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“Colette, how about we go and pick out our seats?” Sienna asks, snatching her eyes away from Nikhil. Colette is still staring with her lips separated, as if she wants to eat him alive, before Sienna gently elbows her in the chest.
“Oh, right.” She nods.
“I’m sure you’ll find us when…you’re finished?” Sienna asks.
I simply nod, and the two walk away, but not without me hearing their little chuckles and loud whispers.
“You have an effect on women,” I note, looking back at Nikhil.
“I suppose.” The words don’t seem to surprise him.
The way he’s acting confuses me. “What do you want?”
“I want to know why you’re here.”
Does he know that I’m not supposed to be? “You don’t want me here?”
Nikhil takes a step toward me, so close that our chests are almost touching. He gently tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear and leans so his lips are close to my ear, making me shiver. “I’m not a fan of outsiders.”
So, he does know.
When he pulls away, my heart is pounding faster than before, and it feels like every person here is staring at us. Maybe they are. I have to play it cool, otherwise I’ll get Sienna and myself kicked out.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lie easily.
Nikhil snorts and pulls back slightly. He doesn’t say a word as he grabs my hand and leads me to the dance floor, right in front of the quartet. “Then, you wouldn’t mind joining me for a dance?”
I feel like a deer caught in the headlights, and with nothing else to say without revealing who I am, I give in. I have to fake it until I make it. “One dance.”
He reaches his hand out to me, just as a beautiful song begins to play. I take it, and he pulls me flush against his body. My body warms up, and I let out a small breath. I don’t want him to know just how much he affects me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this close to a man, and none of the men I’ve been with have ever come close to this one.
I follow his lead, and we fall into a rhythm. One glance, and I find that just about everyone is still staring at us, nobody willing to come and dance with us. I would feel like a modern-day Cinderella if he wasn’t interrogating me.
“Wherever you go, people watch,” I note.
Nikhil doesn’t say anything, watching me intently, as if he can figure everything out without asking me a single question.
“I guess that doesn’t matter when you’re watching them too.”
This time, he responds. “Watching people lets you learn their secrets. Secrets and knowledge are power.” I almost feel like the words are directed at me, and his eyes are so intense that I debate looking away. Somehow, I manage not to.
“And what secret have you learned about me by watching?”
“You’re not rich, you or your little redheaded friend. Her heels still have the clearance sticker on them, and as nice of a dupe as it is, your dress isn’t the real thing. And your hair looks like you’ve done it in the bathroom, as opposed to having a stylist.”
Is it really that obvious? Nikhil swings me around in tune to the beat, hand pressed against my waist, gripping ever so slightly. “You may have fooled everyone else, but I see right through you. And, it’s not like you’re a good liar. So, you’re not a member of the elite. I thought you may just be a party crasher, but there are no unauthorized people in here, which means you either know someone or you’re a journalist.”
I swallow. “I can see why you wouldn’t want a journalist here. Your every move would be watched, but I’d be one crappy journalist not to bring a phone, pen, papers, anything, don’t you think?”
“Journalists are hardly truthful.”
“You just told me I was a bad liar.”
Nikhil considers my words. “A spy, maybe.”
I can’t keep myself from laughing. Is he serious? “Like Special Agent Oso? Be real. Unless you’re doing something that would lead to someone sending a spy after you.”
“Digging for information?” He pulls me closer, and I look up at him. From everyone else’s perspective, it has to look like we’re going to kiss. Little do they know, it’s the complete opposite.
