"Oh. My. God," Eva breathed and snapped her head back around.
Brian clinked their glasses together, giddy. "See? This is gonna be good."
Eva forced a laugh. "So if he's here… I mean… we both agreed it was just a one-time thing."
"Not when you are looking like that," Brian argued, his eyes slowly taking in Eva's entire frame. "Honestly, I don't know if I should be proud or worried. That dress is lethal, honey. You're basically a Bond girl right now."
Eva gave a dry laugh.
"Alex never attends these kinds of parties. He's the mysterious billionaire who rarely leaves his fortress of solitude but somehow showed up at the exact event where his one-time kitchen-table conquest just happens to be glowing like a goddess dipped in moonlight."
She arched a brow. "Is that your way of saying he's tight with the mayor?"
"I'm saying the man is probably tight with the president himself," Brian said, lifting his champagne with flair. "But damn girl… the man is fine."
"Will you stop looking?" Eva hissed under her breath, her hand twitching toward her champagne. "I don't want him to know I'm here."
Brian gave her a mock-scandalized look. "Please. In that dress? With that hair? He knows, sweetie. You are the event."
"Brian!" she said under her breath, trying not to giggle. She glanced toward Alex again. He was laughing at something the mayor's son had said, but Eva felt those eyes skim over her, lingering just long enough to make her pulse stutter.
"Fine! This is gonna be good," Brian said again, clearly enjoying every second of her misery.
As the night wore on, the party bloomed into controlled chaos. Music thumped, laughter echoed, and the air buzzed with alcohol. People were flirting with abandon, dancing like they owned the room.
At some point, Brian excused himself to "go mingle with the peacocks" and vanished into the crowd of industry elites, leaving Eva alone on the sofa.
She crossed her legs and forced herself not to scan the room for Alex. Nope. Not gonna look. Not even a side glance. But she felt him again, watching her.
And then, one of the barely clothed waitresses glided over to her.
"Refill?" the girl asked, expertly topping up Eva's glass before she could answer. Then, in one graceful motion, the waitress handed her a small, folded piece of paper.
"From the gentleman over there," the waitress said with a knowing smile, jerking her chin toward the far end of the lounge.
Eva's eyes followed the direction.
Alex was on his feet now, jacket unbuttoned, sleeves rolled halfway up his forearms. He had one hand in his pocket and the other holding a drink, but his eyes were fixed solely on her.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she unfolded the paper. Just a line, written in sharp, decisive writing.
"Bathroom now!"
Eva looked up across the room at him. He didn't look her way again.
Well, someone is needy, she thought, trying to calm the erratic beat of her heart.
She turned toward Brian, seeking his help but he was deep in conversation with the director of Megawind.
Eva let out a breath and rose from her seat. Her legs felt too aware of themselves, every step a silent alarm bell. She hated that her heart had become a traitor.
The hallway leading to the bathroom was quieter, padded with luxurious carpet, the lights dimmed low and warm like they anticipated sins. She pushed open the heavy bathroom door and stepped in.
The moment it clicked shut behind her, Alex appeared, and turned the key.
"What's going on?" Eva asked, already knowing the answer but needing to hear something that would justify why she had walked right into temptation's jaws.
"That dress," Alex said, as if he was speaking directly to her bloodstream. "Is a sin."
He stalked toward her, the space between them shrinking with every deliberate step. "It's distracting."
Eva swallowed, trying to keep her voice cool. "That was the point."
"All I could think about all night," he murmured, "was fucking you while you're wearing it."
His words were so shameless, so direct, they sent a bolt of heat straight to her core. She felt her cheeks flush. Not just because of what he said, but because of how true it was for her too. She had imagined his hands slipping beneath the fabric more than once tonight.
"I told you," she said, forcing herself to take a step back even though her knees wobbled, "I'm not interested in a relationship."
Her back hit the cold tile wall just as he closed the last step between them. His hand was suddenly at her waist, firm and sure, drawing her in until her body was flush with his. Her brain tried to protest, but her body… her body had already surrendered.
"Who said anything about a relationship?" he replied with a smirk, eyes dark and hungry.
Damn it, he always had an answer. Always knew just what to say to crack her armor.
"Won't your date declare you missing?" she asked, making one last grasp at rationality.
"She's just arm candy. Nothing special."
"My date will worry," Eva tried again, though the conviction in her voice was already disintegrating. Her hands were braced on his chest, weakly, almost like an invitation rather than a defense.
But Alex was already on her, bending to her neck and pressing an open-mouthed kiss to her pulse point. His hand gripped her ass with maddening possessiveness, grinding her into the thick heat of his arousal. The gasp that left her lips was more a surrender than protest.
"You know he's gay, right?" Alex murmured against her skin.
Eva blinked, trying to absorb the words through the fog he was casting over her brain. "Wait… what?"
He chuckled, the sound sinful and confident. "Less talking… more fucking."
With practiced ease, he turned her around to hold the marble slab beneath the mirror. The surface was cold, but her body burned from within. She opened her mouth to protest again, but then his hands moved. He pulled up her dress in one swift motion, baring her thighs and grazing his fingers along the slick heat between her legs.