“My date,” Zane answered simply, not even bothering to introduce the two of them.
Ellie spoke up and extended her hand to the gorgeous woman in front of her, refusing to let the female know that she was intimidated. But honestly, she was a little daunted by the flame-haired beauty. “I’m Ellie Winters,” she introduced herself simply.
Ignoring Ellie’s outstretched hand, the woman glared up at Zane. “You didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend,” she hissed.
He shrugged and reached for Ellie’s outstretched hand and entwined her fingers with his and brought them to his side. “Why would I?” he answered dismissively.
Ellie suddenly saw the woman’s expression change from seductive to pouty anger. “I’ve been trying to get your attention for almost a year, and you pick somebody like her over me?”
The muscle in Zane’s jaw began to twitch, a subtle sign that he was pissed. Ellie had become a master at reading Zane’s body language over the last few months since he didn’t always express what was on his mind. He might get irritated, but he never lost complete control.
He took a deep breath before he spoke. “I had hoped you’d get the message that I wasn’t interested, Elena. Or maybe it’s the fact that you’re fucking your boss and he appears to care about you that turned me off. Frankly, though, the reasons are irrelevant. You just don’t do it for me.”
Ellie couldn’t help it. She gaped at Zane for an instant before she schooled her expression back to normal. Zane’s comment had been spoken in a glacial tone she’d never heard before. As usual, he was blunt, never bothering to explain more than he felt he needed to, but she’d never heard him quite so cold.
Elena? A beautiful name and gorgeous woman who obviously had the heart of a reptile.
The tension in the air was electric as Elena slowly assessed Ellie carefully, and obviously found her lacking. “Do you really think you can compete with me?” Elena huffed.
Ellie forced herself to give the woman a brief, dismissive glance before answering, “There’s no competition necessary,” she said in a falsely pleasant tone. “I already won.” She put a gentle hand on Zane’s jaw, and then planted a gentle kiss to the side of his mouth.
Caught off-guard when Zane turned the soft embrace into a possessive kiss, Ellie quickly gripped his shoulders to keep from stumbling in her heels.
Right there, in the middle of a fancy fundraising ball, Zane Colter claimed her, his kiss long and lingering, leaving no doubt that Ellie was exactly what he wanted.
For a moment, her eyes fluttered closed and she let herself drown in the sensual feel of his lips sliding over hers with a pulse of possessive, sultry energy she’d never experienced before.
It wasn’t long, and it wasn’t entirely sexual, even though it was meant to arouse.
The embrace was more like a covetous demand, and Ellie’s heart was skittering, even as he slowly released her mouth.
His gaze clashed with hers, his gray eyes tumultuous and greedy. Her body responded, a deep-seated need for Zane to touch her so acute that she could barely suck in a deep breath.
Finally, Ellie pulled her gaze away, no longer able to see what she knew was reflected in her own hungry stare. “She’s gone,” she murmured as she stepped back from him.
“I don’t care,” Zane answered huskily. “Dance with me,” he ordered, grasping her hand again and tugging her toward the ballroom floor.
He sheltered her as he plowed his larger body through the crowd, making her a path so she didn’t have to dodge around people to follow him. She was breathless by the time she tripped onto the dance floor, tumbling straight into Zane’s arms.
“I’m not a very good dancer,” she confessed.
“I am. Just follow me,” Zane replied as his arms tightened around her and he began moving expertly to the slow melody the orchestra was playing. “Relax,” he urged, rubbing one hand gently down her back.
As she began to match his movements automatically, Ellie felt her body melt against him, and she gently laid her head against his shoulder. It became obvious very quickly that he could competently move around the other dancers. “How is it that you dance so well?”
“I’m a Colter. My mom has been involved in charity events as long as I can remember. She taught every one of us when we were young. Most of us try to be at her events out of respect for what she does.” He paused for a moment before he added, “Except for her billionaire auctions. Almost all of us managed to bail out of that one.”
Ellie laughed softly, loving the feel of his deep voice vibrating against her. “She auctions billionaires?” She had to have misunderstood.
“Yes. If she thinks it will help get her causes out to the general public.”
“Tell me.” Ellie was curious and wanted to hear the whole story of Aileen’s event.
Zane relented, his tone disgusted. “One year, she decided to put billionaires from around the country on the auction block. One night only. One date only. It raised a fortune and got a lot of attention, so now she’s trying to do it again.”
“Did any of the Colter brothers attend?” Ellie questioned, noticing he hadn’t said all of them had gotten out of the event.
“Only Tate. He was still single at the time. The poor bastard. Luckily, he ended up with a winning female who was around eighty years old and just really wanted to talk about her grandkids all night. But he would have been okay with anybody. That’s Tate. You know he was always able to charm any female, even in high school.”