“I feel a little like Ariel,” I said, referring to The Little Mermaid.
“Does that make me your Prince Charming?”
I grinned up at him. “Maybe. It depends on if you find me wine.”
“A quest,” he said, “for the fair maiden Ariel. Come, my princess, let us be off.”
I laughed. “Okay. I take it back.”
“I’ll admit I’m no prince,” he said, “but you are as beautiful tonight as any princess ever was.” He hooked a finger under my chin and tilted my head up so that he could press a gentle kiss to my lips.
I sighed, feeling soft and girly and romantic, and when I took his arm, I realized I was smiling.
“What are you thinking?”
“That this feels like a date,” I said. “Considering how we’ve spent our time together so far, that makes the night a standout.”
He lifted my hand, then kissed my fingertips. “Disappointed?”
“No,” I said softly. “Not even a little bit.”
We continued on to the bar, where he got a Scotch and I got a glass of white wine. “I prefer red,” I said as we moved back into the throng. “But I don’t usually get this dressed up, and I’m currently suffering from the rather overwhelming fear that I’d get red wine all over my gown.”
“Then I’d just have to strip it off you,” he said, with a cocky, sexy grin.
I rolled my eyes. “Down boy. Fancy dress function, remember? Best behavior.”
We were continuing the circuit around the coral reef tank, and arrived at a series of tables topped with a variety of baskets, each with a clipboard and paper. “So what exactly is the purpose of this function?”
“It’s a fund-raiser to benefit research into pediatric neurology research,” he said. “Evan and Angie should be around here somewhere. They’re both—along with the Jahn Foundation—patrons of the event.”
“Which means they made huge donations?”
“Pretty much. In fundraising, the donations often go to pay for the event, which then tries to recoup that money and earn more through table fees, silent auctions, that kind of thing.” He nodded toward the table with the baskets. “See anything you want to bid on?”
“I doubt I could afford anything, but we can look.”
We were heading that direction when Tyler stopped. “Wait. That’s Franklin. Eli Franklin,” he added, pointing to a tall, thin man with deep set eyes and a heavy brow.
“Lizzy’s boss?”
“I should tell him what happened. Not wait until the morning.”
“Sure,” I said as he veered in that direction. We didn’t make it there, though. Instead, we were waylaid by another man, this one white-haired and distinguished.
“Tyler!” he said, holding his hand out to shake as he patted Tyler soundly on the shoulder with his other hand.
“Mr. Danvers,” Tyler said. “What a pleasure. Did you get the revised proposal for the security system?”
“Yes, yes. Of course. But we’ll talk later. No point in boring your lovely companion.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Tyler said, pulling me to his side. “This is my date, Sloane Watson. Sloane, this is Gregory Danvers, the CEO of Covington Investments, one of the most influential financial companies in the world.”
There was something about his tone and manner that caught my attention, and I was damn certain that he’d forgotten to introduce me on purpose. I just wasn’t sure why.
“It’s a pleasure,” Danvers said, as I extended my hand. “Tyler’s given you my life story. What do you do?”
“Sloane’s a detective,” Tyler added, and suddenly all the pieces fell into place. What was it he’d said? That he had social engagements planned where it would be useful to have a cop on his arm.
“Is that right?” Mr. Danvers said. “What kind of crimes do you investigate?”
I ignored the unpleasant twisting in my belly and smiled at Danvers. “Homicide primarily, though I’ve worked vice and sex crimes and even a bit in the white collar division. Excuse me,” I added, because I needed to get away and get my head clear. “I see Angelina. I’m going to go say hi and leave you two to talk.”
I left before Tyler could object, ignoring the way his brow furrowed as I made my escape.
I really had seen Angelina over by the raffle baskets, but considering we had yet to even be introduced, I had no intention of actually going over there. Instead, I planned to finish off my wine and down another glass, just to take the edge off.
That plan, however, was foiled when Angelina joined me in the line for the cash bar. “I’m Angelina Raine,” she said. “Angie. And you’re Sloane Watson.”
“Yes, I am,” I answered, making her laugh.
“I saw you at my party but didn’t come over on purpose. I was …” She trailed off, tilting her head from side to side as she considered her words. “Let’s just say I was waiting to see how it panned out.” She glanced across the room toward Tyler. “Looks like it played out better than anyone expected.”
I cleared my throat, feeling too fragile at the moment to go there, and irritated with myself because of it. “Listen, I owe you an apology. I’m not sure how much you know—”
“Everything,” she said. “Evan told me the whole story.”
“Oh.” I frowned, thinking of my arrangement with Tyler. Just how much of the story did Evan know?
“He told me you’re a detective from Indiana, and you’re looking for one of your friends who used to work at Destiny. Turns out she moved on to Vegas, right?”
“Looks that way.”
She nodded. “Some of the girls do. I guess good dancers can make a nice living there.”
“I’m sorry about crashing,” I said.
“It’s okay. And it turned out for the best. You’re seeing Tyler now, which I think is very interesting. And working at Destiny, too.”
“Yes, as to Destiny, but not because I have an overwhelming desire to leave the force and go into exotic dancing. I’m hoping Amy mentioned where she was going to one of her customers.”
“You’re still worried about her?”
“Not overly. But we have a very pregnant mutual friend, and I know Amy wanted to be there for the birth.”