Addicted to You (14 page)

I want the warmth of her hand,

for her to understand,

and for her love to stop being lies.

Leah scooted a high-backed
chair across the lobby while several people watched on in
curiosity. Some even looked offended, although she couldn’t for the
life of her figure out why. It wasn’t like it was
their
chair she’d
taken.

She set the fancy chair against the wall
right next to a table spread out with hors d'oeuvres and happily
sank onto its plush, brocade-covered cushion. Elijah stood a couple
feet away, helping himself to everything on the table. Since he’d
been picking over the selection for a good ten minutes, she’d
figured some seating would be nice, thus the show of dragging the
nearest chair across the lobby and into the main room.

Elijah looked over at where she was sitting
and, with a questioning tilt of his brow, held out a miniature iced
cookie. She shook her head—she’d already eaten half a dozen of
them—and he happily popped it into his mouth.

When she arrived at the venue, she had to
admit she’d been a little awed. The old building had been an opera
house in the late twenties, but now it was a multi-purpose center
and a popular venue for fancy parties and the occasional wedding.
Leah had never been inside before, but when driving past the
building, its tall façade and Gothic spires had always drawn her
eye.

The room she was in now
was easily five times the size of her whole apartment, and every
visible surface gleamed. A giant crystal chandelier hung from a
high ceiling inlaid with gold marble and colored glass. The
architectural décor alone probably cost more than all four years of
her tuition
and
graduate school.

Servers weaved through the
crowd with platters of the same hors d'oeuvres Elijah was having
for his dinner. Women in colorful gowns and men in suits stood
around, trying to look important as they sipped their wine. The
pair of women to Leah’s left had been gossiping about who was
wearing what, whose jobs were the most important, and who was
sleeping with whom ever since Elijah and Leah first scoped out the
hors d'oeuvres table. It was like being forced to watch an episode
of
The Real Housewives
. She wished she had earplugs.

On the other side of the hors d'oeuvres
table, near a broad entryway framed with heavy gold drapes, a group
of guys stood in a circle. They kept giving her conspicuous looks.
A dark-haired one with a green necktie tugged down his suit jacket,
gave his friends a final look for courage, and began making his way
toward Leah.

She met his gaze, her eyes narrowed. His
feet faltered, and he began nervously tugging at his suit jacket
again. Since he was still coming over, she crossed her arms and
glared so hard that he finally looked away and turned on his
polished heel. A couple of his waiting friends began laughing, but
most of them just looked confused.

Satisfied for having cut off the unwanted
attention, Leah leaned back in her seat and gave Elijah an
encouraging smile when he moved onto a platter filled with what
looked like tempura-fried sushi rolls.

She fiddled with the lace hem of her
form-fitting black dress—it was her go-to outfit for formal
occasions, and Helena had agreed she looked great in it—and went
back to observing the party guests. How did some of these women
walk on four-inch heels? They must have possessed the balance of
tight-rope walkers. Leah loved heels as much as the next girl, but
she also loved her calves. And being able to walk.

Getting glamored up was always fun, but not
so much when it was this awkward. She’d almost dressed in jeans and
a T-shirt just so she could be comfortable, but she didn’t want to
stand out too much. She must have done all right with herself
though because her mom had taken one look at her and had nothing to
criticize except her hair. She’d left it down instead of pulling it
back.

All evening, she’d been working up the
courage to talk to her mom. She didn’t even know what she’d say,
but Helena had been right. For Elijah’s sake, she had to at least
try.

Elijah finally wandered back to Leah’s side.
She gave him her seat before returning to the lobby to drag another
chair across the shiny floors into the main room.

“Full?” she asked as she settled onto the
upholstery.

Elijah nodded. “This stuff is delicious. I
wish we could take some home.”

“Maybe we can smuggle some out later,” she
said with a conspiratorial grin. He nodded and grinned back.

Without food as a distraction, it didn’t
take long for them to grow bored, so she nudged Elijah’s side and
pointed at an old man dressed in a black suit.

“See the bottom of his pants?” she
asked.

Elijah squinted at him. “What about it?”

