Break Me by Evelyn Glass Page A

what she would have chosen , Zoey scolded herself. Maybe she did choose it. Not everyone lives like you, and that’s okay.
     
    But she looked around the room, and she knew she’d choose the intimate gathering with close friends and close family every single time. This was far too much for her.
     
    She tagged along with Claire for a little while, and then broke off when they circled near to where the catering had been set up. She munched on shrimp, discovered that she still thought caviar was too gritty to be eaten unless it was on a sushi roll, and sipped at a glass of champagne that made her nose feel weird.
     
    When Alex came into the room, everything stopped.
     
    She’d never seen him in this capacity. Well, she’d seen him on TV, or at events from very, very far away. But she’d never seen him walk into a room, pause briefly to absorb the adoration of all the gazes that turned towards him as he adjusted his cuffs with a small, quiet smile on his face. She’d never watched him scan the crowd, and had the eyes he was looking for be hers. Her heart slammed against her sternum as he found her, his eyes widening and his smile broadening. He came to her, wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed the corner of her mouth. She felt that she could hear a large percentage of the people in the room give a little sigh as she let her hands fall on his shoulders, closing her eyes to block out everything but the feeling of his lips brushing against hers.
     
    “There’s someone I want you to meet,” he said. “Come with me.” He wound his fingers through hers and lead her away from the food.
     
    He proceeded to introduce her to someone high up at every major publication in both New York and Philadelphia, all of whom had apparently arrived to celebrate the birthday of the youngest Blankenship. She talked to all of them, and had half a dozen business card tucked inside the narrow pocket in the skirt of her dress—bless Claire for noticing it and pointing it out to her—before Alex was done showing her off.
     
    It felt strange. She was no newbie at networking, but the way he was leading her around the room… “You didn’t make them promise to give me cards or anything, right?”
     
    Alex had gotten his own glass of champagne. He took a sip, wrinkled his nose, and set it down on the tray of a passing waiter. When she nodded, he took hers as well. “Of course not. I told you I wouldn’t. I’m just introducing you. You’re doing everything else on your own.”
     
    “People are looking daggers at me. They’re trying to kill me with their eye beams.”
     
    He raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t think that a proper southern girl could be intimidated by a little bit of jealousy.”
     
    She laughed, too loud and too hard, and the smiles of people around her were barely tolerant. She didn’t care. Alex was watching her, and the heat in his eyes was what she needed. “Sha, it’s not that. It’s pretty sexy to know that other people want what I have.”
     
    Both his eyebrows were up now, but his eyes were sparkling with warmth and laughter. “Oh, I see. So I’m sexy because other people want me. Uh-huh.”
     
    She poked him in the ribs, not hard enough to hurt, though he made a face like he was wounded and folded over her just enough to get a chance to catch her hand and brush his lips over her wrist, sending her pulse into drum roll territory. “You know better,” she said, her voice too thin and breathy. Claire had declared that her panties ruined the line of the sheath, and she was in very serious danger of wetness dripping down her thighs if she wasn’t careful. She pressed her knees together and tried to think sane thoughts, instead of thoughts of him shoving the plates off the table and fucking her while everyone watched. “I want you because I want you. The fact that they want you too, but I get you—that’s just the cherry on top.”
     
    He growled in her ear, and she gasped. Her nipples tightened,