Chapter 202
Chapter 0202
“Hazel…?” Logan said, breathlessly, as he closed the distance between the two of us.
“It’s me,” I said, as a joke. Neither of us laughed. I was on the edge of a knife, waiting for a reaction, good or bad. Just let it be over with. I couldn’t take it anymore. “Logan if=” Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.
“You look so beautiful.”
I straightened slightly, startled.
His gaze slowly lowered, taking in the full sight of me. I have half a mind to take you home right now, and keep you to myself. None of these assholes deserve to see you like this…
I wasn’t entirely against the just going home plan, even with my previous hopes of revenge.
“But I suspect this dress isn’t just for me,” Logan began. He smiled a little. “This is a dress that wants to be seen.” Stepping closer, he lowered his voice. “But make no mistake, you are mine, Hazel Whitaker. These men can lust after you, and the women can envy your body. But when that is done…
Logan slowly reached up. Ever so gently, he traced his fingertips across my shoulder to where the very thin strap kept my top up. He teased that strap, curling his finger under it.
“I am the only one who gets to have you.”
I shivered, lust coursing through me. Something that probably shouldn’t happen when I wasn’t wearing panties.
“Touching me breaks our rules,” I told him, hoping he would get the hint.
The dark gaze of desire stayed in his eyes, even after he moved his hands away. “Damned rules.”
“Good for us both,” I reminded him. “Your grandfather wouldn’t like it.”
The mention of his grandfather cooled us both, as I had suspected it would.
“Shall we get back to it, then? But let’s not make this a late night,” Logan said.
I agreed, and as Logan began walking back into the main crowd of the party, I fell into my usual spot slightly behind him.
Things were different now, however. Where I had been ignored before, I was now the central point of most everyone’s attention. People gawked and stared. Dancers tripped over their feet. One man spilled his champagne, staring. His date then hit him with her purse.
Logan’s grandfather glared at me from near the stage. His ice cold gaze dropped the temperature a full ten degrees.
Logan stopped here and there, to chat and network as he’d always intended, though those he spoke with seemed fully distracted looking at me.
For once in my life, I was the starlet in the room. Not my sister. Not other girls. Me.
It was like having an out of body experience, living as someone other than myself. While I felt confident
and sexy, and pleased that I had managed to shut up most of the people that had previously disparaged me, the attention was starting to get to me fairly quickly.
#25 BONUS
With so many eyes on me, I was starting to feel exposed in a way I never really had before, even when I’d been standing in my underwear in the ladies‘ room.
Slowly, as the evening wore on, I slunk my shoulders and hooked my hands together, trying to make myself seem smaller than I was. I tried to correct this posture when I realized it, but always it kept coming back.
Logan noticed. “Hazel. Follow me.”
I had been following him all night, but something seemed different this time. He led me through a side room and then out onto an empty balcony. There weren’t even any lights out here, just the starlight and the moon. It was bright tonight.
In the quiet of the night, the orchestra could be heard playing, even here.
Logan turned to face me. He held out one hand. “Dance with me.”
“What?” I startled.
“I’ve been waiting all night,” Logan said. “Others have had their fill, touching you with their eyes. Now, I would hold you in my arms. Here, in the cool night air, before I have to take you home and hide you away again.
“But if someone sees…”