A Reckless Note (Brilliance Trilogy #1) - Lisa Renee Jones Page 0,36
warm, too warm.
“I’m meeting someone here tonight and forgive me, but I really need to find Crystal.” Which isn’t a lie. A friend warns a friend. Mark won’t listen, but I have to hope she will. “Have you seen her?”
“I haven’t.”
“Okay, thanks.” I turn away from him and quickly bury myself in the crowd, away from him, and hunting for Crystal. Hunting for Gio. Hunting for the mysterious Sofia. When I come up empty, and it’s almost time for the performance to begin, I decide to head back to the lobby and have the guard locate Crystal for me.
A few minutes later, I’m told she’s in a vault and unreachable. I send her a text: The violin is not authentic. I made my case to Mark but I feel as a friend I should warn you. I believe this passionately. I understand you have to move forward, but I would be remiss not to give you my thoughts.
She sends a text back: I told Mark we should have it reevaluated at our expense should the buyer wish. Thank you, Aria.
Relieved that I achieved some level of success in protecting them, I head back to the event and the minute I step back in the room, I know Kace is here. It’s insane, but I feel his energy. I swallow hard and just when I would dare a glass of champagne, the crowd parts to him standing in the midst of several attractive women and a man, all of whom appear enamored with him.
And why wouldn’t they be?
He’s Kace August, talented, good looking, and dressed to stand out and perform. He’s in black jeans, a thin soft-looking black leather jacket, and a black T-shirt with a white flag on it that he’s paired with black boots. His spiky longish dark hair is slightly rumpled, his jaw shadowed, and his brilliant blue eyes are suddenly locked on me, a punch of awareness between us that steals my breath.
He excuses himself from the group, dismissing them with finality, and then he’s closing the space between me and him and I can’t seem to walk away. I’ve barely caught my breath when he’s standing in front of me, towering over me, smelling like spice and man—seducing me without even saying a word. And then he does, he speaks. He says one word. My name. “Aria.” And on his lips it vibrates like a musical note that vibrates with a command, and yet purrs with seduction.
In this moment, the room fades, the clink of glasses and hum of voices disappears. There is just me and him.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“You’re here,” I whisper, despite that being quite obvious.
He reaches up and strokes a lock of hair behind my ear, his touch shivering through me. “I hope that’s a good thing.”
“I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you know?”
“You confuse me, Kace.”
Chris Merit’s wife appears beside us. “They need you for a soundcheck in ten.” She glances at me and she’s incredibly pretty up close and personal, her eyes brown, her skin porcelain. Her smile is friendly. “Hi Aria,” she greets. “I’m Sara, Chris’s wife. We have a seat saved for you up front with me so when you’re ready, find me.”
“Nice to meet you, Sara. Thank you.”
“No thanks needed. Looking forward to chatting. See you soon,” she says, fading into the crowd. Kace catches my fingers at my side and I feel that connection in every part of me, inside and out.
“In case you didn’t figure it out, I got you a seat up front with me.” He kisses my knuckles and unlike the moment Alexander had done the same, I tingle all the way up my arm and across my chest. “Come with me.” It’s somehow a command and yet it’s a question he waits to have answered.
The photo of him with that blonde flits through my mind, a warning, but then I remind myself that we barely know each other. We have no commitment. I can’t even afford a commitment. But Gio isn’t here. I know this. He’s not going to be here, either. Suddenly, I want an escape, even need it for my sanity. I want to do something just because I want to do it. And what I want is to live in the moment for once. I want to live in the moment with this man. I want to watch him play. I want to know him just a little bit. I wet my dry lips, his gaze following the movement, the idea of him kissing