Distracted

Casey gave the room a quick scan again, but her hopes of getting out of the party were deflating by the minute. Cassie, why can't you ever keep your word? Never mind, things don't change, but on the plus side, she could see if any important guests had finally arrived.

Her boss Tobias knew how to throw a party—they started early and always went very late. Throughout the night, an assortment of highly important guests would find their way there to mingle with the social crowd of the elite at the office. Most people came for the alcohol and atmosphere.

The only reason Cassie had been able to pull Casey to this one at all was the promise of an elite guest, a private investor in Tobias's company. A silent partner whose family had been a part of the corporation for many years. An investor Casey hoped to impress. A woman by the name of Cyrus, or so Cassie said she had been able to find out from work today.

"You look rather bored."

Casey tensed, startled, and dropped the cherry she had been fidgeting with into the cup with an ungraceful plunk.

She turned slowly, searching for the person who would dare be so bold, and found herself looking straight into the most startling green eyes she had ever had the luxury to encounter. The depth in them made her stomach flutter and lurch; her whole world dissolved into the sea of green, and she felt like hiding. There was something dark there, a passion that fueled a rage. He was dangerous. Maybe a criminal?

Her blood pulsed and quickened. She felt entranced, the way a deer would be right before the car strikes it dead. An imposing feeling of impending doom, doom she could not fight off.

Somehow, by staring into that sea of green, she felt she had sealed her fate. What silly accusations. Maybe she had had too much to drink, which was so unlike her. Normally, she could drink a ton. She dropped the small stir stick in her drink and set it down, feeling a slight queasiness in her stomach, and her inclination toward alcohol all but abated.

She was going to be sick. No, you're not. What are you thinking? She smiled as gracefully as she could. "I see, is that supposed to be a compliment, or do you always tell women they look rather dull and uninteresting?"

She stared at him, watching for his reaction, hoping she had unsettled him as he had done so completely with her. His expression, though, stayed unchanging; his eyes held something else there—a curiosity? As if he knew what she had been feeling only moments before. There was no way for him to tell, though. Like a person flicking a switch, the interest was gone and his eyes filled and held an amount of boredom she couldn't help but feel responsible for.

He smirked, and her pride boiled a little, enraged that this perfect stranger had insulted her and now had the guts to give her a devilish perk, as if to say thanks for wasting my time.

She watched as the bartender handed the man a drink without him having even said a word about one the whole time he had been standing there.

He cocked his head slightly, and his eyes took her in with a slow appraisal. She tried to convince herself not to become unhinged, but that slow, gut-wrenching feeling stirred within her, and her skin crawled slightly. His appraisal was so seductive and easy it felt unnatural. He took a slow sip of his drink as methodical as his appraisal of her body had been, and yet she had a feeling that drink gave him less satisfaction.

Without another word, he turned and walked away. What can you make of someone like that? Should she be offended? She stared down at her sad drink left alone in the crowded bar, as she now was, and sighed. The night couldn't end any faster for her, could it? On the other hand, though, the man with the green eyes—what was his deal? Did anyone have any reason to be that way at a party? Not that she was much better; she had been skulking at the bar from the moment Cassie brought her here. She growled mentally at herself.

Why did she have to be honest with herself? She couldn't even self-pity for one moment without her brain telling her to stop being such a baby.

It wasn't her fault, her mind reckoned; it's not as if she came here expecting a man to rip through her with one sentence. To make her feel exposed and on fire in every recess of her body. And if she was honest with herself, there was a hot lust that had boiled up into her lungs along with the anger at the guy's easy judgment of her.

She let out a shaky breath just as her drunken and enamored friend stumbled her way to her arm, grinning like a well-fed cat.

Casey grabbed onto Cassie's waist and plastered a smile on her face, then started to scan the room for the mysterious man who had irked her so and had just walked away leaving her shaken.

"Hey, hey, you… you are not listening to me. Hey!"