Faking love with ceo

id not have to be carrying the bottle of vintage champagne. That was reserved for the senior staff. B

each costing more than a year's rent. She straightened her back, keeping a sharp eye on the sparkling path between the guests,

m before h

the sound of his voice. He was wearing a tuxedo that looked like it had been painted on him. Sculpture of midnight wool and white linen. His hair was dark. Swept back from a forehead that seemed to be permanently etched along t

ud booming laughter, throwing his head back. Three steps aw

struck Lina's tray wit

't slow.

l. They were teetering on the edge of the polish

ady it, but it was too late, her wrist

fall sparklin

y, caught Alexander Knight across the chest and shoulder as he was half turned talking, t

le

his skin. It stained the perfect wool of his jacket in ugly spreading blotches. A sin

nd now empty tray. Her heart was a bird that had gone mad and flown

the storm in his eyes made her feel as if the air itself had been taken out of the room. They weren't angry. They were shocked.

with the kind of force that reaches

s. A woman gasped and began to clutch her pearls. The laughing man who'd d

n lurking in the shadows, a pale ghost of doom. "Mr. Kniht! My most

t looking anywhere but at Lina. He held her gaze hostage. He snatched the soaked handkerch

loor. The sound was monstrous in the quiet. She was dragged, stumbling, her heels catching on the rug. The faces b

he sudden roar of the industrial fans, the shouts of the cooks, the cl

sh pits, past the line cooks who didn't bother to look up,

pittle landing on his chin. "Do you have any idea what you've done? That man own

d, the words ash in her m

ght are gone. Consider it a donation to the dry-cleaning bill he'll send us, which will probably be

e. He pulled out a single twenty-pound note and threw it onto the desk. It fluttered, t

eight against it to get out. The cold night air hit her like a slap. Th

iesel. The distant sound of the gala's string quart

was crumpled in her white-knuckled fist. The rent was due tomorrow. Her mot

oked it back, swallowing the salt and the shame.

e smooth purr of engines starting. The guests were

ong, black car idled silently. The rear window was tinted, i

face illuminated by the soft glow of a phone screen. It was

eyes met hers across the distanc

red. As if she were an ugly, unwelcome equati

tified block. The note of the engine deepened, and it pul

der than the wind. It was not over. She could feel it in