“I think that’s dog hair,” she said. “I bet
he’s some kind of dog wrangler. Maybe he’s got a whole army of dogs
in his giant house, and he throws pool parties for them.”

Elijah laughed. “And maybe each of them has
their own room.”

“Of course! And see that lady?” She pointed
to a woman who stood out in a staid gray suit, her hair slicked
back into a tight bun. “She’s secretly an undercover spy posing as
a school teacher. The boring clothes are to throw everyone off her
trail.”

Elijah bounced in his seat, warming up to
the game. “Yeah, and she’s hiding secret weapons in that bun on her
head.”

She nodded at a guy with his suit jacket and
the first couple buttons of his white shirt undone. “What about
him?”

Elijah squished his mouth to the side in
consideration. “He’s an astronaut. He’s here taking a break before
his big top secret mission to fly to Mars.”

“Ooh, you’ve got competition,” she said, and
he laughed again.

“Who’s next?” he asked eagerly.

She scanned the crowd. “Okay, how
about—”

Her voice died in her throat. She froze,
lips parted, as she watched Blue Eyes shake hands with some old guy
in a checkered suit.

Blue Eyes’ hair was combed neatly back, and
his suit looked a bit tight around the shoulders, which meant he
was one of the few men here whose clothes weren’t tailored. Still,
he cut a great figure in it. Even as her thoughts raced with
questions, she couldn’t help taking a moment to admire his
silhouette and the way his pants hugged his butt. He cleaned up
well, but he still stood out in the crowd. Aside from the gorgeous
smile on his face, there was something about the way he carried
himself and the way he engaged those around him that drew people in
like a beacon.

“Leah
.”

A sharp elbow jabbed her side. She startled
and looked away from Blue Eyes to find her brother frowning at
her.

“What is it?” he asked, scanning the faces
of the guests where she’d been staring. “Do you know someone?”

She quickly shook her head
and then glanced back at Blue Eyes and—
shit!
He’d spotted her. His eyes
widened just enough to convey surprise.

And now he was heading her away. She
swiveled to the right in her seat, avoiding eye contact, as if that
might deter him. Glaring him into submission probably wouldn’t work
like it had with the other guy.

Elijah watched him approach, expression
innocently curious. She tugged self-consciously at her dress and
then stopped when she realized what she was doing.

“Hey,” said Blue Eyes’ familiar voice.

Bracing herself, she took a slow, fortifying
breath and looked up to find that gorgeous smile directed at her.
God, the guy should never stop smiling. He should join the UN or
something because he could inspire world peace on that smile
alone.

“Wasn’t expecting to see you here,” he said
in that lilting accent.

She mentally sighed. Maybe he’d agree to let
her record him reading a book or something.

Except was that kind of creepy?

“Same,” she said and congratulated herself
for sounding calm and vaguely bored.

He transferred his smile to Elijah and
accompanied it with a polite nod. “Are you going to introduce us?”
he asked Leah.

“I’m Elijah,” he said, before she could
remember what few manners she chose to practice, and stuck out his
hand.

Blue Eyes shook it. “Hello, Elijah.” Then he
looked her in the eyes and, voice soft with an alarming tenderness
in the curve of his mouth, he said, “I’m Will.”

She swallowed. Will. Not Farquar. She
quickly squashed the smile that tugged at her mouth. It suited
him.

She knew, like his story in their last
meeting, his introduction had been meant just for her. In return,
she allowed herself a small, indiscriminate smile and said, “I’m
Leah.”

Surprisingly, his smile turned bashful. He
tucked his hands into his pockets and said, “Leah. It’s nice to
meet you.”

Her name sounded exotic in his accent. She
wanted to hear him say it again. “You too, Will.”

He reached up to run his
fingers through his hair, mussing it. It made him look adorably
boyish. “So …” With a small gesture to indicate the room at large,
he asked, “Why
are
you here? This doesn’t seem like your type of
party.”

She raised her brows at him. “What is my
type of party?”

He gave an elegant shrug. “Quiet. Simple. A
handful of close friends.”

“Hm. Sounds about right. Except I don’t have
many friends, remember?”

