Beautiful Stranger

a flute of champagne, I felt someone come near beside me.
    “Perfect as usual, Max. You’ve really outdone yourself.”
    I blinked over to see Bennett standing next to me.
    “It’s bloody hot out here, is what it is,” I said, nodding toward the drink he held in each hand. “Here with your Chloe, I assume.”
    “And your date is . . .”
    “Flying solo tonight,” I answered. “Hosting duties and what have you.”
    Bennett laughed, bringing his glass to his lips. He didn’t comment but it was impossible to miss the way his eyes shifted over my shoulder.
    I turned just in time to see Chloe and Sara walking back from the restroom. Sara looked stunning in a light green gown with beading covering the bodice and trickling into the skirt. Silver stilettos peeked out beneath the hem of her dress.
    It took a moment before I could speak.
    “She’s here with someone, Max.”
    I turned and gaped at Bennett before looking around our immediate vicinity to try to spot who she might have come with. “She is? Who?”
    “Me.”
    “Wait, what? No way.”
    “Christ, I’m kidding. Look at your face.” He scratched his jaw and waved casually at someone across the room and I legitimately wanted to punch him.
    “Max,” he said, voice low and serious now. “Sara is Chloe’s best friend and an important member of my team. I trust your business sense more than I trust almost anyone’s, but your history with women is not exactly pristine.I’m the last person to point fingers, trust me, but don’t do anything stupid.”
    “Calm down. It’s not as if I’m planning to drag her off for a romp in the coat closet or anything.”
    “Wouldn’t be the first time,” he said with a smile, draining his glass.
    “For you, either, mate,” I answered.
    Bennett looked almost relieved as I left him at the table, and for the briefest of moments, I felt almost guilty for lying to him. The truth was that while I did want to drag Sara off to the nearest coat closet, I also wanted a moment to just watch her.
    I made my way across the garden, shaking a few hands and thanking others for their donations, keeping Sara in my peripheral vision as I went. I stopped to the side of the large Lachaise nude sculpture and watched her from a distance, captivated by how beautiful she looked tonight.
    Her gown was long and fitted, displaying every curve perfectly and emphasizing some of my favorite ones.
    I remembered the way she’d looked that night on the dance floor, wild in her too-short dress and too-high shoes, and compared that to the sophisticated woman here tonight. I could tell even then that what we’d done had been out of character for her. But I don’t think I’d understood exactly how much until tonight. She was poised and delicate . . . though, still, there was something else, some neglected recklessness beneath her prim exterior.
    My eyes moved along the line of her throat and across her collarbone, and I wondered what she was wearing under her gown. I wondered what had brought forth the woman who had fucked me against a wall in a club full of people.
    I was fairly certain Bennett hadn’t been joking when he’d suggested I stay away from Sara. Or that his fiancée would have his balls—and mine, too—if she found out. Bennett was obviously aware that I had more than a casual interest in Sara, but he was tight as a vault and, despite his protests, would never interfere if this were what Sara wanted.
    But Chloe—she was a different matter altogether. She seemed too smart, her gaze too knowing. I didn’t know much about the future Mrs. Ryan, but I was sure that if Bennett had finally met his match, I did not want to be on her bad side.
    And despite that, I was quite enjoying this little game Sara and I seemed to be playing.

    When the orchestra shifted into a slower song, I watched as a few people excused themselves from their circles and ventured out onto the dance floor. I walked around the edge of the garden, stepping behind Sara and tapping her on one bare shoulder.
    She turned, her smile slipping from her face when she saw me.
    “Well, hello to you, too,” I said.
    Sara took a long sip from her champagne flute before addressing me. “How are you tonight, Mr. Stella?”
    Mr. Stella, was it? I smiled. “I see you’ve done a little checking up on me. I must have made quite an impression.”
    She returned a polite smile. “A quick Google search gives a girl plenty of information.”
    “Hasn’t anyone ever told you