The Rush (The Siren Series) - By Rachel Higginson Page 0,131

they could buy this place with a swipe of one of their credit cards. They were younger than I thought they would be, which initially seemed great, but on closer inspection of all things douchy realized that age might have been better than cocky arrogance in this case. Where an older gentleman would have been considerate and grateful to have my attention, these mid-twenty pretentious a-holes would demand it while filling my head with every vapid self-honoring detail they could think of.

Still, now that they were here, I felt better. Just a little more relaxed.

“Drew?” Eva asked, pretending to be shy. She swiped at the bangs that had fallen into her eye and smiled her award winning I’m-a-saucy-sexpot smile.

“Yes,” Drew, the tallest of the three guys smiled hugely in return. He was tan, with overly glossed hair and giant white teeth. While he was handsome in that “Ivy-league-I-do-a-sport-like-rowing” way, he was also so obviously full of himself I wanted to choke on the vanity. “And you are?”

“I’m Eva,” she smiled at him again and held his gaze before she extended her hand. “And these are my friends, Ana, and Ivy.”

“Blake,” Drew gestured to the guy to his right. Blake stuck out his arm and took Ana’s. He had the long, lithe muscles of a runner; I could see them even through his charcoal suit. His hair was shorter than his friends, closely cropped so there was no expensive product to maintain the stray strands. He was better looking than Drew on close inspection, more mysteriously handsome than classically. Except his eyes were almost too enigmatic, too haunting. They were dark brown and roaming. Even though Ana clearly marked him as hers, his eyes floated over Eva and me, drinking us in with an obvious air of approval.

“And this is Taylor,” he gestured to the man on his left who reached out a hand to me.

Taylor smiled at me shyly, lifting a dark eyebrow as if asking me a question. I held out my hand and he took it in his firm grasp, pulling me forward a little while he shook it. I stumbled in my heels, stepping right into his chest. I looked up at him from under my lashes, hoping to convey that I was embarrassed about tripping. He looked down at me with dull green eyes that weren’t upset at all we were standing so close.

Taylor had longer hair than his friends, the top layer falling right to the corner of his eyes. He didn’t seem to notice though, or be bothered by it while he held me close to him, totally invading my personal space. His face was tanned and sculpted, with only a few wrinkles in the corners of his eye and thick ones that crinkled with his forehead.

“Nice to meet you, Ivy,” he murmured smoothly down to me.

“Nice to meet you, Taylor,” I smiled my practiced smile, the one I turned on when it was necessary to perform. His dull eyes twinkled in return.

“Shall we go?” Drew interrupted our too-long greeting.

Thankfully.

Taylor turned skillfully, somehow managing to keep hold of my hand while tucking it into his elbow. He kept a tight grip on it, not a painful one, but one that felt awkward and forced. One that I knew I couldn’t break free from.

Ana and her date, Blake, led the way to the dining room that was just around the corner and we fell in step last. Taylor trailed a little, separating us from the other two couples.

“You are truly a stunning creature, Ivy,” Taylor’s words were clipped and enunciated perfectly, like speaking was an art form for him. He didn’t have the smooth, sexy sound that came out of Ryder’s mouth, but I could tell he was used to being listened to. Used to giving orders.

“Thank you,” I offered in return and then coughed to cover my nerves.

“I love this dress, it fits you perfectly,” he continued. A blush crept up my neck; it was awkward to keep talking about my looks. And although I had been in this place before, with guys my own age, I was not anxious to repeat the experience.

“Thank you,” I repeated. “Again.” A moment of silence stretched out between us and I found myself quick to fill it. “So how do you know Nix?”

Taylor looked straight ahead, his jaw clamping together before he cleared his throat and seemed to put himself back together. “Drew and I run one of his smaller subsidiary companies. We’re originally from the south,