out of the dorms to glare me down as I passed. As we strode by Meredith and her evil clan, who were playing pool, they all stopped what they were doing and stared.
“Assassin,” I heard one whisper loudly.
Oh God, are you serious? A month later and this assassin thing was sticking?
Great, just freaking great.
When we stepped outside the dorm, I paused, my breath catching in my throat. A long sleek black limousine was waiting for me, with a driver opening the back door.
As far as I knew, Sawyer didn’t send limos for the other girls … but maybe he did and I just didn’t watch. I mean, I saw like five girls go out to dinner with him before it made me sick and I stopped watching. He could have…
Before I could overanalyze it, I stepped inside and expected Eugene and Walsh to follow me in, but they didn’t. I was so used to having a shadow now, being without them was weird.
“Wow,” Sawyer said from deep inside the limo and I jumped a little. “You look…” He paused, seemingly at a loss for words. In the dark car, all I could see were two amber eyes staring at me from the black depths.
“Beautiful?” I offered nervously.
The shadows moved as he crawled along the bench seat, making his way over to me slowly. When he reached me, the seat dipped with his weight as I leaned into him and he met my gaze. “Ravishing.”
Heat flared to life inside of me, like an inferno that would never be cooled but by one thing. I swallowed hard.
“I mean … you look okay,” I joked.
He grinned, a soft chuckle emanating from his throat. “God, I love your sense of humor.”
Shit, I didn’t do real emotions, I mean I could, but I sucked at it. Being sarcastic was an easier shield for me to hide behind, but being with Sawyer felt so deep, like an endless ocean.
“It makes up for my terrible looks,” I joked. I couldn’t stop, they just kept fumbling out of me.
Before he could respond, the car stopped.
“That was short,” I mused.
The door opened and Eugene helped me step out. What the…? Did he ride up front? Man, these guys were good at being seen when they wanted to be and scarce when needed. I took the guard’s offered hand and stepped out onto…
A boat dock.
“Why are we—?” I started when a woman’s shrill voice cut me off.
“Sawyer!” she screamed in excitement.
There were tons of people here. A red carpet had been set up and dozens of black limousines were waiting to drop more people off. I scanned the end of the red carpet and my eyebrows hit my hairline.
There was a cruise ship, or a yacht, or whatever the fuck rich people called those giant boats. It was docked and had the most beautiful white twinkling Christmas lights wrapped around the railing.
“Good evening, Mrs. Pepper.” Sawyer nodded to the woman approaching us, but I could hear a hint of annoyance in his tone.
Pepper. As in Meredith Pepper?
Sawyer slipped his hand into mine and interlaced our fingers together, like it was no big deal. The brown-haired woman with way too much make-up on noticed we were holding hands and lifted a brow.
“I trust you’ve already got the list of top twenty? I’m sure Meredith is on it, no?” the woman said with a conspiratorial wink.
Sawyer gave a nervous laugh. “Should we really discuss these things at my father’s birthday party?” He winked back.
She gave a short burst of nervous laughter and patted his chest. “You’re right. Have fun at the party, dear.”
When she walked away, I looked up at Sawyer, who stared down at me behind those thick black eyelashes. “You brought me as a date to the alpha’s birthday party?”
Sawyer grinned. “He’s just my dad, but yeah I wanted you here with me tonight.”
That was … really sweet. Oh Lord, help me, I was falling hard. There was no way out of this unscathed. Not now.
I smiled. “And to think I almost didn’t change. What if I’d worn that ‘single but not interested’ shirt?” I scolded him as we started to walk the ridiculous red carpet.
Sawyer grinned, showcasing that damn sexy dimple and chin butt. “It would have been talked about for years to come.”
We followed the throngs of people while I processed the fact that not only was I going on a yacht to the alpha’s birthday party, I was doing so wearing a tube top, and with the