The Bluff (Graham Brothers, #2)(50)

I spot Daniel at that moment, and he lifts a hand, smiling in greeting, then starts to move our way, followed by a few other guys. Oh, great.

Kyoko, meanwhile, is laughing.

“What?” I ask.

“Honey, you may not have seen him, but James Graham had his eye on you all day. He was like some kind of ghoul, hanging in the shadows, always with you in his sights.”

This thought, absurd as it sounds, makes my skin prickle with a strange awareness. “No way.”

“Very much way. I noticed, even before I met you. Because the man is hard to ignore. Every time I saw him, he was totally focused on something across the room. You were that something, Winnie.”

Daniel reaches us then so I don’t have a chance to argue anymore with Kyoko, who is definitely wrong. She must have confused James with some other tall, dark, and broody male, not bearded or in flannel.

“Hey, Winnie,” Daniel says, smiling as he runs his hand over his ponytail. It seems to be his nervous habit, one I noticed at lunch. It’s kind of cute, just as Daniel, with hazel eyes and crooked smile, is kind of cute.

And I realize suddenly that James with his hot sulkiness has reduced perfectly attractive men to kind of cute. I am ruined.

“Daniel, this is Kyoko.”

He says hello and introduces the other guys he’s with. Without being asked, they descend, not unlike locusts. Or bed bugs. A few grab other chairs, dragging them over. Daniel sits down right on my chair, forcing me to move my legs over, and one of his friends does the same to Kyoko.

She and I exchange a glance, and I wish we had taken the elevator down when I arrived.

“Where’s your, uh, date?” Daniel asks. “Or boss? I wasn’t sure which he was.”

You and me both, Daniel. You and me BOTH.

I shrug. “He has a way of disappearing.”

When Daniel smiles, it warms his hazel eyes. I try to elbow James out of my head and see Daniel through untainted eyes. I’m not wild about the long hair, but he seems like a genuinely okay guy.

Do you want another okay guy?

Or a difficult, broody one who definitely doesn’t like you?

I don’t want a guy at all.

And that’s the crux of it. I need to remember that simple fact. No men.

“His loss,” Daniel says, then rubs a hand over his jaw. “I would say that I’d never let you out of my sight, but that would be cheesy, huh?”

“Cheesy, but not terrible,” I offer, trying to find the fine line between friendly but nowhere near flirty.

Daniel laughs. “Is not terrible considered good?”

I’m grateful when Kyoko jumps in, steering the conversation to beer, which this group is happy to talk about. Loudly. I pick up what I can, making mental notes. The guys refill their beers once or twice as the evening wears on, but I sip mine, slow and steady.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Daniel says, leaning a little closer.

His hand drops to my bare ankle. As his face moves a little closer than I’d like, I realize how red-rimmed his eyes are and how strong the scent of beer is. His smile has definitely moved out of kind of cute territory.

“I’m not really interested in talking,” I say.

“Me neither.”

Daniel’s hand slides farther up my leg, and I am officially done. I sit up, dislodging his hand and kicking my feet over the side of the lounge chair. I slip on my shoes and grab my bag. Kyoko gives me a little nod, and then her gaze flies to something behind me, going wide.

“I told you,” she says, a smile breaking over her face.

I don’t have time to see what she means because Daniel grabs my arm. I’m too distracted to shake him off, and whatever he’s saying becomes like a gnat’s one-note whine in my ears.

Because my heart is thudding like one of those giant orchestra drums, drowning out all other sound. James Graham has just stepped off the elevator, looking like some quintessential vengeful bad boy in his leather jacket and motorcycle boots. His hair falls over his eye, and I’m delighted to see that his clean-shaven jaw from this morning has disappeared under a layer of dark stubble.

James scans the crowd until his gaze lands and sticks right on me. I swear, the intensity in his dark eyes reaches all the way through my chest and grabs hold of my spine. When his gaze drops to where Daniel grips my elbow, the darkness becomes lethal.

I can’t take my eyes off him as James stalks through the crowd, which parts for him. It should be terrifying, but it’s dead sexy.

Daniel is the only one in our group who fails to notice James, and by the time he reaches us, the other guys are gone.

“… okay, baby.”

Daniel’s voice comes into focus at those last two words. I have no idea what else he said or why he thinks he can call me baby, but it doesn’t matter.

“Go.” James says only one word, but it’s a single syllable ranking at least a nine on the Richter scale. It causes a tremble in me, starting in my toes and working its way up to my heart.

Daniel, unfortunately, is a little slower to react. He turns, startling at the sight of James looming over us. Daniel’s hand loosens but does not let go of my arm, and it’s this point of contact James fixates on, not Daniel’s face as he answers.

“Oh, hey, man. I asked about you earlier but—”

In a move that will forever be etched into my fantasies, James grabs Daniel, and like he’s no heavier than a throw pillow, tosses him into the pool.