Masquerade (Swept Away #2.5)(8)

I looked at the novel in front of me and sighed. I was having a hard time focusing on my book, A Confederacy of Dunces, because I was so preoccupied, but I would look suspicious if I just sat there watching the door. I knew her as soon as she walked into the coffee shop. She had a green canvas messenger bag slung over her shoulder and her hair hung down her back, unkempt. She bounded into the coffee shop with a wide smile on her face as she stared at the baristas. I jumped up from my table and headed toward the counter to order a drink. I knew it was a risk to be so close to her, but I couldn’t stop myself. I watched her as she stared at the menu, nibbling her lower lip as she surveyed the options. I wondered why it was taking her so long—there weren’t that many choices on the board and she came here almost daily. Did she really need to study it that hard?

“Oh, sorry, you can go first if you want.” She turned to me with a small smile, my stomach churning as her light brown eyes gazed into mine. “I’m still deciding.”

“Thanks.” I smiled back at her and nodded slightly. I noticed that the rims of her eyes were actually green. I turned my face to stop from staring at her. She was prettier than I’d realized from her photographs. She had a natural beauty that was captivating. I wanted to look at her again, but that annoyed me. I wasn’t sure why I was so drawn to her. Not that it mattered. She wasn’t anyone for me to be drawn toward. Though . . . could I bring her down with sex? Make her fall for me and then break her heart? I ordered a coffee and mentally dismissed the idea. That wasn’t enough punishment, plus I knew that David and Larry most probably had other plans. Plans that I had to adhere to before going after my own retribution.

I took my coffee to my table and sat down again. She chose a table that was in my line of vision, and I watched as she pulled her laptop out and sat down, typing away quickly as she sipped on her frozen drink. She paused for a few moments, and I watched as she nibbled on a pen, leaving a blue stain on her lips. Her luscious pink lips. She wasn’t the type I normally went for, but I was instinctively attracted to her. Bianca London was someone I could see myself f*cking. Her clothes were baggy but didn’t cover her curves and her ample chest. Her face was expressive, and I could almost picture her different faces as I made her come, with my tongue, my finger, and then my cock. I shifted in the chair as I realized I was getting hard just from thinking about her.

I picked up my book and read a few pages to distract myself from my thoughts. I couldn’t afford to be attracted to Bianca. I couldn’t afford to see her in any other light. She was simply the daughter of the people who had ruined my mother’s life. To think of her as anything other than that person would undermine my plan. It had been a mistake coming to the coffee shop to see her. It had been a mistake putting a face to the person before I’d had to. She looked too human. Too fragile. There was an ethereal air to her that reminded me of my mother. She looked like someone who needed protecting. A primal part of me wanted to be that person. I wanted to take her into my arms and protect her from the world. And that made me laugh inwardly as I closed my book and stood up. Of course that wasn’t going to happen. I was in no position to protect her. The person she was going to need protection from was me.





three

Nostalgia ran in my veins as I made my way through the ballroom, listening to the sounds of the string orchestra. Once a year, my mother and I would go listen to the New York Philharmonic. We’d gone for twenty years and I could still remember the way my mother closed her eyes as she let the music take her away. Those had been some of the best moments I’d had with her. I had never been able to lose myself as deeply as she had in the music, but classical music always took me back to those happy memories with her. I adjusted my mask and looked out at the crowds of people, most of whom I didn’t recognize under their masks. It had been David’s idea to make this a masquerade ball, and it seemed to have gone over well. The guests were pretty much all in disguise and enjoying the fact that they had some anonymity in the room. I was seeing hands groping and caressing, with people being bolder due to their disguises. I was studying one couple in a corner when I saw a woman in a deep purple gown hurrying across the room. My heart stopped as I stared at the expanse of her back and I walked toward her quickly, needing to see if it was who I thought it was. She paused for a second and bent down to adjust her right heel; her long brown hair cascading to the side in big bouncy curls. My fingers itched to touch her smooth back, and I longed to watch her eyes widen in surprise and delight as those fingers made their way down to her ample bottom. She’d gasp as I’d pull her close to me and lean in to say hello. I’d let my lips lightly brush hers and tease her. Her eyes would stare into mine in shock as we’d look at each other from behind our masks. My skin felt warm as I approached her, my excitement growing in every step that I took. I didn’t think about what I was doing. I didn’t want to analyze why I wanted to kiss Bianca London so much or why I wanted to feel her heartbeat as my fingers caressed her skin. I was just a few inches away when she turned around and my heart dropped. The lady in the purple dress was not Bianca. Disappointment flooded me as this lady, this stranger, looked me up and down and smiled. I turned away, angry at myself for getting carried away and for hoping so badly that she would be Bianca.

“There you are, Jakob!” David’s voice boomed across the room as he walked toward me with a statuesque woman by his side. “This is my girlfriend, Roma.” David held her arm proudly as he introduced me to the beauty by his side. I shook her hand and smiled at her, noting that her blue eyes were calculating as she smiled back at me tightly. She was well put together, with not a hair out of place, and I wondered what her story was.