Jace stared at her from across the ballroom. He wasn't even supposed to be here. This happened to be just a last-minute name added to the guest list by someone more powerful than he could afford to cross.
But here he was. In this room. With her. He hadn't meant to find her this quickly. He hadn't meant for his chest to feel this tight either.
Rielle.
She wasn't doing anything remarkable. She just stood there with a glass in her hand, eyes slightly narrowed, like she was tolerating the crowd and considering whether to cause a scene or walk away before one happened.
He couldn't look anywhere else. He shouldn't have come. He told himself he could stop himself before getting enchanted by her again.
He told himself that before stepping out of the car, before walking through those towering doors, before letting his gaze sweep across the ballroom like he didn't already know who he was looking for.
She wasn't supposed to matter like this. Not to him.
She was important to his employer. Too important and Jace had been warned. In clipped tones and veiled threats. "You should look over her, but never touch her."
Fine. Those words had been easy when she was just a file. When she was just a name. A face.
But now she was… real. She made him a godforsaken mess everyday he stayed by her side, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Now she was moving through the crowd like it parted just for her. Even the air shifted when she stepped into it. Now she was right there, wearing a black dress that probably cost less than the wine in his glass but still managed to punch the air out of his lungs.
He wasn't stupid.
He knew what kind of woman Rielle was.
She didn't want chaos. She didn't entertain games. If he tried to approach her without reason, or without weight behind his words, she'd walk away and never give him a second glance.
And if she did give him a second glance? He'd probably never survive it. His feet itched to walk to her, even at that.
He wanted to be the one to pull her chair, and watch her sit. He wanted to be the one casually by her side, not Aiden.
Jace rolled his jaw, his eyes narrowing slightly.
She looked past him. Not through him, past him. Like he wasn't even worth the space he occupied. Maybe he wasn't. Maybe she already sensed what he was. Where he came from.
He didn't know if he hated her more for that or if he just hated himself for caring. His fingers tapped against the side of his glass. One, two, three.
If she had given him the slightest hint that she was down for something reckless. Perhaps an affair, a secret, a few stolen nights, he would've jumped into it. No questions.
But she wasn't made for that. And he wasn't the kind of man who could offer her anything else.
That was the damn problem.
She wasn't someone you touched lightly. She wasn't a pretty distraction you could leave behind.
Rielle was the kind of woman you either ruined completely or bled yourself dry trying to deserve.
And Jace had ruined enough things in his life. He didn't want to add her to the list. Hypocritically, he doesn't regret ruining Lina. He tried to be regretful but when it came to Lina, the pretense disappeared from him.
When Rielle turned, when her eyes slid briefly in his direction and then flicked away like he didn't register into her memory, like he hadn't been staring at her the whole damn time, it burned.
More than he wanted to admit.
'Jesus Christ, was this how Lina always felt when she wished I paid attention to her?' He thought.
Jace let out a breath. He wasn't sure what was worse. Wanting Rielle, or knowing she would never want someone like him.
Jace didn't move. Not even when she started walking toward him.
He thought, for a moment, that maybe she was heading for someone else. That she'd walk right past him without a glance. That he'd imagine the whole thing.
But she didn't.
Her steps were measured. Not hurried, not hesitant. Yet she walked deliberately enough to make his pulse stutter. Her dress caught the light as she moved, the slit along her thigh whispered with every stride. She stopped a few feet in front of him, close enough for him to smell the faint citrus.
He didn't speak first.
She lifted her glass halfway to her lips, then paused. "What are you doing here?"
Her voice was smooth. Neutral. Like they were strangers, and she had just spent the last week being followed by someone who wasn't him.
Jace shifted his weight. "Working."
"That wasn't my question." Her eyes flicked over his suit, then back up to meet him. "You're not supposed to be assigned to me today. Where's Xander?"
He didn't answer right away.
Rielle's brow arched, just slightly. Not impatient, not yet. But close. She hated making him comfortable around her.
"He got me reassigned for today." Jace said finally.
She stared at him. "Without telling me?"
Jace gave the barest shrug. "That's above my pay grade."
She tilted her head. "Is it?"
He didn't flinch. He almost blinked. He felt the shift in her tone. She wasn't asking anymore. She was almost flirting.
And the worst part? He wanted her to.
Jace said nothing. He allowed the silence to hold as his gaze flickered to her lips and back to her eyes.
His mouth twitched, not quite a smile. "You looked like you needed backup."
Rielle laughed. Sharp and short. A part of Lina felt like crawling out around Jace, and she gave the little woman a chance. "Cute. You don't even know what I'm doing here."
"Stealing the show." He said it flatly. "And someone doesn't like it."
Her fingers tightened around the stem of her glass. She didn't show how his words affected her.
He stepped forward, just half a foot, close enough for her to notice the shift in air between them. "But it is my job to keep you alive."
Her eyes met his again, and this time, he felt it like a punch to the chest. He badly wanted to grab her and kiss her luscious lips, and dig his fingers deep into her red hair, bend her over and….
'Okay, okay, okay. Stop this,' he stopped his thoughts before they turned darker.
"You don't even know me," Rielle said, oblivious of the inner battle Jace faced.
"I know you're smarter than everyone in this room." His voice dropped lower. "And that alone makes you a target."
Another pause.
This one stretched thinner than the rest. Rielle swallowed, and eyed him. She visibly sucked in a sharp breath.
Jace leaned in. He ignored the warning, and came closer. Just enough for only her to hear, "Don't look at me like that and expect me to still play bodyguard."