“Just me and you then,” he said, blue eyes
mesmerizing. Her stomach did a flip.

She cleared her throat and glanced at
Elijah, who was watching them with his head tilted and a shrewd
look on his face. “I’m here to look after my brother. My parents
like to pretend they still belong in these social circles.”

“I see.”

“And they like to occasionally parade me
around like a show horse, just in case I catch the interest of some
wealthy heir.”

Will’s smile grew strained, and his brows
drew together a bit. “That’s … swell of them.”

She reached out to brush
her brother’s hair off his forehead and refrained from
saying,
Sure, if by ‘swell,’ you mean
‘shitty.’

“Mind if I join you?” he asked, making a
vague gesture at the lobby where more chairs waited to be
appropriated. “I’ve had my fill of stuffy, old people for the
night.”

“Knock yourself out,” she
said and then slid her hands beneath her thighs to keep from
fidgeting. That was a sign of nervousness, and Leah Carter
did
not
fidget.

He gave her a grateful smile that was
altogether too sexy, and strolled away to retrieve a chair. Unlike
how she’d manhandled the heavy chairs across the lobby, he picked
one up with ease. He made his way back, happily ignoring the
irritated looks of the servers who’d been keeping track of Leah’s
furniture rearrangement. He set the chair down against the wall
next to hers, close enough so that when he sat, their thighs
touched.

Her face felt hot. She slouched a bit and
focused her gaze on a painting across the room in order to compose
herself.

Will leaned forward, angling his head so he
could address her brother. “So Elijah. How old are you?”

Elijah pulled his feet up onto his chair.
The hem of his pants rose to reveal black socks with yellow Batman
symbols. She had bought those for him a few months ago.

“I’ll be ten in two months,” he said.

“Double digits. Nice. Are you the man of the
house then?”

Elijah looked at Leah. When she only gave
him a half smile and a shrug, he said, looking thoughtful, “I
guess. Hey, what’s your accent? Is that England?”

Will looked impressed. “Close. Scotland
actually. Wee bit farther north.”

“Like the North Pole.”

“Wee bit farther south,” Will said,
grinning.

“Is it cold?”

“It can be.”

Elijah made a face. “Me and Leah hate the
cold. Mom says we’re sickly because we get sick whenever the
weather changes.”

“The trick is in being prepared.” He leaned
forward as if about to impart a secret. It put his face in close
proximity with Leah’s.

She held her breath. She imagined she could
feel his body heat burning her skin even through their clothes. At
her other side, Elijah leaned forward as well in anticipation.

“Layers,” he said simply. Elijah’s brows
crashed together in confusion. “Lots of layers. All your socks.
Shirts, jumpers, jackets, just throw on your entire wardrobe.”

Elijah started snickering and shaking his
head.

“Why, just look at your sister,” Will said
with a nod at Leah. His shoulder nudged hers.

“What about me?” She looked down at herself,
and then felt her face grow warm again when Will followed suit. He
gave her body an appreciative and thorough look.

“Well,” he said, returning that blue gaze to
her face. He winked before addressing Elijah. “Her dress is
entirely inadequate for warmth. It’s no wonder she’s always getting
sick going around letting in every cold draft.”

“It’s not cold enough yet for me to need a
jacket,” she said, playing along.

“You fail at being prepared.”

Elijah beamed and held out
his suit jacket-covered arms. “
I’m
covered.”

“That you are,” Will said. “You’d do just
fine in Scotland, I think.”

Her brother looked pleased by this. “Leah
and I were playing a game. Want to play?”

“Absolutely.”

As Elijah and Will made up back stories for
the nearby party guests, Leah was content to watch and listen. She
enjoyed seeing the way her brother’s face lit up, the way his eyes
grew wide when he talked, the enthusiasm in his voice. A part of
her was a little jealous by how quickly he’d taken to Will. Elijah
had always been eager to meet new people, but he also tended to
hold himself back until he got to know them better. That wariness
was something he’d no doubt picked up by watching her. But he
seemed to quite like Will, and pettiness aside, the majority of her
was happy for it. Elijah had never had any decent guys to talk to,
and it was good of Will to engage her brother.