Ah, yes, she was giving him an order. And it wasn’t as cute anymore.
“I don’t want to see you again.” She was smiling as she said it, but her eyes had hardened. “Don’t get in my way.”
Then she turned and walked away.
Interesting.
His gaze slid over the slender column of her back. Far too much skin—such golden, perfect skin—was revealed by the plunging back of her gown.
She didn’t look at him. Just headed over to a pretty redhead, and the two women immediately started talking, their voices seemingly happy and light.
Cale realized that Cassidy Sherridan had just dismissed him.
He wasn’t the type of man to be dismissed.
When he had a mission, he executed that mission. An angry debutante wasn’t about to get in his way.
Cale glanced toward the exit she’d indicated, then right back to her.
With a faint smile curving his lips, he started to stalk his prey.
* * *
VOICES ROSE AND FELL around her, and Cassidy tried hard to focus through the rumble—and to ignore the wild pounding of her heart.
He’s gone. You’re in control. You have this—
“Um...Cassidy?” Her friend Genevieve Chevalier’s voice had dropped, so Cassidy had to lean closer to hear her words in the crush of people. “Who is that delectable man coming after you?” A light French accent brushed her words.
Cassidy blinked at her. Wait, had Genevieve just said...coming after...?
Cassidy locked her back teeth even as she gave a smile, the same fake smile that she’d grown used to offering people in the past year. “I’m sure I don’t know who you’re talking about.” She laughed lightly. “But then, this room is full of delectable men.”
Not that she paid those men much notice. Ever since she’d arrived at the charity ball, she’d been totally focused on him.
She glanced over her shoulder, following Genevieve’s gaze. The man in question should have been heading toward the exit. The stranger—the guy with the dark blue eyes, the hard jaw, the face that she found both dangerous and sexy—was striding toward her.
He was tall, around six foot three, with wide shoulders. She’d first noticed him three days ago—mostly because it was hard to ignore a man like him. Especially with that dark intensity that seemed to pulsate off him.
The day she’d noticed him for the first time, they’d been at another party, another glittering ballroom, one decked out in the familiar gold-and-purple colors of Carnival. He’d been leaning against the back wall there, too, watching her.
But not with lust in his eyes, the way others sometimes did.
Instead, cold calculation had filled his stare.
“He seems very taken with you,” Genevieve murmured.
With an effort, she kept her smile in place. He should have taken himself out of there. Like she couldn’t spot an EOD agent a mile away.
Deliberately, she looked away from him, making a point of giving the man her back. Take a hint. The band started to play again, a slow, romantic tune, and some of the chatter quieted just as—
A hand closed over her shoulder. Warm, strong, his. Every muscle in Cassidy’s body tightened in response to that touch.
“I want this dance.” His words were rough, a demand, certainly not the suave invitation that most of the men at this event would have offered her.
But, then, he wasn’t most men.
Genevieve stood watching them, her golden eyes wide.
Cassidy realized the stranger hadn’t given her much choice. She could refuse, then Genevieve—glorious gossip that she was—would want to know why. The point had been to make the mysterious man vanish, not to pull him into her life even more.
He’d obviously missed the point.
“One dance,” she agreed softly, inclining her head in what she hoped appeared to be a gracious move.
She’d be sure he got the point this time.
Cassidy turned toward him, tried to brace herself against the impact of staring right into those blue eyes of his. But there was no bracing that would be good enough. Each time she looked into his eyes, her heart beat faster even as sensual awareness spiked through her.
Handsome, he definitely was. With those strong cheeks, that long blade of a nose and that chiseled jaw, the man certainly would catch the attention of most women. He even had a cleft in his chin, a cleft that softened the roughened edge of his features and made him even more appealing.
His hand closed around hers as he led her onto the dance floor. Cassidy noticed that there were calluses on his fingers, and he was just so...warm.
She swallowed and held her faint smile in place as they began to dance. She tried to keep some precious distance between them but—
He pulled her even closer.
Annoying.
“I told you to leave,” she gritted out through her locked teeth.
His lips twitched. “Um, you did. But I decided that I wanted to stay.”
He was moving easily, fluidly, a bit surprising for a man of his size. A solider who knew how to dance—and dance well, she realized, as he gave her a little spin and dip.
Her lips parted as she pulled in a quick breath. Then he was moving her again, leading her around the dance floor.
His gaze dropped to her mouth. It seemed to heat. “I think—” his voice was deep, rolling “—that you owe me an explanation.”
Her brows climbed. “What?” She didn’t owe him anything. They didn’t know each other. As soon as the dance ended, their association would end, too.
“Tell me about the EOD,” he said. Cassidy realized that he’d just used her trick. When he’d said those words, he’d put his lips right next to her ear and whispered his demand.
Only...had his lips pressed lightly against her ear? It felt as if they had. And his tongue. Had he...licked her? She certainly hadn’t...licked...him.
Had she?
Goose bumps rose on her arms. “I don’t need to tell you anything.”
Really, Mercer had stooped to this level? Sending a new babysitter after her? He’d promised the last agent was it. It looked like he’d broken another promise.
Same story, different day. She should have expected this from him.
“You think I work for something called the EOD,” the man told her. She pulled back, staring up at him. His hair was dark, thick, and her fingers were brushing against the nape of his neck.
Why were her fingers doing that? She immediately flattened them against the back of his tux.
“Shouldn’t you at least tell me what the EOD is?” he pressed.