Do you know him?” hissed the man.

“Hardly,” Esme replied.

“That’s it—”

“No,” Esme replied firmly. Loudly.Angrily.

Who was this man? A lover? An ex? Another unsavory relative? I reached the bar and leaned against it, casually looking back in time to see Esme poke the man in the chest with an indignant finger, say something, and then stalk off toward me.

I quickly ordered and schooled my features to look as friendly as possible.

“What do you want, Leo?”

Not exactly the warm greeting I’d been hoping for. The bartender placed our drinks in front of us and I clinked her glass with mine. “To say hello.”

She arched a perfect dark eyebrow. “Is that all?”

“Your conversation with tall, dark, and ugly didn’t look too friendly.”

“And you thought what? You’d intervene on my behalf? Or were you hoping for a repeat of our last meeting?”

My dick performed a salute at that idea. “Don’t be ridiculous. Our last meeting was a rare and special thing. Rare and special things don’t happen all the time, Esme.”

She huffed, clearly flabbergasted with me, then took a drink. “I’m not some damsel in distress who needs you to swoop in.”

“I know that as well. You have my number for when you need to be swept off your feet. Are you angry about what happened with Jeffry?”

“What? No.”

“It’s just that you’re clearly upset with me and all I did was try to lend a hand.”

She threw back her shoulders and took on a look of indifference that I really didn’t enjoy when it was directed at me. “Jeffry and I are fine. Completely on the same page. I’m grateful for his friendship and I wished him the best of luck with Hope.”

So she knew about that. They were really both very mature about it all. “So I’ll still see you at the cocktail hours?”

She nodded once. “Of course.” Then she finished her drink and turned to me. “Look Leo, we had a great time together but this needs to end now. Forget you knew this part of my life and the next time we’re at one of these parties, we’re nothing more than a man and woman who’ve been introduced a few times.”

There was a low warning quality to her words. It was the way she dropped her voice, the way it was laced with fear.

“All right, Esme. Whatever you want.” I drained my glass. “Enjoy the rest of the party. I suppose I have work to do.”

I didn’t expect her to hold my gaze after that, but she did. It caused a very strange sensation to build inside my chest. An ache that became sharp and stabbing, took my breath away. Everything about her screamed cool and reserved—except her eyes. It wouldn’t be obvious to anyone else but because I’d held Esme at her most vulnerable, felt the way she trembled when she’d been pushed almost too far, seen for myself the way her pupils dilated and her eyes filled with unshed tears when her emotions were running high, because of all that I knew she was a breath away from coming apart.

When she was in my bed I went to her, wrapped her up and held her together so that she felt safe when she crumbled. Today I couldn’t do that. I had no idea what was really going on but she’d asked me to leave her alone, so that was exactly what I did.

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